PEER SUPPORT PROGRAMME AMONG AMBULANCE PERSONNEL: JOB SATISFACTION, HEALTH AND SUPPORT

Abstract

Prehospital emergency entails challenges, risks and exposure to potential traumatic events.Social support is broadly recognized as a protective factor for mental health, especially in stressful conditions.Peer support has been pointed out as a promising approach to be used in high-risk contexts, such as emergency services.However, there is a lack of research about its effectiveness.This study evaluates the impact of a peer support programme on the job satisfaction, general health and well-being, as well as perceived social support of ambulance personnel.This is a quasiexperimental study, with a pre-test evaluation, followed by the intervention and a post-test evaluation.Fifty-three ambulance personnel participated in this study as part of a peer support providers group, an experimental group or a control group.We found significant differences between groups after the peer support programme, with the experimental group and the peers group showing better results.