Development and validation of a peer support programme for the prisoners with mental and substance use disorders in India

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of mental health problems and substance use disorders is high in prisons. There is a need to develop effective and sustainable models in prison to address their mental health demands. AIM: The study aimed to develop and validate a peer support programme (PSP) for prisoners with common mental and substance use disorders (SUD). METHOD: The PSP was developed by reviewing the literature and expert interviews and validated by seven experts. RESULT: The expert interview brought out a total of 10 themes. The final components included in the content of the peer support interventions were information about mental health issues, identification of the cases, basic counseling skills, psycho-education, early warning signs and symptoms, managing substance use by motivational interviewing, and suicidal gatekeeping. CONCLUSION: This study describes the development of a comprehensive PSP, and it needs to be tested to examine its feasibility and effectiveness in addressing mental health problems in prison settings.