UC Berkeley

Objective

Mental health peer-run organizations are nonprofits providing venues for support and advocacy among people diagnosed as having mental disorders. It has been proposed that consumer involvement is essential to their operations. This study reported organizational characteristics of peer-run organizations nationwide and how these organizations differ by degree of consumer control.

Methods

Data were from the 2012 National Survey of Peer-Run Organizations. The analyses described the characteristics of the organizations (N=380) on five domains of nonprofit research, comparing results for organizations grouped by degree of involvement by consumers in the board of directors.

Results

Peer-run organizations provided a range of supports and educational and advocacy activities and varied in their capacity and resources. Some variation was explained by the degree of consumer control.

Conclusions

These organizations seemed to be operating consistently with evidence on peer-run models. The reach of peer-run organizations, and the need for in-depth research, continues to grow.