Current Research

NAMI Peer-to-Peer

nami peer to peer

A Randomized Controlled Trial of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Peer-to-Peer Program on the U.S.-Mexico Border

This research, funded by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, examined the impact of the NAMI Peer-to-Peer program on recovery-oriented outcomes among individuals with serious mental illness in a US-Mexico border region. This was the first RCT of the NAMI Peer-to-Peer program, and one of few studies to date to examine the impact of peer support with a predominantly Hispanic/Latino sample. Based on a review of the existing literature, we expected individuals in the intervention group to experience greater clinical recovery (reduction in symptoms) and personal recovery (increased sense of empowerment, great sense of social support, greater social functioning, greater sense of empathy and acceptance, reduction in the perception of stigma as a barrier, increased sense of hope, and increased knowledge about mental illness) compared to the control group. The figure below illustrates how we anticipated the Peer-to-Peer program components would influence outcomes.

NAMI group chart

Findings from this small feasibility trial (Intervention N=12, Control N= 9) of the program with a majority Hispanic population suggest that NAMI P2P participants experienced significant improvements in recovery and significant reductions in the hurt causes by self-stigma relative to a waitlist control condition (Kosyluk et al., in review).

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Visit the NAMI El Paso Website. 

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Dr. Kosyluk serves on the Board ofDirectors of NAMI Hillsborough.

Here you can read more about the NAMI Peer-to-Peer Program.