Peer Support for Young People with Chronic Conditions

Peer support has been proposed as a way of addressing the psychosocial problems young people with chronic conditions experience and improving their health and wellbeing. The chapter examines definitions of peer support and its theoretical underpinnings, approaches and components. Programmes have been developed for young people with many different chronic conditions and are mainly based on three models described in the chapter. It will be revealed that research investigating whether peer support improves health and wellbeing reports conflicting results. However, research exploring young peoples’ views of peer support programmes consistently suggests they are valued for reducing feelings of difference and social isolation and for developing condition-related knowledge, coping strategies and communication skills. The potential risks posed by peer support will be considered and how its professed philosophical foundation of empowerment has been questioned. The chapter suggests that to ensure programmes are acceptable and appropriate, young people need to be involved in their coproduction and that programmes need to be theoretically informed. Moreover, the complexity of programmes in terms of their multiple interacting components, the real-life context in which they are delivered and the importance of individualisation means that alternative evaluation designs to randomised controlled trials need to be considered.