Communicating messages of care and positivity to peers with SCI/D improves loneliness in volunteer letter writers.

Context: Peer-based volunteering is a potential strategy to alleviate loneliness.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of participating as a volunteer letter writer on pre/post-program loneliness outcomes and to examine experiences with participation.

Methods: Volunteers with spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D) participated in a 6-month program writing letters to peers. Mixed methods were used to evaluate volunteers' experiences with the letter writing program. Pre/post loneliness outcomes were examined using a paired t-test. Post-program evaluation included satisfaction, benefit, and negative impact ratings. Qualitative interviews were coded inductively and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: Volunteer peer letter writers (n = 28) were male (82%), had paraplegia (57%) and incomplete injuries (50%). On average they were 55 years of age and injured for 18 years. Volunteer peer letter writers with SCI/D had a statistically significant reduction in loneliness from pre- to post-program (3-item UCLA score 4.0 to 3.7, P = .04). The majority found the program beneficial (72%), with no/neutral negative impacts (93%), and were satisfied (82%). Volunteer peers with SCI/D: (1) liked and felt good about helping others with SCI/D; (2) believed the program provided an opportunity for self-reflection, including awareness and appreciation of their own circumstances and social connections; (3) liked sharing their injury experiences with and being connected to the letter recipient, and (4) found value in the writing process itself.

Conclusions: Loneliness was reduced in peer letter writers from pre- to post-program. Volunteers had beneficial and satisfactory experiences. Work to develop and test interventions peer-based volunteering intervention to address loneliness and other psychosocial outcomes is needed.