Communicating messages of care and positivity to peers with SCI/D improves loneliness in volunteer letter writers.

CONTEXT: Peer-based volunteering is a potential strategy to alleviate loneliness.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of participating as a volunteer letter writer on pre/post-program loneliness outcomes and to examine experiences with participation.

METHODS

Volunteers with spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D) participated in a 6-month program writing letters to peers. Mixed methods were used to evaluate volunteers' experiences with the letter writing program. Pre/post loneliness outcomes were examined using a paired t-test. Post-program evaluation included satisfaction, benefit, and negative impact ratings. Qualitative interviews were coded inductively and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

Volunteer peer letter writers (n = 28) were male (82%), had paraplegia (57%) and incomplete injuries (50%). On average they were 55 years of age and injured for 18 years. Volunteer peer letter writers with SCI/D had a statistically significant reduction in loneliness from pre- to post-program (3-item UCLA score 4.0 to 3.7, P = .04). The majority found the program beneficial (72%), with no/neutral negative impacts (93%), and were satisfied (82%). Volunteer peers with SCI/D: (1) liked and felt good about helping others with SCI/D; (2) believed the program provided an opportunity for self-reflection, including awareness and appreciation of their own circumstances and social connections; (3) liked sharing their injury experiences with and being connected to the letter recipient, and (4) found value in the writing process itself.

CONCLUSIONS

Loneliness was reduced in peer letter writers from pre- to post-program. Volunteers had beneficial and satisfactory experiences. Work to develop and test interventions peer-based volunteering intervention to address loneliness and other psychosocial outcomes is needed.