Been There, Done That: The Experience of Acting as a Young Adult Mentor to Adolescents Living With Chronic Illness

摘要

Objective To explore the perceived benefits and challenges of acting as a young adult peer mentor to adolescents with chronic illness.a Methodsa A qualitative descriptive study, using interviews and a focus group, explored the perceptions of young adult peer mentors following participation in the iPeer2Peer program, a Skype-based peer-mentorship program for adolescents with chronic illness. Interviews and focus group data were transcribed and analyzed using inductive content analysis.a Results Ten peer mentors (20.00 +/- 1.49 years old, range 17-22 years; diagnosed with chronic pain n = 4 or juvenile idiopathic arthritis n = 6) who mentored four mentees (+/- 2.55 mentees, range = 1-10 mentees) participated. Four main categories were identified: social connection, personal growth, mentor role in mentee growth, and logistics of mentorship.a Conclusionsa Acting as a peer mentor online is a feasible and rewarding experience that supports the mentor's own illness self-management, social connection, and personal growth.