Employee support: Where have we come from, and where are we going?

Peer involvement has been supporting people experiencing mental health and other psychosocial problems for over a hundred years. As the influence of peers increases in primary and secondary health care as well as within organisations, there is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of using peers to deliver support for a range of psychosocial conditions. This paper reviews the emergence of peer support from the United Kingdom’s social welfare and the American social justice movements. There are some well-established benefits to taking support as close as possible to those in need through peers provide clinical support without adequate training and assistance. Whilst this paper was written with policing in mind, the principles would apply to any organisation considering introducing a peer support program.