Peer Support Services Offer Valuable Patient Engagement

When a concerned father told Mary Ann Heran that his daughter, once an enthusiastic student, now hated school and did not want to read, he found more than a sympathetic listener.

Heran, the peer care coordinator for the Rhode Island Patient Information Network(www.ripin.org) has a child with dyslexia, she told listeners at the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative Fall Conference, held here Nov. 11-13. She spoke during a peer support specialist panel discussion about how such support can assist families with health needs.

Heran suspected the father might also have a child with dyslexia, and armed with her personal experience and training, she set out to help him find community resources and navigate barriers to access.

It's the type of help patients and their relatives often need in addition to care they receive from a physician.

"Many parents don't know what resources are available or they are too busy," Heran said. "It's important to listen to parents and give them the resources they need."