NCT07407842

UPSIDES - Recovery Through Peer Support

ENROLLING BY INVITATION NA Last updated 17 March 2026

What this trial tests

NA trial testing UPSIDES-Swe in Mental Illness in 300 participants. Enrolling by invitation.

Timeline

1 November 2025

Primary endpoint
1 November 2028

1 November 2028

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Lund University
Phase	NA
Status	ENROLLING BY INVITATION
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	double
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	300
Start date	1 November 2025
Primary completion	1 November 2028
Estimated completion	1 November 2028
Sites	1 location across Sweden

Drugs / interventions tested

• UPSIDES-Swe

Conditions studied

• Mental Illness — all drugs for Mental Illness →

Sponsor

Lund University

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Mental Illness. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Research problem and specific questions

Peer support (PS) is a well-established intervention within community mental health services (CMHS) internationally, involving a person recovering from serious mental health problems (SMHP) in supporting other users. International studies have shown that PS strengthen users recovery and social inclusion but also highlight the need for larger effect studies on specific manualized interventions. Despite international research showing benefits of PS in C MHS, PS an underused type of support in Sweden. There is a urgent need for more Swedish research developing and evaluating the efficacy of PS interventions for persons recovering from SMHP and in shifting Swedish MHS towards a recovery focused model of service. In meeting this need the current project aims to evaluate the efficacy of a new manualized PS intervention, the UPSIDES-Swe, in Swedish MHS.

Is the peer support intervention, UPSIDES-Swe, significantly more effective than TAU at intervention end (10 weeks) in terms of personal recovery (primary outcome)?

Is UPSIDES-Swe significantly more effective than TAU post intervention and at three month followups in terms of other personal recovery aspects (secondary outcomes i.e., social inclusion, empowerment, quality of life)?

Is the UPSIDES-Swe, significantly more effective than TAU post intervention and at three followups in improving secondary outcomes of clinical recovery related variables, i.e., symptoms and functioning?

How well can the implementation plan and UPSIDES-Swe intervention be implemented and processes explained in relation to primary and secondary outcomes?

Data and method A randomized, assessor-blinded, multi-center trial will be performed between the years 2025-2028. A total of 300 service users will be recruited, and half will be randomized to receiving a PS intervention (UPSIDES-Swe) and an equal number to TAU. A process evaluation will also be performed.

Societal relevance and utilization This project will investigate if a specific PS intervention might be effective in providing greater recovery and social inclusion for a disadvantaged and largely neglected group. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare has also recommended that PS is a promising method but that the evidence is weak and that all implementation of PS interventions should be evaluated.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.