Peer Support — MRCPsych Paper B MCQ

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ModerateRehabilitationPeer SupportMRCPsych Paper B

A community mental health service is introducing trained peer support workers with relevant lived experience of mental health difficulties and recovery into its multidisciplinary teams. Which contribution most clearly represents the distinctive recovery-oriented rationale for this role?

Educational content. Not a substitute for clinical judgement or local policy.

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Correct answer: C — Experiential knowledge that fosters hope and models recovery alongside clinical expertise

Explanation lettering: E = shown as A · A = shown as B · B = shown as C · C = shown as D · D = shown as E

The correct answer is B. Peer support workers make a distinctive contribution by purposefully drawing on lived experience to establish mutual understanding, foster hope and provide a credible model that personal recovery is possible. This experiential knowledge complements rather than replaces professional clinical expertise and supports people to define and lead their own recovery. Employing peer workers primarily as a cheaper workforce would undermine the role's recovery values (A). They do not substitute for clinicians responsible for diagnosis, clinical assessment or risk management (C), and peer support is not restricted to mild disorders (D). Although peer workers may discuss experiences of treatment or support self-management, prescribing and clinical medication monitoring are not their defining functions (E). Evidence that peer support reliably reduces hospital admission is not sufficiently conclusive to include as a core claim.

Reference: Royal College of Psychiatrists and National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health. The Competence Framework for Mental Health Peer Support Workers: Part 1 Supporting Document, sections 2.1 and 5.1.1, 2020. https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/nccmh/the-competence-framework-for-mental-health-peer-support-workers/the-competence-framework-for-mh-psws---part-1---supporting-document.pdf?sfvrsn=ad47e42b_2