Abstract
BackgroundYouths with physical disabilities face many barriers in society, including social exclusion, stigma, and difficulties finding employment. Electronic mentoring (e-mentoring) offers a promising opportunity for youths with disabilities and has the potential to improve their inclusion while enhancing career outcomes. However, little is known about the role of mentors in a Web-based e-mentoring format to improve employment outcomes.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the role of mentors in engaging youths in an e-mentoring intervention and to compare and contrast mentors’ engagement strategies within a 12- and 4-week format.MethodsThis paper drew on a pilot feasibility study, which is a group, Web-based employment readiness intervention involving a discussion forum for youths with physical disabilities. Our intervention involved having trained youth mentors (ie, near-peers who also had a disability) lead Web-based discussion forums while offering peer support and resources, which involved 12 modules completed over both a 12- or 4-week format. We used a mixed method approach including qualitative data (mentor interviews and discussion forum data) and quantitative data (pre-post survey data) comparison.ResultsA total of 24 youths participated across 3 e-mentoring intervention groups: 9 in the 12-week format (mean age 17.7 years [SD 1.7]) and 15 in the 4-week format (mean age 19.5 years [SD 2.6]), led by 3 trained youth mentors with disabilities, 2 males and 1 female (mean age 22 years [SD 2.64]). Our findings revealed that mentors engaged youths in the e-mentoring program by providing informational, emotional, and tangible support. We noted more instances of mentors providing advice, empathy, and encouragement in the 12-week format compared with the 4-week format. We also found fewer examples of providing advice, developing a rapport, and social support from mentors in the 4-week format. Our findings revealed no significant differences between the 2 groups regarding time spent in the forum, number of logins, number of posts, and self-rated engagement.ConclusionsMentors in the 12-week and 4-week format engaged participants differently in providing informational and emotional support, although there were no differences in tangible support provided. Mentors reported that the 12-week format was too long and lacked interaction between participants, whereas the 4-week format felt rushed and had fewer detailed responses from mentees.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR2-10.2196/resprot.8034
Highlights
BackgroundYouths with disabilities are at risk of living below the poverty line and having poor developmental outcomes [1,2,3,4,5]
We focused only on the 3 experimental groups that received the intervention with 2 youth mentors
Our sample consisted of 27 participants: 24 mentees and 3 youth mentors
Summary
Youths with disabilities are at risk of living below the poverty line and having poor developmental outcomes [1,2,3,4,5] They often experience social exclusion and isolation and encounter challenges of being fully included within society. Youths with physical disabilities often experience different challenges than youths with chronic illnesses, because their condition is often visible and they may face difficulties with mobility, speech, stigma, coping, and social exclusion [6,10,11]. Our intervention involved having trained youth mentors (ie, near-peers who had a disability) lead Web-based discussion forums while offering peer support and resources, which involved 12 modules completed over both a 12- or 4-week format.
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