Overview
This community-university partnership has been involved in a process to identify important outcomes of SCI peer support programs and services with the goal of co-creating a SCI peer support evaluation tool.
Spinal Cord Injury Peer Support
Related Research Citations
- Sweet, S. N., Shi, Z., Pastore, O., Shaw, R., Comeau, J., Gainforth H. L., McBride, C. B., Noonan, V. K., Scott, L., Flaro, H., Casemore, S., Aslam, L.b, Clarke, R., & Martin Ginis, K. A. (2024). The Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Peer Support Evaluation Tool: The development of a tool to assess outcomes of peer support programs within SCI community-based organizations. Spinal Cord. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41393-024-01033-1
- Shi, Z., Michalovic, E., McKay, R., Gainforth, H. L., McBride, C. B., Clarke, T., Casemore, S., Sweet, S. N. (2023). Outcomes of spinal cord injury peer mentorship: A community-based Delphi consensus approach. Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 66, 101678. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rehab.2022.101678
- Rocchi, M. A., Shi. Z., Shaw, R. B., McBride, C. B., & Sweet, S. N. (2022). Identifying the outcomes of participating in peer mentorship for adults living with spinal cord injury: A qualitative meta-synthesis. Psychology and Health, 37, 523-544.
- Sweet, S.N., Hennig, L., Shi, Z., Clarke, T., Flaro, H., Hawley, S., Schaefer, L., Gainforth, H.L. (2021) Outcomes of peer mentorship for people living with spinal cord injury: perspectives from members of Canadian community-based SCI organizations. Spinal Cord, 59, 1301-1308. doi: 10.1038/s41393-021-00725-2
Highlights
SCI Peer Support Evaluation Survey Development
Over a five year period, a pan-Canadian team of SCI community-based organizations and researchers collaborated to investigate and come to consensus on the most important outcomes for SCI peer support services.
Watch the video below for a summary of the process in building the SCI Peer Support Evaluation Survey.
2023 Partnership Report
This 2023 report outlines the progress of the SCI Peer Support Community-University partnership over the last 5 years while providing avenues for next steps.
Spinal Cord Injury Peer Support Community-University Partnership
This video shows the development process of the evaluation tool.
SCI Saskatchewan
SCI Saskatchewan featured our community-university partnership in their seasonal magazine, highlighting our latest accomplishments in developing the SCI Peer Support Evaluation Tool: 
117214-spinal-cord-injury-parascope.pdf
SCI Peer Support Evaluation Tool
Dr. Shane Sweet gave a presentation about the SCI peer support evaluation tool in french, at the Journées québécoises des lésions médullaires on September 26, 2023: memo-qc_-_presentation_sur_levaluation_sept_26_2023.pdf
Infographics
We crafted graphs and infographics to summarize different aspects of the development of the SCI peer support evaluation tool.
Tool Development Procedures
Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Peer Support Evaluation Tool Development Procedures
20 Key Peer Support Outcomes
87 Peer Support Outcomes
SCI Peer Support Evaluation Tool
Evaluation Toolkit
SCI Peer Support Evaluation Tool
The following questions are intended to get your perception of the general impact of the [peer support program]. When answering these questions, please think about your whole experience with this program from your first to most recent recalled interaction with members of the [peer support program].
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Outcome (Definition) |
Spinal cord injury peer support evaluation tool |
|---|---|
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Understanding/Feeling Understood
(Sharing with someone who "hears me" and "gets what I am saying") |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I feel _____ understood.
|
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(Reduced) Isolation
(Feeling (less) lonely) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I feel _____ in my experience with my spinal cord injury/disability.
|
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Normalization
(Having the knowledge that others have had similar experiences) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I am ______ to see that other individuals with spinal cord injury/disability have experienced similar difficulties/challenges.
|
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Community Engagement
(Integration and participation in the community) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I participate in programs, activities, or events in the community ______.
|
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SCI Knowledge
(Having new information and an understanding of living with SCI) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I learned ______ about spinal cord injury from my peer supporter/mentor.
|
|
Rehab Transition Skills
(Learning tips and tricks for transitioning out of rehab (e.g., finding/adapting housing, finding/adapting transportation, etc.)
|
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I learned ______ from a peer supporter/mentor on how to transition to community living (for example, housing, transportation, etc).
|
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Health Skills
(Learning tips and tricks for maintaining your health (e.g., managing spasm, skin care, etc.) )
|
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I learned ______ from a peer supporter/ mentor on how to maintain my health.
|
|
Self-care Skills
Learning tips and tricks for self-care (e.g., dressing/undressing, bowel/bladder care, personal grooming, etc.) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I learned ______ from a peer supporter/mentor on how to do self-care activities (for example, dressing, managing bowel/bladder, grooming...).
|
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Independence
(One's self-sufficiency) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I feel ______ independent.
|
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Belief in Oneself
(One's belief in their capacity to achieve things in the future) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I feel ______ to reach my goals in life.
|
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Confidence
(Feeling self-assured about one's own qualities/capabilities) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I am ______ that I can accomplish most things I set out to do.
|
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Dignity
(A sense of worth in oneself) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], my sense of worth in myself is ______.
|
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Resilience
(The capacity to recover from difficult situations) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I am ______ to bounce back quickly from difficulties or setbacks.
|
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Coping
(Having strategies to minimize or tolerate stress) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I am ______ to cope with the stresses/demands of my spinal cord injury/disability.
|
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Positive Attitude
(A positive way of thinking or feeling about life) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I am ______ to look at things in a positive way.
|
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Perseverance
(One's ability to do something despite facing difficulties) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I am ______ to keep going when problems arise.
|
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Hope
(One's expectations that good things will happen) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I feel ______ hopeful.
|
|
Mental Health
(Having feelings about one's psychological state) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], my mental health is ______.
|
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Happiness
(Feeling pleasure and contentment with life) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], I feel ______ happy.
|
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Quality of life
(One's standard of health, comfort, happiness, and overall wellness) |
Thinking about my experience with the [Peer Support Program], my quality of life is ______.
|
Note: A higher rating on an item indicates more positive evaluation of their peer support experience on the outcome.
Glossary of Terms
- SCI peer support: a peer interaction that aims to help individuals who share similar lived experiences adapt and/or thrive.
- SCI peer mentorship: a purposeful and unidirectional peer support relationship, where a mentor shares their lived experience with a mentee.
- Peer supporter/mentor: someone who acts as a source of knowledge, guidance, and/or wisdom to a peer mentee with SCI.
- Peer mentee: an individual with a SCI who receives knowledge, guidance and/or wisdom from a peer supporter with SCI.
- Outcome: something that follows as a result or consequence of SCI peer support.
- [Peer Support Program]: various types of programs, service, or initiatives provided by community-based organizations to facilitate peer support among individuals with SCI. The term “[Peer Support Program]” in bracket can be replaced by the specific name of an organization’s program.
Access the Word Version of the SCI Peer Support Evaluation Tool
Evaluation Toolkit
The SCI Peer Support Evaluation Toolkit and its example is a document aimed to help users, such as organizations or peer support program leaders, to implement the Evaluation Tool/Survey within their peer support program or service. This Toolkit will take you through the process of creating and administering a personalized SCI Peer Support survey comprised of SCI peer support outcomes identified as important by Canadian SCI community organizations.
SCI Peer Support Evaluation Toolkit
SCI Peer Support Evaluation Toolkit Example
SCI Peer Support Evaluation Toolkit
The video below goes through the Toolkit checklist and summarizes everything you need to know for building your own Peer Support Evaluation Survey:
