Purpose: There are ongoing public initiatives to help substance abusers by involving peer recovery
coaches (PRCs) in the field of substance abuse worldwide. This study examines the contents and delivery
methods of PRC intervention programs and their effects from the participants' standpoint.
Methods: An integrative literature search was conducted in seven electronic databases using English and
Korean search terms. Two researchers independently reviewed the extracted papers and rated their
quality based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, resulting in the selection of nine papers.
Results: Research on PRC participation in substance abuse treatment were predominantly US-based, and
all articles derived were quantitative studies. The main roles of PRCs included liaising between treatment
and community resources, assisting with stress management and coping skills, counseling and case
management, and recovery and recurrence prevention education. In addition, the PRC-delivered intervention
was tested with various outcome variables. It reduced participants' substance use and enhanced
their treatment adherence rates, self-efficacy, quality of life, and stress control.
Conclusions: This study confirmed the need to extend existing studies by testing the effects of PRCdelivered
intervention through multidisciplinary efforts in more regions and establishing PRCs' role
definition and concretization. The results of this study will serve as significant basic data in developing
and applying for nursing intervention programs with PRCs in clinical and community nursing settings in
the future.