Initial Findings from the Testing of a Digital Platform to Support Peer Recovery Coaches
Abstract
Research Objective: Peer recovery coaches (PRCs) are certified, non-clinical specialists who support people in recovery from substance use disorder. In this project, we are co-designing a technology platform (Peer PLUS) with PRCs to facilitate documentation of their work and support connection with clients. Thus, offering a source of data on client outcomes and PRC-client interactions to further discern the effect of PRCs and offer a quantitative measure of reimbursement for provision of PRC services.
Study Design: Three 2-week deployments of Peer PLUS were conducted to test the design features and functionality of the mobile app and client management system (CMS) between May and November 2024: the first deployment focused on the mobile app, the second focused on the CMS, and the third focused on testing the integration of the mobile app into the CMS. Semi-structured interviews and co-design sessions were conducted with all participants in addition to post-study surveys (system usability scale (SUS) and a custom user experience (UX) survey).
Population Studied: Study participants were one PRC manager, three PRCs and six of their adult clients. Clients were referred from the emergency department, women’s health department and the community.
Principal Findings: The Peer PLUS mobile app received high SUS scores (mean score=80.2) across all beta testing (SUS>68=above average; >85=excellent). All participants rated the mobile app as providing desirable levels of support (UX mean score=4.6/5.0). Table 1 provides qualitative end user feedback on the system design.
Conclusions: PRCs need tools that allow them to easily connect with their clients (e.g. secure communication and sharing resources) and to capture the scope of work that takes place in onboarding and supporting clients throughout the recovery journey. The co-design engagements with PRCs and clients after short, real-world deployments provided rich feedback that resulted in a desirable and useful digital platform to support workflows and client engagement.
Implications for Policy or Practice: The Peer PLUS platform was designed to help PRCs connect with and support clients in a more secure manner and with intention to capture data that can inform policies, in part by shedding light on the hidden work of PRCs to help define the complexities of the work. This data could help define reasonable client panel sizes and improve job satisfaction of PRCs.
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
6-8-2025
Publication Title
Academy Health Annual Research Meeting
Recommended Citation
Pater, Jessica, Rachel Pfafman, Yi Rong Tan, Abhinay Balasani, Christopher Becker, Jeanne Carroll, Mindy Flanagan, Dana Albright, and Tammy Toscos. (2025, June). Initial Findings from the Testing of a Digital Platform to Support Peer Recovery Coaches. In 2025 Annual Research Meeting. AcademyHealth.