Theoretical Foundations of Peer Support

The theoretical underpinnings of peer support are broad and come from a diversity of disciplines including public health, psychology, and sociology. The main theoretical driver of peer support work is that of the health-promoting effects of social support. Social support is the functional content of social relationships and comprises the categories of emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal support. Peer support workers can provide each of these types of support in a variety of ways. A second fundamental perspective of peer support work is the value of lived experience and experiential knowledge. Knowing about illness as a subject is a perspective that is often undervalued in traditional approaches to care, whereas it is the central basis of peer support. Additionally, social cognitive theory and social comparison theory lend important theoretical rationales for peer support. Stigma is another construct that is important to consider when thinking about peer support work, especially in relation to a highly stigmatized condition such as schizophrenia. Finally, socioecological models inform our understanding of peer support. As such, this chapter presents a conceptual model outlining inputs and outcomes of peer support programs for people with schizophrenia at each level of the socioecological framework.