PeerWorks Unveils Official Position Statement on Peer Support Integrity

June 19, 2024

Ontario, Canada 

PeerWorks, the leading voice and advocate for peer support services is thrilled to announce the release of its official Position Statement, “Drift from Peer Support Values and Standards: A Position Statement and Call for Action.” This statement addresses the growing concern of "peer support drift" within the mental health and addictions landscape. This comprehensive statement marks a significant milestone in safeguarding the integrity of peer support practices and ensuring their alignment with their foundational values and social movement history.

Peer support, rooted in the principles of recovery, hope and individual empowerment, has emerged as a vital component of mental health and addictions care delivery in local communities across Ontario. However, there is a troubling trend of deviation – termed "peer support drift" – where the prevailing paradigms of the mental health system gradually dilute attitude towards peer support. PeerWorks' position statement is an important call to uphold the authenticity and efficacy of peer support

"PeerWorks is committed to maintaining the integrity of peer support," said Allyson Theodorou, Operations Director of PeerWorks. "Our official Position Statement is a crucial step in ensuring that peer support remains a powerful, transformative force rooted in shared lived experience and mutual respect. By addressing the issue of peer support drift head-on, we aim to protect the values that make peer support uniquely effective."

PeerWorks has been working closely with the government and mental health and addictions sector partners to develop and socialize the importance of peer support, and to protect and grow this highly effective and cost-efficient mental health and addictions support within the sector.

The Position Statement is structured into ten crafted statements, categorized into three distinct parts:

1. Protecting the History, Values and Role of Peer Support
2. Current Challenges in Protecting the Integrity of Peer Support
3. Recommendations for Addressing Peer Support Drift and Protecting Peer Support Values and Standards

Key points of the Position Statement:

•   The institutionalization of peer support into mainstream health systems contributes to the depoliticization of the consumer/survivor movement. Many social movements get mainstreamed over time. The integration of peer support into medical model health institutions is affecting the practice of peer support, causing a loss of independent peer voice, a move from social movement to service delivery models, and a weakening of advocacy.
• Peer support drift at the level of individuals, organizations, and systems tends to take two forms: drift into clinical and menial work. Individuals come to participate in drift because of their working conditions, so we also need strategies to support them in protecting the peer support role.
• Peer support drift is a political, legal and ethical problem.  
• Given the magnitude of the systemic problem of peer support drift, addressing it requires collective, adequately resourced prevention and intervention led by people with lived experience. It also requires urgent action from the government and other sponsors of peer support, from the discipline of peer support, from non-peer organizations, partners, researchers and peer supporters. 

The launch of the Position Statement comes at a crucial time when mental health and addictions services are undergoing significant changes globally. PeerWorks is committed to leading the charge in safeguarding the essence of peer support, ensuring it continues to offer genuine, impactful support to those who need it in local communities across Ontario.

About PeerWorks
PeerWorks is Ontario's only province-wide voice for lived experience and peer support. PeerWorks inhabits many spaces in Ontario’s peer support ecosystem. We are a membership-based advocacy and education organization for Consumer/Survivor Initiatives (CSIs) and Peer Support Organizations (PSOs) across Ontario. These organizations are run by and for people with lived experience of mental health and/or substance use issues. PeerWorks proudly champions our members and other CSIs and PSOs in Ontario at the provincial level with government and elected officials. We also serve our members’ professional development needs through workshops, webinars, and training through our Peer Support Core Essentials Program.