• J Palliat Med · May 2023

    A Novel Palliative Care Peer Support Program for Adolescents and Young Adults: Survey and Factor Analytic Study.

    • Andrew L Walker, James Rujimora, Anna Swygert, Zachary McNiece, Eunhui Yoon, Mercedes Machado, Kenneth Myers, Eric Richardson, Emilie Lenes, Lindsay Hebert, Emily Marchi, Zoe Arthurson-McColl, Joanne Lagmay, and Ana Puig.
    • Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
    • J Palliat Med. 2023 May 1; 26 (5): 627636627-636.

    AbstractBackground: Palliative care literature indicates a dearth of programs addressing the psychosocial needs of adolescents and young adults (AYAs). Objectives: This study assessed patient-reported experiences of a palliative care peer support program, analyzed psychometric qualities of the program evaluation, and examined associations with quality-of-life scores to assess validity and potential impact on aspects of AYA quality of life. Design: This retrospective, cross-sectional study described self-reported Streetlight program evaluation and quality of life of AYA patients, exploratory factor analysis of survey responses, and analysis of associations with quality of life. Setting/Subjects: AYA participants (13-30) enrolled in the Streetlight program for at least six months were recruited during hospital admissions and clinic visits at UF Health Shands Hospital. Results: Participants' (n = 69) scores were high for Youth Quality of Life Instrument-Short Form (YQOL-SF) (82.6 of 100), and Streetlight evaluations (4.47 of 5). Patients endorsed themes of: high-quality friendships with volunteers, transformative impacts to wellbeing, and benefits to mental health and coping in open-ended responses. Analyses identified three factors explaining 61% of variance in Streetlight program evaluation responses: "Friendships and Support" (26%); "Coping, Family, and Providers" (20%); and "Diversion and Respect" (15%). Significant positive associations were found between Streetlight evaluation scores and YQOL-SF Belief in Self and Family factor scores, as well as between Streetlight evaluation Friendships and Support factor scores, and YQOL-SF total and factor-specific scores. Conclusions: Results suggest that the Streetlight program is a viable model to facilitate positive experiences, opportunities for socialization, and meaningful peer support for AYA patients.

      Pubmed     Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…