Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110268

Erin C. Dunn, BS, MPH¹, E. Sally Rogers, ScD¹, Brian H. McCorkle, PhD², and Yu Mui Wan, EdD¹. (1) Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston University, 940 Commonwealth Avenue, West, Boston, MA 02215, 617-353-3549, erindunn@bu.edu, (2) The Albert and Jessie Danielsen Institute, Boston University, 185 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215

Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) often experience difficulty in acquiring social support. These findings are particularly concerning, given that inadequate social support may be related to an exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms, may reduce the potential for full community integration, and ultimately serve as a barrier to recovery. Compeer Services, Inc. is a non-profit organization whose mission is to recruit adult volunteers from the community and match them with people in treatment for mental illness. Receiving this intervention is suspected to increase social support and well-being for individuals with SMI, although this hypothesis has never been systematically examined in a rigorous research study. Therefore, the current study sought to evaluate the effect of receiving Compeer services (being matched in a relationship) on a host of outcomes, including perceived social support and social inclusion, empowerment, hope, attitudes towards recovery, and utilization of traditional health services. In addition to examining the impact of receiving the intervention using a quasi-experimental research design, a qualitative study with 20 individuals (both volunteers and participants) was also conducted in order to collect information on the characteristics and processes involved in developing the volunteer relationship. Results of the quantitative study suggest that individuals who receive Compeer Services do experience improvements over time in many of these psychological domains. Influence of the frequency of contact and other relationship factors will be discussed in the context of these findings. Relationship barriers and facilitators will also be briefly discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe how this volunteer intervention affected individuals with SMI in terms of their social support and isolation, hope, empowerment, attitudes towards recovery, and service utilization. Articulate the barriers and facilitators involved in developing a volunteer relationship as perceived by individuals with SMI. Articulate the barriers and facilitators involved in developing a volunteer relationship as perceived by community volunteers

Keywords: Mental Illness, Community-Based Care

Related Web page: www.bu.edu/cpr

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.