Abstract:
Background: People who stutter (PWS) often experience negative feelings and psychosocial difficulties (for example social anxiety, fear, and depression) which can significantly impact their day-to-day life. Mentoring has been used successfully in education, workplaces, and health and could be a beneficial form of psychosocial support for PWS. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to better understand the experiences and perspectives of PWS who participated as mentees in the Stuttering Treatment and Research Trust (START) Mentoring Programme with other PWS as mentors. Methods: Five adults who stutter participated in the START Mentoring Programme in 2014 and another five participated in 2015. All participants were aged 18-57 years. Semi-structured interviews conducted with participants (mentees) after the 6-month mentoring programmes were transcribed, collated, and analysed using Thematic Analysis. Findings: Three key themes were generated from the post-programme interview data: ‘Mentoring is…’ (Mentoring is not therapy; mentoring is a two-way street), ‘I am not alone,’ and ‘Confidence.’ Despite differences in stuttering severity, psychosocial profiles, and demographic profiles, findings were similar between different mentees across both year groups. Four prospective mentees withdrew from the mentoring programme after the initial training but before the mentoring began. The ten mentees who continued, and who completed the START Mentoring Programme all perceived the Mentoring Programme as a worthwhile, beneficial experience. Conclusion: All of the mentees in this study found the START Mentoring Programme positive and helpful. They described their experiences of the Mentoring Programme in detail during post-programme semi-structured interviews. Findings from the interviews (key themes) suggest that mentoring can be a beneficial form of psychosocial support for PWS, either in addition to speech therapy or as an alternative stuttering management option. In particular, PWS found it helpful having someone to talk to (i.e. a mentor) who also had a stutter and could relate to them. Keywords: anxiety, confidence, fear, mentoring, people who stutter, psychosocial support, PWS, self-efficacy, START, START Mentoring Programme, stuttering, Stuttering Treatment and Research Trust.
