Supervision of Peer Staff in Japanese Mental Health Services: Current Status and Issues

Abstract

To ascertain the current status of and issues with supervision of peer staff in mental health services, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 members and supervisory administrative staff. Interview data were analyzed using content analysis method proposed by Krippendorff. Results indicated that supervisors have varied effects on peer staff and that supervision of peer staff emphasizes the peer support relationship (equal standing, mutual respect, and reciprocity). A comparison of supervision by peer staff and administrative staff indicated that these features were readily evident when peer staff provided supervision. In addition, that supervision is viewed in various ways while peer staff’s expertise is being established became apparent during analysis. In the future, the system of supervision needs to be refined with peer staff’s characteristics in mind.