Certified Older Adult Peer Specialists (COAPS)

Certified Older Adult Peer Specialist (COAPS) Training and Certification Program 

Prior to the COVID pandemic, older adults comprised 13.5% of the total U.S. population, and that number is on track to double by 2030. Expanded healthcare services, including both increased home and community-based services and increased Medicare and Medicaid services, will be necessary to meet their healthcare needs. The Certified Older Adult Peer Specialist (COAPS) program works nationally to address these unmet mental health and behavioral health needs in older adults.   

COAPS is designed to train Certified Peer Specialists (CPS) as older adult behavioral health specialists and wellness coaches. Peers represent a form of social support that public health and medical research has long recognized as a beneficial factor enhancing the quality of life and healthy living of persons with any chronic health conditions.  Peer specialists, specifically educated in the issues of aging and the principles of wellness and coaching, represent a potent under-utilized resource to help others with serious mental illnesses in the pursuit of physical wellness and improved health outcomes. The COAPS program prepares older adults in recovery to provide hope, empowerment, choices, and opportunities to other older adults through support and shared experiences.  

The specialized COAPS training and certificate process spans 18 hours, offered in person or remotely, and addresses topics related to health in older adults including normal aging, cultural responsiveness, anxiety, depression and suicide risk, trauma, substance use, and more. We also emphasize application of recovery-oriented support via motivational interviewing, consideration of stages of change, and improving networks of social supports. COAPS are trained to work with older adults in a variety of settings such as senior centers, senior housing units, and health clinics.  They are important partners in meeting the needs of older adults as COAPS are well equipped to engage older adults in services, guide them through the recovery process, and help them navigate the health care and social services systems. Train-the-trainer opportunities are also available for trained COAPS to support training within their networks. 

Peer support is recognized as an evidence-based practice in most behavioral health systems in the U.S, and many provide funding for these services.  While the explicit goal of CPS work is to benefit the person who receives services, many peer specialists describe significant benefit to themselves as well, including strengthening their own personal recovery, a sense of empowerment, and affirming their own values related to giving to others. This mutuality provides a balanced, bi-directional benefit to both the peer specialist and the person in recovery.  CPS also provide an economic benefit through expanded employment opportunities for individuals in recovery from mental and behavioral health disorders. The COAPS program continues to expand and flourish as it provides individual hope for recovery.  

Over 300 Certified Older Adult Peer Specialists (COAPS) have been trained since 2008! 

COAPS have been trained in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Virginia, New Mexico, and North Carolina. Check out this webinar, hosted by the American Psychiatric Association on SAMHSA, to learn more about COAPS! 

Want to get trained to be a COAPS?

We typically work with organizations or other large systems to offer COAPS training to their Certified Peer Specialists (CPSs), rather than offering training on an individual basis. If you are a CPS who is interested in becoming a COAPS but you are not working in a system that is currently offering COAPS training, please contact us if you'd like to discuss options for organizing a group training (including associated costs).

Are you trained COAPS leading an upcoming training?

If you are a trained COAPS who has completed our Train-the-Trainer and plan to run a training, please reach complete this survey. We ask that you complete it at least 2 weeks before your anticipated training date. We will then reach out to offer support and make sure you are updated on the latest guidelines and information to run the training.