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Stakeholder‐driven approach to developing a peer‐mentoring intervention for young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities and co‐occurring mental health conditions
Author(s) -
Schwartz Ariel E.,
Kramer Jessica M.,
Rogers E. Sally,
McDonald Katherine E.,
Cohn Ellen S.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1468-3148
pISSN - 1360-2322
DOI - 10.1111/jar.12721
Subject(s) - operationalization , mental health , psychology , peer mentoring , intellectual disability , focus group , coping (psychology) , stakeholder , intervention (counseling) , medical education , nursing , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , public relations , business , pedagogy , philosophy , epistemology , marketing , political science
Background Young adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities and co‐occurring mental health conditions (IDD‐MH) experience significant mental health disparities. Barriers to services include transportation and stigma associated with services. Peer mentoring (PM) may be one solution to these barriers. Methods We conducted exploratory research to develop a PM intervention for young adults with IDD‐MH by partnering with 3 young adults with IDD‐MH and a seven‐member advisory board. In addition, we conducted focus groups with mental health clinicians ( n = 10), peer providers ( n = 9), and transition specialists ( n = 20) to identify the desired PM outcomes and features and content that may facilitate these outcomes. Results Prioritized outcome: identifying and utilizing leisure activities as coping strategies. PM features: mentors should use relationship‐ and outcome‐driven actions to operationalize a mentee‐centred approach. Features and content considerations: safety, mentor matching, degree of structure, mentor training and support, and collaboration with mentees’ support teams. Discussion Findings are aligned with previous research on PM.