Perceived Educational Needs of Substance Use Peer Support Specialists: A Qualitative Study

The opioid crisis is an ever-growing issue nationwide. The role of peer support specialists has received widespread acceptance in the substance use and behavioral health spheres. However, there is a lack of standardization on the training required for peer support specialists to function as competent members of integrated behavioral health teams. We conducted qualitative focus groups with 14 practicing certified peer support specialists to determine their perceived educational needs. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data and six themes emerged: mental health and suicide prevention training, diversity, equity, and inclusion training, counseling skills training, family systems approach to care training, professionalism training, and taking care of self - mind, soul, and body training. To improve peer support specialists' confidence in their ability to competently perform their jobs, important topics need to be incorporated into their educational training and preparation.