Peer Support Workers: A Qualitative Exploration of Emotional Burden, Moral Distress and Strategies to Reduce the Risk of Mental Health Crisis.

The demand to base the Polish psychiatric reform on the personal recovery paradigm as a principle and conditio sine qua non of patient-centred psychiatric care has led to the emergence of peer support workers (PSWs) as one of the elements of the new mental health care system.

This research aimed to explore the experience of emotional burden among peer support workers (PSWs) in mental health care in Poland. In addition, we explored the issue of moral distress in relation to this professional group and identified good practice in institutional sources of support for the well-being of PSWs in the workplace and to reduce the risk of mental crisis.

The research sample consisted of 14 PSWs recruited from four mental health centers (MHCs) located in different parts of Poland. The MHCs were selected to represent not only a range of geographical locations but also a diversity of organisational structures, including those run within psychiatric hospitals, general hospitals, research institutes with clinical base, and non-governmental organisations.

The narratives of PSWs revealed several experiences that could be considered to be moral distress. The inability to assist patients was found to be associated with both individual and institutional barriers. Furthermore, our findings suggest that organisations can implement a number of specific practices to ensure the wellbeing of PSWs. Dissemination of these strategies to teams employing PSWs would be beneficial, as they are not only practical but also align with common sense institutional strategies, such as building self-awareness and a supportive working environment, which include informal team relationships.