Older Adult Peer Support Specialists’ Age-Related Contributions to an Integrated Medical and Psychiatric Self-Management Intervention: Qualitative Study of Text Message Exchanges

Abstract

Background Middle-aged and older adults with mental health conditions have a high likelihood of experiencing comorbid physical health conditions, premature nursing home admissions, and early death compared with the general population of adults aged 50 years or above. An emerging workforce of peer support specialists aged 50 years or above or “older adult peer support specialists” is increasingly using technology to deliver peer support services to address both the mental health and physical health needs of middle-aged and older adults with a diagnosis of a serious mental illness. Objective This exploratory qualitative study examined older adult peer support specialists’ text message exchanges with middle-aged and older adults with a diagnosis of a serious mental illness and their nonmanualized age-related contributions to a standardized integrated medical and psychiatric self-management intervention. Methods Older adult peer support specialists exchanged text messages with middle-aged and older adults with a diagnosis of a serious mental illness as part of a 12-week standardized integrated medical and psychiatric self-management smartphone intervention. Text message exchanges between older adult peer support specialists (n=3) and people with serious mental illnesses (n=8) were examined (mean age 68.8 years, SD 4.9 years). A total of 356 text messages were sent between older adult peer support specialists and service users with a diagnosis of a serious mental illness. Older adult peer support specialists sent text messages to older participants’ smartphones between 8 AM and 10 PM on weekdays and weekends. Results Five themes emerged from text message exchanges related to older adult peer support specialists’ age-related contributions to integrated self-management, including (1) using technology to simultaneously manage mental health and physical health issues; (2) realizing new coping skills in late life; (3) sharing roles as parents and grandparents; (4) wisdom; and (5) sharing lived experience of difficulties with normal age-related changes (emerging). Conclusions Older adult peer support specialists’ lived experience of aging successfully with a mental health challenge may offer an age-related form of peer support that may have implications for promoting successful aging in older adults with a serious mental illness.