Article

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of intensive peer mentoring on
patient-reported outcomes of self-efficacy and unplanned hospital readmissions
for persons with spinal cord injury/disease (SCI/D) within the first 6 months
after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. DESIGN: Randomized controlled
trial. SETTING: Nonprofit inpatient rehabilitation hospital specializing in care
of persons with SCI/D and brain injury. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=158) admitted
to the SCI/D rehabilitation program whose discharge location was a community
setting. Participants (51% with paraplegia and 49% with tetraplegia) were 73%
white and 77% men, with a mean age of 38 years. INTERVENTIONS: Participants in
the experimental group received initial consult/introduction with a peer support
program liaison and were assigned a peer mentor, who met with the participant
weekly throughout the inpatient stay and made weekly contact by phone, e-mail, or
in person for 90 days postdischarge. Participants also were encouraged to
participate in regularly scheduled peer support activities. Nonexperimental group
participants were introduced to peer support and provided services only on
request. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: General Self-efficacy Scale (adapted to SCI/D),
project-developed community integration self-efficacy scale, and patient-reported
unplanned rehospitalizations. RESULTS: Growth rate for self-efficacy in the first
6 months postdischarge was significantly higher for experimental group
participants than nonexperimental group participants. Experimental group
participants also had significantly fewer unplanned hospital days. CONCLUSIONS:
This study provides evidence that individuals receiving intensive peer mentoring
during and after rehabilitation for SCI/D demonstrate greater gains in
self-efficacy over time and have fewer days of unplanned rehospitalization in the
first 180 days postdischarge. More research is needed to examine the long-term
effects of this intervention on health care utilization and the relation between
improved health and patient-reported quality of life outcomes.
CI - Copyright (c) 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS