Paramedic perspectives on workplace peer support: a thematic analysis.

Authors

Ella S D Sawtell, Sean Cowlishaw, Kylie King, Megan L Dobbie, Kristina L Bobetic, Jennifer J Elmer, Alexander P Wolkow, Emma Morton

Published in

International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being. Volume 21. Issue 1. Pages 2722434. Dec 31, 2026. Epub Aug 24, 2026.

Abstract

Trauma exposure and workplace psychosocial hazards can negatively impact paramedics' mental health. Peer support programs are increasingly deployed, but evidence regarding their use in this context is limited. This qualitative study explored paramedics' experiences with peer support.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 paramedics, from a single Australian ambulance service, who had recently (<12 months) engaged with peer support. Interviews explored support needs, helpful and unhelpful program elements, and program outcomes. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Four main themes were developed. First, participants described the needs, shaped by occupational demands, underlying peer support use, including processing traumatic exposures, clinical debriefing, managing work-life intersections, and to substitute other supports. Second, proactive peer contact helped overcome barriers to self-referral, identify at-risk paramedics and foster organisational support. Third, that practical and emotional benefits were underpinned by shared understanding. Fourth, that meaningful support depended on complementary peer-paramedic characteristics.
These findings highlight the importance of proactive peer outreach in paramedic services, suggest the need to explore informal clinical debriefing within peer support, and refine peer-paramedic matching to facilitate benefits. Future research should evaluate tailored peer-support models and assess their impact on program engagement, and paramedic mental health outcomes.

PMID:
42636259
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Aug 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.