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Peer Support for Adolescents with Chronic Illness

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Peer Support in Medicine

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Abstract

Adolescence is a sensitive period of development when the influence of peers is most intense, and adolescents focus on developing their peer relationships and identity outside of their parents. It is also the period when health risk behaviours (e.g. smoking) first arise; and for adolescents with chronic illnesses, peer relationships may be disrupted by managing a chronic illness. Thus, peer support, mentorship and education are approaches that may be best suited to improving health and health-related outcomes of adolescent populations. Studies among adolescents have demonstrated promise in improving knowledge and attitudes, reducing risk behaviours and improving self-management behaviours for chronic illness, among other outcomes. When developing and implementing peer interventions for adolescents, involving peer mentors, assessing adolescents’ preferences prior to program development, providing choice and flexibility in program options, offering long-term programs where possible and conducting formative evaluation can ensure effectiveness of the pro gram.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, USA

    Yalinie Kulandaivelu

  2. Child Health Evaluative Sciences, SickKids Research Institute, Toronto, ON, USA

    Yalinie Kulandaivelu & Sara Ahola Kohut

  3. IBD Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Sara Ahola Kohut

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Sara Ahola Kohut

Authors
  1. Yalinie Kulandaivelu
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  2. Sara Ahola Kohut
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Correspondence to Sara Ahola Kohut .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Director of Addiction Psychiatry, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

    Jonathan D. Avery

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Kulandaivelu, Y., Kohut, S.A. (2021). Peer Support for Adolescents with Chronic Illness. In: Avery, J.D. (eds) Peer Support in Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58660-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58660-7_5

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