The US-based National Empowerment Center (NEC), says that:
“Anecdotal evidence clearly shows that the vast majority of mental health consumers prefer peer-run services to inpatient hospitalisation, and a growing number of evaluations and studies are confirming this.
According to a study in the American Journal of Community Psychology, The Turning Point Community Crisis Residential Program in Sacramento, California participated in a research/demonstration project from 1993-1997 that compared cost and outcome to a locked, inpatient psychiatric facility. The study compared the effectiveness of the unlocked, mental health consumer-managed, crisis residential program (CRP) to a locked, inpatient psychiatric facility (LIPF) for adults for severe psychiatric problems. Participants in the CRP experienced significantly greater improvement on interviewer-rated and self-reported psychopathology than did participants in the LIPF condition; service satisfaction was dramatically higher in the CRP condition.”
Go here to see more evidence cited by the NEC concerning the efficacy of peer-run crisis services.
