Peer support for people with severe mental illness: a pragmatic multicentre randomised controlled trial

Conditions

Severe mental illness Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Moran GS, Goldfarb Y, Ben-Dor IA, Hadas-Grundman S, Kalha J, Baillie D, Kwebiiha E, Mahlke C, Ramesh M, Slade M, Haun M, Krumm S.

2025-11-03

10.1007/s10926-025-10320-4

Effectiveness of peer support for people with severe mental health conditions in high-, middle- and low-income countries: multicentre randomised controlled trial

Bernd Puschner, Juliet Nakku, Ramona Hiltensperger, Philip A. Wolf, Inbar Adler Ben-Dor et al. (44 authors)

The British Journal of Psychiatry2025-06-272 citations

10.1192/bjp.2025.10299

Measuring fidelity to manualised peer support for people with severe mental health conditions: development and psychometric evaluation of the UPSIDES fidelity scale.

Hiltensperger R, Kotera Y, Wolf P, Nixdorf R, Charles A, Farkas M, Grayzman A, Kalha J, Korde P, Mahlke C, Moran G, Mpango R, Mtei R, Ryan G, Shamba D, Wenzel L, Slade M, Puschner B.

2024-10-111 citations

10.1186/s12888-024-06081-8

Mental health workers’ perspectives on the implementation of a peer support intervention in five countries: qualitative findings from the UPSIDES study

Maria Haun, Selina Girit, Yael Goldfarb, Jasmine Kalha, Palak Korde et al. (17 authors)

BMJ Open2024-05-013 citations

10.1136/bmjopen-2023-081963

Implementation of peer support for people with severe mental health conditions in high-, middle- and low-income-countries: a theory of change approach.

Hiltensperger R, Ryan G, Ben-Dor IA, Charles A, Epple E, Kalha J, Korde P, Kotera Y, Mpango R, Moran G, Mueller-Stierlin AS, Nixdorf R, Ramesh M, Shamba D, Slade M, Puschner B, Nakku J.

2024-04-187 citations

10.1186/s12913-024-10990-5

Societal and organisational influences on implementation of mental health peer support work in low-income and high-income settings: a qualitative focus group study

Mary Ramesh, Ashleigh Charles, Alina Grayzman, Ramona Hiltensperger, Jasmine Kalha et al. (14 authors)

BMJ Open2023-08-0117 citations

10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058724

A multi-national peer support intervention: the UPSIDES pilot phase

Rebecca Nixdorf, Lena Nugent, Rabeea’h Aslam, Sarah Barber, Ashleigh Charles et al. (17 authors)

Advances in Mental Health2022-01-0233 citations

10.1080/18387357.2021.2020140

Proportionate translation of study materials and measures in a multinational global health trial: methodology development and implementation

Ashleigh Charles, Palak Korde, Chris Newby, Alina Grayzman, Ramona Hiltensperger et al. (17 authors)

BMJ Open2022-01-0116 citations

10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058083

Peer support for people with severe mental illness versus usual care in high-, middle- and low-income countries: study protocol for a pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial (UPSIDES-RCT).

Moran GS, Kalha J, Mueller-Stierlin AS, Kilian R, Krumm S, Slade M, Charles A, Mahlke C, Nixdorf R, Basangwa D, Nakku J, Mpango R, Ryan G, Shamba D, Ramesh M, Ngakongwa F, Grayzman A, Pathare S, Mayer B, Puschner B.

2020-05-0134 citations

10.1186/s13063-020-4177-7

Interventions

This is a pragmatic parallel-group multi-centre randomised controlled trial with four measurement points over one year (baseline, 4-, 8-, and 12-month follow-up), and embedded process evaluation and c

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 60 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Adult age (18-60 years) at intake 2. Mental disorder of any kind as main diagnosis established by case notes, staff communication or self-label 3. Presence of severe mental illness (Threshold Assessment Grid =5 points and illness duration =2 years) 4. Sufficient command of the host country’s language 5. Capable of giving informed consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Main diagnosis of learning disability, dementia, substance disorder or organic brain disorder 2. Cognitive impairment severe enough to make it impossible to give informed consent or complete study measures

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Social inclusion at t2 (8 months) measured with the Social Inclusion Scale (SIS)	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Measured at baseline, 4-, 8-, and 12-month follow-up: 1. Empowerment (Empowerment Scale, ES) 2. Hope (HOPE scale) 3. Recovery (Stages of Recovery, STORI-30) 4. Health and social functioning (Health of the Nations Outcome Scales, HoNOS)	—

Countries

Germany, India, Israel, Tanzania, Uganda

Contacts

Public ContactBernd Puschner

bernd.puschner@bkh-guenzburg.de+49 8221 962866

Outcome results

None listed