Development, Evaluation, and Evolution of a Peer Support Program in Veterinary Medical Education

Abstract

The majority of peer support programs in UK universities focus on academic support (e.g., through peer-assisted learning programs). Following student consultation, a pilot pastoral-based student peer support program was developed and implemented in a UK veterinary school. Thirty-one students were trained in the pilot year, and continued with the program to the end of the academic year (and beyond). The trainees were asked for feedback at the end of training and at the end of the year; the rest of the student body was surveyed as to their perception of the peer support program at the end of the year. Feedback from the training (N=19) was positive, with themes of enhanced self-development, improved communication skills, and bonding with other trainees. The wider student body responded (N=497) with concerns over confidentiality within a small community and distrust due to the competitive environment. Despite this, however, most students (74%) agreed that having peer support available created a supportive atmosphere, even if they did not personally plan on using the program. The paper concludes with a description of the changes being made to the program as a result of the evaluation.

Development of the Mental Health Peer Support Questionnaire in Colleges and Vocational Schools in Singapore

“…Peer support training also had positive impacts on general communication skills (Spielman et al, 2015;Steinbauer, 1998) and speci c empathetic and re ection skills (Aladag & Tezer, 2009;Brenton, 2000;Martin, 1998). Peer supporters had also reported self-development (Spielman et al, 2015), increased con dence in supporting peers (Eisenstein et al, 2019;Hart et al, 2018), decreased nervousness and increased self-awareness (Abu-Rasain & Williams, 1999). A longitudinal study on secondary school peer supporters' pre-and post-peer program participation found signi cant improvement in peer support skills and understanding (Eisenstein et al, 2019), which corroborates the results from our study.…”

“…In the peer support literature, studies found that training programs increased peer supporters' recognition of suicide symptoms (Hennig et al, 1998) and decreased their stigmatizing beliefs (Hart et al, 2018). Peer support training also had positive impacts on general communication skills (Spielman et al, 2015;Steinbauer, 1998) and speci c empathetic and re ection skills (Aladag & Tezer, 2009;Brenton, 2000;Martin, 1998). Peer supporters had also reported self-development (Spielman et al, 2015), increased con dence in supporting peers (Eisenstein et al, 2019;Hart et al, 2018), decreased nervousness and increased self-awareness (Abu-Rasain & Williams, 1999).…”

“…All schools provide training for peer supporters on topics such as mental health awareness, listening skills, and referring other students to professional resources, to help these students take on the role (Ministry of Health Singapore & Ministry of Education Singapore, 2016) Despite the extensive literature on peer support programs for individuals with serious mental illness, few studies have investigated peer support programs for mental health promotion in colleges and vocational schools. Most studies on school-based mental health peer support were conducted in secondary or high schools (Abu-Rasain & Williams, 1999;Diver-Stamnes, 1991;Eisenstein et al, 2019;Hart et al, 2018;Hennig, Crabtree, & Baum, 1998;Robinson, Morrow, Kigin, & Lindeman, 1991;Steinbauer, 1998) and one was conducted in a veterinary school (Spielman, Hughes, & Rhind, 2015). Out of the four studies found that were conducted among college students, two had small sample sizes of 20 to 30 peer supporters (Aladag & Tezer, 2009;Badura, Millard, Johnson, Stewart, & Bartolomei, 2003), one collected only qualitative data (Badura et al, 2003), and two did not collect any primary data (Hsi & Chung, 2010;Stokes et al, 1988).…”

“…Out of the four studies found that were conducted among college students, two had small sample sizes of 20 to 30 peer supporters (Aladag & Tezer, 2009;Badura, Millard, Johnson, Stewart, & Bartolomei, 2003), one collected only qualitative data (Badura et al, 2003), and two did not collect any primary data (Hsi & Chung, 2010;Stokes et al, 1988). Only two studies on school-based programs were found to have collected data from recipients of these peer programs (Abu-Rasain & Williams, 1999;Spielman et al, 2015). One review was available regarding a peer program in the Asian context, but it did not involve any data collection (Hsi & Chung, 2010).…”

Development of the Mental Health Peer Support Questionnaire in colleges and vocational schools in Singapore

“…Despite the extensive literature on peer support programs for individuals with serious mental illness, few studies have investigated peer support programs for mental health promotion in colleges and vocational schools. Most studies on school-based mental health peer support were conducted in secondary or high schools [1,13,15,20,21,38,41] and one was conducted in a veterinary school [40]. Out of the four studies found that were conducted among college students, two had small sample sizes of 20 to 30 peer supporters [2,4], one collected only qualitative data [4], and two did not collect any primary data [22,42].…”