Teimur Kayani, Robert Cotter, Jonathan Sigworth, Benjamin Doolittle
{"title":"There Is More to Life Than Walking: A Qualitative Study of Survivorship Among Peer Mentors in the Spinal Cord Injury Community.","authors":"Teimur Kayani, Robert Cotter, Jonathan Sigworth, Benjamin Doolittle","doi":"10.59249/YXEB6783","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Objective</b>: To identify factors impacting survivorship among people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) and volunteering in a peer mentorship program. <b>Research Method/Design</b>: Semi-structured interviews were conducted by a leader of a non-profit organization designed to promote independent living after SCI. Questions explored intrinsic factors such as resilience and emotional coping as well extrinsic factors such as family support and accessibility challenges that impacted their SCI survivorship journey. Two independent anonymous reviewers conducted thematic analysis to identify these factors. <b>Results</b>: Twenty-eight members of the SCI peer mentorship program participated. Four themes affecting survivorship were identified: <i>Sense of Achievement</i>, <i>Post-Injury Growth</i>, <i>Post-Injury Challenges</i>, and <i>Giving and Receiving Support</i>. Nearly all participants focused their responses on <i>Post-Injury Growth</i> and <i>Giving and Receiving Support</i> as reasons for their interest in serving as peer mentors. <b>Conclusions</b>: This study highlights a need for peer community integration following SCI and underscores the importance of using a community-driven participatory model to inform and guide research. Peer mentorship programs can link SCI survivors to mentors and facilitate other sources of social fulfillment and thus can have a profound impact on individuals' survivorship post-SCI. This study identified a <i>Sense of Achievement</i>, <i>Post-Injury Growth</i>, <i>Giving and Receiving Support</i>, and <i>Post-Injury Challenges</i> as factors that most impact the SCI survivorship journey. This community leader's work underscores the importance of cognitive framing and social networks in post-injury rehabilitation in this population. Future directions include analyzing the longitudinal effects of peer mentorship participation on life satisfaction and community building in individuals living with SCI.</p>","PeriodicalId":48617,"journal":{"name":"Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11426298/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.59249/YXEB6783","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/9/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: To identify factors impacting survivorship among people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) and volunteering in a peer mentorship program. Research Method/Design: Semi-structured interviews were conducted by a leader of a non-profit organization designed to promote independent living after SCI. Questions explored intrinsic factors such as resilience and emotional coping as well extrinsic factors such as family support and accessibility challenges that impacted their SCI survivorship journey. Two independent anonymous reviewers conducted thematic analysis to identify these factors. Results: Twenty-eight members of the SCI peer mentorship program participated. Four themes affecting survivorship were identified: Sense of Achievement, Post-Injury Growth, Post-Injury Challenges, and Giving and Receiving Support. Nearly all participants focused their responses on Post-Injury Growth and Giving and Receiving Support as reasons for their interest in serving as peer mentors. Conclusions: This study highlights a need for peer community integration following SCI and underscores the importance of using a community-driven participatory model to inform and guide research. Peer mentorship programs can link SCI survivors to mentors and facilitate other sources of social fulfillment and thus can have a profound impact on individuals' survivorship post-SCI. This study identified a Sense of Achievement, Post-Injury Growth, Giving and Receiving Support, and Post-Injury Challenges as factors that most impact the SCI survivorship journey. This community leader's work underscores the importance of cognitive framing and social networks in post-injury rehabilitation in this population. Future directions include analyzing the longitudinal effects of peer mentorship participation on life satisfaction and community building in individuals living with SCI.
期刊介绍:
The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (YJBM) is a graduate and medical student-run, peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to the publication of original research articles, scientific reviews, articles on medical history, personal perspectives on medicine, policy analyses, case reports, and symposia related to biomedical matters. YJBM is published quarterly and aims to publish articles of interest to both physicians and scientists. YJBM is and has been an internationally distributed journal with a long history of landmark articles. Our contributors feature a notable list of philosophers, statesmen, scientists, and physicians, including Ernst Cassirer, Harvey Cushing, Rene Dubos, Edward Kennedy, Donald Seldin, and Jack Strominger. Our Editorial Board consists of students and faculty members from Yale School of Medicine and Yale University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. All manuscripts submitted to YJBM are first evaluated on the basis of scientific quality, originality, appropriateness, contribution to the field, and style. Suitable manuscripts are then subject to rigorous, fair, and rapid peer review.