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UNC-Chapel Hill Peer Support Core Reflects on Impact of Inaugural Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 21, 2021
Media Contact: Dr. Edwin Fisher at fishere@email.unc.edu
UNC-Chapel Hill Peer Support Core Reflects on Impact of Inaugural Year
Annual report highlights strength of peer support programs across campus
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Today marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Peer Support Core, a UNC-Chapel Hill focused organization charged with “increasing resources for programs focused on peer-to-peer support, non-crisis support and discussion” as outlined by the UNC-Chapel Hill Mental Health Task Force.

In honor of this milestone, the Peer Support Core has released its 2020-2021 Annual Report that highlights the impact made on mental health and wellness.

“I am grateful for their collaboration with schools and units to create a university-wide culture of mutual support and understanding,” said University Provost Bob Blouin. “Building on the strengths of existing programs…

UNC and Shanghai collaborate on promising models for the global challenge of diabetes

February 3, 2020

Researchers from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and Peers for Progress have collaborated with colleagues in Shanghai on a paper showing the contributions of peer support to diabetes management, published today in Translational Behavioral Medicine. This paper is part of a special section of the journal devoted to prevention and management of diabetes in varied international settings – China, India, South Africa, Sweden and Uganda.

If the 463 million people across the globe with diabetes were a country, they would constitute the third-largest in the world, behind India and China but well ahead of the United States. This represents dramatic increases in the percentages of people with diabetes – many of whom do not know they have the disease – and reflects parallel increases in obesity around the world. The continued growth of diabetes, along with other chronic diseases, is most dramatic in low- and middle-income countries, but it…

UNC Peers for Progress Joins Michigan Center for Diabetes Translational Research

UNC Peers for Progress is proud to join the Michigan Center for Diabetes Translational Research (MCDTR) to foster rigorous translational research on peer support for the improvement of diabetes prevention, management, and quality-of-life. The new UM–UNC Peer Support Core is co-directed by Ed Fisher, PhD at UNC Peers for Progress and Michele Heisler, MD, MPA at the MCDTR.

The Specific Aims of the Core are:

To provide investigators with access to expertise and resources on peer support in order to promote innovative research that will accelerate the adoption and dissemination of effective and cost-effective peer support interventions.
To provide investigators technical assistance and training in peer support program development, implementation, evaluation, training, and quality improvement.
To strengthen the networking between investigators at Michigan, UNC Chapel Hill, and other universities doing research in or interested in research utilizing peer support.

The Core…