Understanding the essential components and experiences of youth with autism spectrum disorders in peer mentorship programmes during the transition to adulthood: A qualitative meta-ethnography

Youth with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often require additional supports during the period of transition to from high school to post-secondary education or career paths. Peer mentorship (PM) programmes create opportunities to support youth with ASD in identifying their personal, academic and career goals after graduating from high school; however, there is limited insight about the components of these programmes that are valued by both participants and peer mentors and that are perceived to contribute to the overall success of a programme in achieving their goals. Our objective was to identify, describe and synthesize the components of PM programmes valued by youth with ASD and their peer mentors, as well as to document their experiences in these transitional support services. A meta-ethnography was conducted to synthesize qualitative and mixed methods studies of PM programmes for youth with ASD. A systematic search of seven databases yielded 142 nonduplicate articles. Data analysis and synthesis involved (1) extraction of raw data; (2) extraction of study authors' interpretations, followed by inductive coding; (3) synthesis of key themes and (4) schematic diagram development to illustrate the relationship of themes. Ten studies of PM programmes from Canada (2), United States (4), Australia (3) and United Kingdom (1) were included. Extracted data reflected experiences of 131 mentees and 82 mentors. The essential programme components identified were (1) mentorship, (2) skill building, (3) peer group and (4) facilitating transition. PM characterized by clear communication and connection between mentors and mentees was valuable to the success of the programme. Peer mentors played an essential role to facilitate the positive experiences that mentees had with programme components, including interactions with peer groups. Successful PM programmes created a safe environment for mentees to practice skills and helped mentees gain confidence to expand their roles to take leadership in their learning.     

Evaluation of the mentor-mentee relationship in an occupational therapy mentorship programme

Mentor group relationships in an occupational therapy university curriculum were investigated. In phase I, mentors (n = 23) and mentees (n = 124) were surveyed over a four year period. In phase II, 14 mentees from the same time period were surveyed after graduation. It was found that mentors and mentees surveyed agreed that their mentor group leader displayed more mentoring (i.e. ongoing partnership for guidance and support) than coaching (i.e. short-term relationship for providing feedback on areas requiring change) characteristics, and most agreed that, post-graduation, their mentor group leader had been a mentor to them. Mentees viewed their mentors predominantly as a role model or counsellor and emphasized knowledge, experience, guidance, and support as desirable attributes of a mentor. Contact with mentors for resources, support, or job-related purposes continued after graduation for more than half of mentees. Some mentees reported that peer mentoring had also occurred. Limitations of the study include the small sample size in Phase II and some aspects of survey design. Future areas of research identified include studying the development of the relationship over time (i.e. pre-, mid-way, and post-programme), comparing relationships between mentors and mentees who have similar versus dissimilar expectations for the programme, further examining peer mentoring or group relationships, and continuing post-graduation surveys with a larger sample size for increased reliability.     

Formal intergenerational mentoring at Australian Men's Sheds: a targeted survey about mentees,mentors, programmes and quality

Intergenerational mentoring enables a purposeful exchange of skills and knowledge to enhance individual and social outcomes for sub‐groups at risk of health and social disparities. Male intergenerational mentoring may be an approach to help address these disparities in young men. Over 1000 Men's Sheds operate in Australia with 39% providing some form of mentoring mainly to youth. Yet, little is known about the variables intrinsic to creating and running quality programmes. This study aimed to identify the characteristics of formal intergenerational mentoring programmes, review their quality against the Australian Youth Mentoring Network (AYMN) quality benchmarks, and identify the factors that predict quality in these programmes. All known Australian Men's Sheds were invited to participate in an online cross‐sectional survey. Forty sheds with formal mentor programmes completed the survey for a total of 387 mentees (mean = 9.7 mentees/programme), the majority being male. The majority of mentor programme facilitators were unpaid male volunteers aged 61 years and older, and programmes were unfunded. Promoting social and emotional well‐being of the mentees was the primary focus in more than half of the programmes, and working on a shared construction project was the most common activity. Respondents rated the three most important factors that influenced programme effectiveness as being: (i) meaningful activities; (ii) mentors’ approach; and (iii) a safe environment. Univariate analyses revealed that mentoring programmes that had a system in place for screening mentors, trained mentors and evaluated the programme were most likely to rate highly against the AYMN quality benchmarks.     

Mentorship in postgraduate training programmes: views of Canadian programme directors

Objectives  Many academic training programmes have developed mentorship programmes for postgraduate doctors in training, but little is known about the factors that influence their establishment.
Methods  Canadian postgraduate training directors were surveyed to determine views on mentorship and factors associated with the establishment of these programmes.
Results  A total of 199 of 344 (58%) programme directors completed an online survey. Overall, 65% of respondents reported that their training programmes had a mentorship programme and 40% felt there was a need for more structured mentorship in training programmes. Univariate analysis showed that mentorship programmes were present significantly more often in larger programmes, internal medicine-based training programmes, and in programmes where the acting programme director had either been part of a mentorship programme during his or her own training or felt that mentorship had played an important role in his or her professional development. In adjusting for covariates using a logistic regression analysis, only those factors directly attributable to a programme director's personal mentoring experiences remained significantly associated with having a mentorship programme. Those who felt that mentorship had played a role in their own careers ( P  = 0.008, odds ratio [OR] = 3.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7–6.6) or who had been part of a mentorship programme during their own training ( P  = 0.01, OR = 6.6, 95% CI 1.4–30.1) were more likely to have an active mentorship programme at their institution.
Conclusions  A need for more structured mentorship was identified for many training programmes. Overall, programme directors' previous mentoring experiences were independently associated with having a mentorship programme.     

The core of mentorship: medical students' experiences of one-to-one mentoring in a clinical environment

Mentoring has been used in different health care educational programmes, but the core of mentorship, i.e., facilitating the development of medical students' professional competence, has not been explored in depth in the literature. In order to create effective and meaningful mentoring programmes, there is a need for deeper knowledge of the meaning of formal mentorship and, for this, the students' experiences are important. A mentoring program was set up where all medical students were offered a mentor during their first clinical courses; years 3-4. The mentors were physicians and their role as mentors was to support the students and act as sounding-boards, not to teach or assess knowledge. This study aimed to get a deeper understanding of the meaning of mentorship seen from the perspective of undergraduate medical students. A qualitative approach with individual interviews (N = 12) and inductive content analysis was chosen to investigate and interpret the meaning of mentorship. The results comprise three overarching themes: Space, Belief in the future and Transition. Having a mentor gave a sense of security and constituted a 'free zone' alongside the undergraduate programme. It gave hope about the future and increased motivation. The students were introduced to a new community and began to identify themselves as doctors. We would argue that one-to-one mentoring can create conditions for medical students to start to develop some parts of the professional competences that are more elusive in medical education programmes, such as reflective capacity, emotional competence and the feeling of belonging to a community.     

Different Roles and Different Results: How Activity Orientations Correspond to Relationship Quality and Student Outcomes in School-Based Mentoring

This prospective, mixed-methods study investigated how the nature of joint activities between volunteer mentors and student mentees corresponded to relationship quality and youth outcomes. Focusing on relationships in school-based mentoring programs in low-income urban elementary schools, data were obtained through pre–post assessments, naturalistic observations, and in-depth interviews with mentors and mentees. Adopting an exploratory approach, the study employed qualitative case study methods to inductively identify distinctive patterns reflecting the focus of mentoring activities. The activity orientations of relationships were categorized according to the primary functional role embodied by the mentor and the general theme of interactions: teaching assistant/tutoring, friend/engaging, sage/counseling, acquaintance/floundering. Next, these categories were corroborated by comparing the groups on quantitative assessments of relationship quality and change in child outcomes over time. Relationships characterized by sage mentoring, which balanced amicable engagement with adult guidance, were rated most favorably by mentees on multiple measures of relationship quality. Furthermore, students involved in sage mentoring relationships showed declines in depressive symptoms and aggressive behaviors. For disconnected pairs (acquaintances), students reported more negative relationship experiences. Findings suggest effective mentoring relationships represent a hybrid between the friendly mutuality of horizontal relationships and the differential influence of vertical relationships.     

Youth Development Through Mentorship: A Los Angeles School-Based Mentorship Program Among Latino Children

Despite higher risk for school failure, few school-based mentoring (SBM) studies have focused on low-income at-risk Latino children. We describe the development and evaluation of the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), a sustainable, high-quality, SBM program among urban Latino students. Based on evidence from work in other communities, YEP was created as a partnership between the 4th and 5th grades at a Los Angeles Title I elementary school and university undergraduates. We tested the feasibility of applying a previously validated relationship quality assessment tool in this population. Since 2008, 61 mentor and mentee pairs have participated in YEP, with an average relationship length of 1.5 years. Through 2010, over 95 % of pairs had relationships lasting at least 1 year, while 47 % lasted 2 or more years. Seventy-percent of mentees and 85 % of mentors were female, and an increased trend for early relationship termination was observed among male mentees. Through 2011, relationships lasted under 1 year among 29 % of male mentees compared to 7 % of female mentees (p = 0.15). A previously validated relationship quality assessment tool was easily incorporated into YEP, with relationships exhibiting youth-centeredness, emotional engagement and low dissatisfaction. After 5 years, YEP has become a feasible and sustainable SBM program providing long-term relationships for low-income Latino children. These relationships may improve youth health through fewer risky behaviors and attitude improvements. Future work should focus on supporting male mentors and mentees.     

Teachers as School-Based Mentors for At-Risk Students: A Qualitative Study

Background

Over the past decade, administrators have implemented school-based mentoring (SBM) programs in schools across several western countries. However, few studies have compared the views of mentors and parents regarding the factors that determine SBM success.

Objectives

The purpose of this work is to explore the factors that may facilitate or undermine the completion of SBM goals, according to the perspectives of both mentors and parents.

Methods

We conducted a qualitative study using the focus group technique, followed by a content analysis. The study involved 22 mentors and 16 parents. We then classified the emergent themes as either facilitators of or barriers to SBM success.

Results and Conclusions

The participants focused on how the relationships of mentors with parents, teachers and, more rarely, with social service officials affected the SBM accomplishments. The participants seldom regarded the characteristics of the mentees as an important influence on mentoring effectiveness. Our findings suggest that mentoring delivered by teachers may help to address some of the practical limitations of SBM programs. However, the overlap of mentoring and teaching roles in SBM may also necessitate additional care regarding the definition of purposeful interactions of the mentors with the other adults who are significant in the lives of the mentees, namely their parents and teachers.     

Mentoring health researchers globally: Diverse experiences,programmes, challenges and responses

Mentoring experiences and programmes are becoming increasingly recognised as important by those engaged in capacity strengthening in global health research. Using a primarily qualitative study design, we studied three experiences of mentorship and eight mentorship programmes for early career global health researchers based in high-income and low- and middle-income countries. For the latter, we drew upon programme materials, existing unpublished data and more formal mixed-method evaluations, supplemented by individual email questionnaire responses. Research team members wrote stories, and the team assembled and analysed them for key themes. Across the diverse experiences and programmes, key emergent themes included: great mentors inspire others in an inter-generational cascade, mentorship is transformative in personal and professional development and involves reciprocity, and finding the right balance in mentoring relationships and programmes includes responding creatively to failure. Among the challenges encountered were: struggling for more level playing fields for new health researchers globally, changing mindsets in institutions that do not have a culture of mentorship and building collaboration not competition. Mentoring networks spanning institutions and countries using multiple virtual and face-to-face methods are a potential avenue for fostering organisational cultures supporting quality mentorship in global health research.     

Predictors of job satisfaction among academic faculty members: do instructional and clinical staff differ?

Medical Education 2010: 44> : 985–995 Objectives This study aimed to identify and compare predictors of job satisfaction between instructional and clinical faculty members. Methods A 61‐item faculty job satisfaction survey was distributed to 1898 academic faculty members at the University of Michigan Medical School. The anonymous survey was web‐based. Questions covered topics on departmental organisation, research, clinical and teaching support, compensation, mentorship, and promotion. Levels of satisfaction were contrasted between faculty members on the two tracks, and predictors of job satisfaction were identified using linear regression models. Results Response rates for the instructional and clinical faculty groups were 43.1% and 46.7%, respectively. Clinical faculty members reported being less satisfied with how they were mentored and fewer reported understanding the process for promotion. There was no significant difference in overall job satisfaction between the two faculty groups. Surprisingly, clinical faculty members with mentors were significantly less satisfied with how they were mentored and with career advancement, and were significantly less likely to choose an academic career if they had to do it all over again compared with instructional faculty mentees. Additionally, senior‐level clinical faculty members were significantly less satisfied with their opportunities to mentor junior faculty members compared with senior‐level instructional faculty staff. Significant predictors of job satisfaction for both groups included areas of autonomy, meeting career expectations, work–life balance, and departmental leadership. In the clinical track only, compensation and career advancement variables also emerged as significant predictors of overall job satisfaction. Conclusions Greater emphasis must be placed on faculty members’ well‐being at both the institutional level and the level of departmental leadership. Efforts to enhance job satisfaction and improve retention are more likely to succeed if they are directed by locally designed assessments involving department chairs and are specifically aimed at fostering more effective mentoring relationships and increasing the opportunities available for career advancement activities such as research work. Our findings show that these strategies can have significant impacts on job satisfaction and the retention of clinical track faculty members.     

California's Professional Mentoring Program: how to develop a statewide mentoring program

Trends in downsizing, restructuring, increased diversity, and individual responsibility for career development have sparked a renewed interest in mentoring. Technology is changing the way professionals practice, including dieticians. This is reflected in the strategic goals for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). In 1999, with the aid of an ADA Affiliate/Dietetic Practice Group (DPG) Collaborative Strategic Initiatives Grant, a Mid-Career Mentoring Program (MCMP) was developed in California. This program provided an opportunity for dietitians with advanced skills (mentors) to be matched with those desiring to develop new skills (mentees). A six-step process was used to develop the program. The six steps include: appoint a coordinator; identify prospective mentors; locate resources; define tasks and establish procedures; identify mentees; and begin the program. A final product of the grant was the development of the handbook The Helping Hand. This handbook can be used by other affiliates or practice groups that may wish to develop a mentoring program. Mentoring programs can assist registered dietitians and DTRs (dietetic technicians, registered) in developing their educational plans for the new Professional Development 2001 certification process.     

Girls (and Boys) Just Want to Have Fun: A Mixed-Methods Examination of the Role of Gender in Youth Mentoring Relationship Duration and Quality

This prospective, mixed-methods study examined the role of gender in youth mentoring relationship duration and quality. Participants were 67 gender-matched pairs of adult mentors and youth participating in community-based mentoring programs as well as the youths’ guardians. Mentors and youth completed surveys and qualitative interviews at multiple time points. At baseline, male youth reported stronger relationships with their guardians. Analysis of the survey data from the 3-month follow-up revealed that male mentors and youth reported stronger mentoring relationship quality. Male matches were more likely to last at least 1 year. Further, male youth whose matches lasted at least 1 year reported better relationships with their guardians at baseline and reported stronger mentoring relationships after 3 months, compared to both females whose matches lasted greater than a year, and females whose matches lasted less than 1 year. Examinations of the qualitative interviews from a sub-sample of matched pairs (n = 29) showed that male and female youth and male mentors held similar expectations for the relationship, mainly to engage in fun activities, while female mentors were more often looking for a close relationship to develop quickly, which resulted in a disconnect between female mentees’ and female mentors’ expectations. Findings highlight the importance of developmentally appropriate relationships for youth and suggest that mentoring programs may be able facilitate longer, more effective matches for girls by tempering female mentors’ expectations for how close and quickly those relationships will develop.     

The process and impact of implementing injury prevention projects in smaller communities in New Zealand

It has been argued that developing community projects is an effective means by which to reduce injury. Two pilot community injury prevention projects (CIPPs) were established in small communities in New Zealand based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Safe Community model. The process and impact of the implementation of these CIPPs was monitored over 3 years. The setting was two small New Zealand communities with populations of <10 000. An external process and impact evaluation was conducted, with data gathered from written documentation, informant interviews and observation. The WHO Safe Community criteria formed the basis of the evaluation framework used. Other essential factors included were identified through the literature and the projects themselves. Findings from each CIPP were considered independently, followed by an examination of the differences observed. The findings from the evaluation of the implementation of these CIPPs are reported in relation to the themes identified in the evaluation framework, namely: community context, ownership and participation, focus and planning, data collection, leadership, management, sustainability and external links. Despite the different contexts, a common conclusion was that if the CIPPs' success was dependent on achieving a meaningful reduction of injury, they were unlikely to succeed. There were, however, a number of strategies and outputs for achieving change that could contribute to increasing safety for the population of interest. These were closely linked to community development strategies and needed greater acknowledgement in the evolution of the CIPPs. Critical to the development of the CIPPs were community capacity and the context in which the projects were operating. These conclusions are likely to apply to other projects in such settings, irrespective of the health outcomes sought.     

Online Mentoring: The Promise and Challenges of an Emerging Approach to Youth Development

This paper reports on an electronic mentoring program, the Digital Heroes Campaign (DHC), in which 242 youth were matched with online mentors over a two-year period. Survey, focus group, and interview data, in addition to analyses of the e-mails that pairs exchanged, were examined in order to assess the nature, types, and quality of the relationships that were formed. Despite youths’ generally positive self-reports, deep connections between mentors and mentees appeared to be relatively rare. The findings suggest that online mentoring programs face significant challenges and that further research is needed to determine under what conditions online mentoring is likely to be most effective. Editors' Strategic Implications: Given the infrequent occurrence of close connections, youth mentoring practitioners and researchers must consider whether online mentoring is likely to promote the kind of “relationships” that might be expected to promote positive youth development.     

Mentorship and competencies for applied chronic disease epidemiology.

To understand the potential and establish a framework for mentoring as a method to develop professional competencies of state-level applied chronic disease epidemiologists, model mentorship programs were reviewed, specific competencies were identified, and competencies were then matched to essential public health services. Although few existing mentorship programs in public health were identified, common themes in other professional mentorship programs support the potential of mentoring as an effective means to develop capacity for applied chronic disease epidemiology. Proposed competencies for chronic disease epidemiologists in a mentorship program include planning, analysis, communication, basic public health, informatics and computer knowledge, and cultural diversity. Mentoring may constitute a viable strategy to build chronic disease epidemiology capacity, especially in public health agencies where resource and personnel system constraints limit opportunities to recruit and hire new staff.     

Evaluating the role of mentor for advanced practitioners: an example from community matrons in England

This study evaluates the role of mentor for the new community matron role in England and identifies the implications for others in advanced practice roles. With the introduction of 3000 community matrons in England by March 2008, a national pilot education programme was introduced to prepare them for their role. Given the recent requirement by the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council to introduce support at the advanced level of nursing practice, a purposely developed mentorship module was introduced for those supporting the new community matrons.
A mixed-method approach to data collection was used. This involved documentary analysis of a range of sources and, during July 2006, a self-administered postal questionnaire was sent to all community matrons undertaking the pilot education programme ( n  = 70) with a response rate of 67% ( n  = 47). Individual telephone interviews were conducted with 17 students, and 6 mentors on the purposely developed mentor module. A focus group interview was undertaken with the education programme development team ( n  = 5). Quantitative data were analysed using spss and qualitative data analysed using content and thematic analyses.
Despite some initial problems, 96% ( n  = 45) students had access to a mentor during the programme. Overall, the findings reinforce the value placed on individual support for the role and identify the problems associated when support was absent or unsuccessful. For those who had support, there were different expectations of the mentoring role, variation in the quality of their relationship and the perceived value of education to support the mentors in their role.
The study concludes that supporting pioneers to develop new roles when neither party is clear about its strategic direction, nor fully aware of its impact on service, requires risk taking by both parties, and a genuineness, openness and commitment by both in forging the new pathway.     

A framework for mentoring of medical students: thematic analysis of mentoring programmes between 2000 and 2015

A consistent mentoring approach is key to unlocking the full benefits of mentoring, ensuring effective oversight of mentoring relationships and preventing abuse of mentoring. Yet consistency in mentoring between senior clinicians and medical students (novice mentoring) which dominate mentoring processes in medical schools is difficult to achieve particularly when mentors practice in both undergraduate and postgraduate medical schools. To facilitate a consistent approach to mentoring this review scrutinizes common aspects of mentoring in undergraduate and postgraduate medical schools to forward a framework for novice mentoring in medical schools. Four authors preformed independent literature searches of novice mentoring guidelines and programmes in undergraduate and postgraduate medical schools using ERIC, PubMed, CINAHL, OVID and Science Direct databases. 25,605 abstracts were retrieved, 162 full-text articles were reviewed and 34 articles were included. The 4 themes were identified—preparation, initiating and supporting the mentoring process and the obstacles to effective mentoring. These themes highlight 2 key elements of an effective mentoring framework-flexibility and structure. Flexibility refers to meeting the individual and changing needs of mentees. Structure concerns ensuring consistency to the mentoring process and compliance with prevailing codes of conduct and standards of practice.     

Developing a mentorship program for clinical researchers

INTRODUCTION: In academic health centers, the number of physician investigators and the number of research studies headed by clinicians has been declining. The U.S. Institute of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health suggest improved mentoring is important to reversing these trends. METHODS: This is a case study review of the role of mentors in developing and sustaining clinical investigators at the Cleveland Clinic. RESULTS: Issues influencing mentoring relationships at the Cleveland Clinic include whether mentoring contracts are formally or informally related and are agreed on; whether there are scheduled meetings for mentors and protégés; whether there are clearly articulated benchmarks and manageable steps; and whether there is a code of mentorship. CONCLUSIONS: Interactive group formats can lead to development of a code of mentorship and increased awareness of faculty regarding clinical investigation.