What you need to knowPeer support can be particularly helpful at the point of diagnosis or during periods of transition in health or life stagesPeer support can be accessed face to face, online, in clinical or non-clinical groups, or through activitiesClinicians can collaborate with peer support groups by signposting patients to peer support, offering to attend peer support sessions, and helping with meetingsMost people living with a long term condition spend only a small fraction of their time with healthcare professionals. Someone with diabetes, for example, will spend three hours a year with a healthcare professional on average, and the remaining 8757 hours caring for themselves.1 Considering this limited time, and that 40-80% of medical information provided in health consultations is forgotten immediately,2 additional access to means of support could allow people to address issues not dealt with in traditional clinical settings.3 Self-management alone can be tiring, isolating, overwhelming, and…
