Former Inpatient Psychiatric Patients’ Past Experiences With Traditional Frontline Staff and Their Thoughts on the Benefits of Peers as Part of Frontline Staff

Little is known about how integrating peers into frontline staff might improve the quality of inpatient psychiatric care. In the current study, we interviewed 18 formeadult patients of inpatient psychiatric facilities using semi-structured interviewsWe first asked about positive and negative past experiences with traditional staffWe then asked participants to share their opinions on the potential benefits opeers as part of frontline staff. We identified themes through a joint inductive and deductive approach. Participants reported past positive experiences with traditional staff as being (a) personable and caring, (b) validating feelings and experiences, (c) de-escalating, and (d) providing agency. Past negative experiences included (a) not sharing information, (b) being inattentive, (c) not providing agency(d) being dehumanizing/disrespectful, (e) incompetency, (f) escalating situationsand (g) being apathetic. Participants believed that peers as part of frontline staff could champion emotional needs in humanizing and nonjudgmental ways, help navigate the system, and disrupt power imbalances between staff and patientsFurther research is needed to understand financial, organizational, and culturabarriers to integrating peers into frontline staff. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 60(3), 15-22.].