The Peer Navigator Role and Its Contribution to Mental Health Service Delivery: An Integrative Review

Peer Navigation in mental health follows the success of similar roles in community health since the 1960s, with early intervention found during the HIV crisis and into cancer care. This integrative review identified existing studies outlining peer support and, in particular, navigation in mental health services. Three databases (CINAHL, Scopus, and PsycINFO) were systematically searched in July 2025, along with grey literature and hand searching. A total of 15 papers met the inclusion criteria. Studies that were not mental health-focussed, such as populations with cancer, HIV, or addictions specific, were excluded. Studies that focussed on the consumer movement or the inclusion of mental health consumers in research were also excluded, as they did not have relevance to the contribution of peer navigation roles to clinical mental health service delivery. Studies primarily reported program effects on continuum of care outcomes. Four themes were identified from the literature: (1) Benefits for families, significant others, and organisational cultural gain; (2) Being accountable to peers offers reciprocal gain; (3) Being understood as you navigate the system; and (4) A need for role clarity even when goals and values differ. Further research is required to capture the role mental health peer navigators play in promoting quality of life, mental health, self-advocacy, and management in diverse settings and populations. Peer programs are complex social interventions. This paper fills a gap in evaluating detailed information about peer navigators, their activities, the quality of peer engagement, as well as employee and community support structures to improve quality and impact. If we are to truly embrace the person with lived experience in partnerships for care delivery, then an understanding of the emergent role and contribution of the peer navigator is required.