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Peer support to help persons with schizophrenia return to employment

This project was initiated by the Société Québécoise de la Schizophrénie (SQS), which aims to scientifically evaluate its new peer support program for employment and active living.

A peer support worker is a person living with a mental disorder who shares their recovery experience to support and inspire others facing similar situations.

Although this approach is recognized as an important support for recovery, it has not been studied in the Quebec employment context. Currently, only a small proportion of people living with schizophrenia or psychotic disorders (about 20%) manage to keep a job, even though most wish to work and are capable of doing so. It is therefore essential to assess approaches that are better suited to their needs.

This project takes a participatory and inclusive approach, in collaboration with the SQS. The research team, including the researchers and the SQS, will use qualitative methods to better understand how peer support can assist with employment. Discussion groups with individuals who have participated in the SQS program will be co-facilitated by a peer supporter with lived experience.

The results of this study will help raise employer awareness of the benefits of inclusion and highlight the importance of integrating peer support into pathways toward active living and employment.

Partners & Collaborators

  • Partners

    • Denis Tremblay, Tania Leduc,
      Carole Kermaec , Société Québécoise de la Schizophrénie

  • Peer workers

    • Chad Chouinard, Simon Longpré, SQS

  • Lead Researcher

    • Geneviève Sauvé, Douglas Research Centre,  Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

  • Co-Researchers

    • Amal Abdel-Baki, Centre de recherche du CHUM, Université de Montréal (UdeM)

    • Srividya Iyer, Douglas Research Centre, McGill University

Funders

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McGill University and the Douglas Research Centre are on land which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous peoples, including the traditional territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka, one of the founding nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. We respect the continued connections with the past, present and future in our ongoing relationships with Indigenous and other peoples within Tiohtià:ke/Montréal and across the country.

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6875 boul. LaSalle
Montréal, Québec
H4H 1R3

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