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The science

Like-minded people and phase peers

Every phase shows who is in it now and who has already passed it.

Digital peer support, physical
SMD 0.35
Digital peer support, mental
SMD 0.53
Counted in our estimate
Small

What it does in Road Mates

  • Each phase lists people currently in it and people who already passed it.
  • You meet people who are on the same road, not people who are only in the same topic.
  • People ahead of you are proof that the next step can be done.

How it works

  • Peers at your phase share the same obstacles right now.
  • Peers past your phase can show you what worked.
  • Messages are direct, with email notifications for DMs.

What the research found

A recent meta-analysis of digital peer support interventions found moderate benefits for physical health (standardized mean difference 0.35) and larger benefits for mental health (0.53). Physical-health gains held at follow-up. Mental-health gains faded over time.

One finding matters for design: higher intervention dose was linked to reduced effectiveness. More contact was not better, so we keep peer contact light.

Limits

  • These studies are about health conditions and structured programs, not goal pursuit in general.
  • Heterogeneity is high and the figures come from the abstract of the review.
  • We count only a small extra for peers, since part of the benefit is already in accountability.

Sources