Peer-delivered services: Current trends and innovations

Abstract

In this special issue entitled Peer-Delivered Services: Current Trends and Innovations, we provide further information about the growing peer workforce, as well as new and innovative developments in peer-delivered services. In order to do that, we must first define our terms: We consider peer-delivered services to be a broad umbrella of services designed and delivered by individuals with a “lived experience” of mental or substance use challenges. We offer new information to the field in this special issue about peer support and how peer support specialists have evolved to address unmet needs and to attend to social determinants that affect wellness and recovery. We also address the challenges that a relatively new workforce and service innovation can present, as well as directions for continued research, evaluation, and growth. Our intention in this special issue is to examine the who, what, where, and how of peer support specialist services as they currently exist in the United States.