Presenter
Caitlyn Menard, B.S., OT/S
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
2025
Abstract
Each year, about 250,000 to 500,000 individuals sustain a spinal cord injury (SCI), resulting in decreased social participation and diminished societal engagement. This diminished quality of life hinders a person’s ability to fulfill societal roles (Beauchamp et al., 2016). Sustaining an SCI leads to a loss of performance skills and restricts the ability to participate in meaningful activities as one could prior to the injury (Beauchamp et al., 2016). The current standard of care indicates that individuals with an SCI engage in rehabilitation services and receive training from skilled clinicians and peers living with an SCI. Community-dwelling individuals with SCI often have unmet needs related to psychological health, lifestyle, community mobility, and self-efficacy. There is a need for community programs like peer mentoring that address and support the long-term management of SCI. (Divanoglou et al., 2017). However, there is currently a lack of standardization in formally tracking and measuring outcomes of SCI peer mentorship (Rocchi et al., 2022). It is important to research how various peer mentoring methods can not only facilitate but enhance community re-engagement among individuals with SCI. Therefore, a scoping review was conducted to explore the existing literature and identify how peer mentoring impacts community re-engagement for individuals with SCIs, specifically focusing on factors that facilitate or obstruct effective community participation.
Faculty Mentor
Monique Dawes, O.T.D., OTR/L, CPAM
Academic Discipline
College of Health & Wellness
Repository Citation
Menard, Caitlyn, "SCI Peer Mentoring & Community Engagement: A Review" (2025). Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium. 195.
https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/innov_symposium/195
