Barriers and facilitators to implementing and sustaining peer support in kidney care

Introduction Peer support offers informational, appraisal and emotional support for people with CKD, is recommended in national policy, yet has low engagement levels. This paper reports results of a national survey and qualitative interviews in the UK. Literature review A recent narrative review highlighted the barriers and facilitators to peer support uptake among people with CKD however called on further studies to be conducted. Material and methods The survey, adapted from a 2012 version, was sent to all 83 UK kidney units. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff, recipients and supporters from two units. Results 44 units completed the survey, and 10 staff, 7 patients and 2 peer supporters were interviewed. The most common facilitators were promotion with staff and having peer support champions. Barriers included lack of staff time, guidance/information, other projects taking priority and too few supporters. Discussion Little progress has been made since 2012; a proportion of units without peer support has increased, with similar barriers identified in 2020. Services could be designed to limit the time needed for their creation and maintenance through having simpler referrals and designating staff liaisons. Implications for clinical practice Peer support programmes should have passionate staff and volunteers, involve recipients in the design, recruit an array of supporters and establish evaluations to determine the progress/outcomes. A resource toolkit was developed in response to this project. Conclusion Findings from the national survey and qualitative interviews showed that more peer support optimisation and prioritisation is needed to ensure benefits are maximised.