Shaping The future of Peer Specialist Employment

With your help, this ground-breaking study can shape the future of the peer workforce when it's needed most.

Certified Peer Specialists (CPS) who received a credential in Pennsylvania, Oregon, Texas, North Carolina after July 2019 will soon receive a letter in the mail and an email from Live & Learn, Inc. inviting them to complete a 30-minute survey about experiences with work, regardless of current employment status or whether they work in peer services or not.

What is the research about?
This study will document the employment status, working conditions, financial security, and self-efficacy of people with psychiatric histories who get certified as a peer specialist. The survey will be repeated in 2021 and 2022 to see changes over time.

What is the reason for this research?
Representative data on how the CPS credential impacts career trajectories of people with psychiatric histories can reduce disadvantages in seeking and maintaining employment, and improve certification policies and working conditions. 

Why is this research essential right now? 
Dramatic, nationwide shifts in the healthcare system and workplace culture may disproportionately affect people with psychiatric histories (for better or worse), including unemployment, financial uncertainty, and changes in working conditions such as increased flexibility or use of online services.

What can you do to support the project?
The study is recruiting eligible participants directly, but you can help increase the response by spreading the word!

If you receive an invitation to participate in the mail or via email, we hope you will take the time to respond. Eligible participants will receive a $5 unconditional payment in the mail and $10 for completing each survey -- a total of $45 over three years.

Visit the project webpage at www.livelearninc.net/cps
 

For more information contact the Live & Learn, Inc. Team at cps@livelearninc.net