PSS Advocacy, Empowerment, and Navigating Systems 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When helping a peer navigate a bureaucratic system, a peer specialist should avoid:
- Helping the peer identify the right contacts to call
- Explaining eligibility requirements in plain language
- Making decisions for the peer without their input (Correct answer)
- Accompanying the peer to a benefits appointment if requested
Correct answer: Making decisions for the peer without their input
Making decisions without the peer's input undermines autonomy and the empowerment principles central to peer support.
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of 'individual advocacy' by a peer specialist?
- Testifying at a state legislature about mental health funding
- Helping a specific peer appeal a denied Medicaid application (Correct answer)
- Joining a national mental health advocacy organization
- Writing an op-ed about psychiatric hospital conditions
Correct answer: Helping a specific peer appeal a denied Medicaid application
Individual advocacy focuses on addressing the needs of one specific person navigating a system or situation.
Question 3: A peer is afraid to speak up to their psychiatrist about medication side effects. A peer specialist's best response is to:
- Tell the psychiatrist about the side effects without the peer's consent
- Role-play the conversation with the peer to build confidence (Correct answer)
- Assure the peer that side effects are always expected and manageable
- Advise the peer to stop the medication immediately
Correct answer: Role-play the conversation with the peer to build confidence
Role-playing helps the peer practice self-advocacy in a safe setting before the actual conversation with their provider.
Question 4: Supported decision-making differs from guardianship primarily because it:
- Gives legal authority to a family member or appointed guardian
- Allows the person to retain decision-making rights with support from trusted people (Correct answer)
- Requires court approval for all major life decisions
- Removes the person's legal rights in crisis situations
Correct answer: Allows the person to retain decision-making rights with support from trusted people
Supported decision-making preserves the individual's autonomy while providing assistance from a network of trusted supporters.
Question 5: A peer specialist working in a hospital setting overhears staff speaking disrespectfully about a patient's mental health condition. The appropriate action is to:
- Confront the staff members loudly in front of other patients
- Ignore the situation to avoid conflict
- Report the behavior through appropriate channels and support the affected peer (Correct answer)
- Transfer the peer to another unit immediately
Correct answer: Report the behavior through appropriate channels and support the affected peer
Peer specialists have a duty to advocate for dignity and respect, using proper reporting channels when they witness stigmatizing behavior.
Question 6: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) requires that:
- All Americans receive free mental health treatment
- Insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorders must be comparable to coverage for medical and surgical conditions (Correct answer)
- Peer specialists must be licensed to bill insurance
- Hospitals must accept all mental health patients regardless of insurance
Correct answer: Insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorders must be comparable to coverage for medical and surgical conditions
MHPAEA prohibits insurance plans from imposing more restrictive limits on mental health benefits than on comparable medical or surgical benefits.
Question 7: A peer specialist can best help someone experiencing housing instability by:
- Offering to let the peer stay at their own home
- Connecting the peer to housing programs and supporting them through applications (Correct answer)
- Telling the peer that housing is not a mental health issue
- Contacting the peer's landlord without their permission
Correct answer: Connecting the peer to housing programs and supporting them through applications
Peer specialists connect people to community resources and support them through processes, addressing social determinants of health like housing.
PSS Advocacy, Empowerment, and Navigating Systems 3
When helping a peer navigate a bureaucratic system, a peer specialist should avoid: