Understanding and reducing compassion fatigue using the compassion fatigue resilience model and self-compassion in peer mentors of Canadian spinal cord injury community service organizations
Bibliographic record
Abstract
To foster adaptation and thriving among individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI), peer support programs were developed by Canadian SCI community service organizations. Individuals who serve as peer mentors in these programs have reported experiencing compassion fatigue, a state of exhaustion from prolonged exposure to suffering/stress and diminished mental health (i.e., a state of psychological, emotional, and social well-being). Consequently, these effects are leading peer mentors to resign from their roles, presenting a significant challenge for SCI organizations. According to the compassion fatigue resilience model (CFRM), there are factors that can make individuals more susceptible or resilient to compassion fatigue. Self-compassion, a healthy way of relating to the self, is an important factor for reducing compassion fatigue and improving mental health among individuals in caring roles and could be important to consider within the CFRM and for peer mentors. The overall purpose of this doctoral thesis was to understand and reduce compassion fatigue among peer mentors within Canadian SCI community service organizations via a self-compassion program. We collaborated with SCI British Columbia and SCI Ontario while adhering to the integrated knowledge translation guiding principles for SCI research. Chapter 3 (Article 1) adopted a generic qualitative design and used the CFRM and self-compassion theory to understand the experiences of compassion fatigue (resilience) among eight experienced peer mentors within SCI organizations. Based on personal diary and interview data, peer mentors whose experiences aligned with compassion fatigue reported feeling physically, psychologically, and emotionally exhausted, impacting their perceived effectiveness as a peer mentor. Having traumatic memories and lack of self-compassion contributed to compassion fatigue. Conversely, self-compassion promoted resilience. Chapter 4 (Article 2) discusses the protocol used to develop and examine the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a tailored self-compassion program in improving compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, self-compassion, and mental health among peer mentors. With the two SCI organizations, we used an iterative approach to codeveloping the program using results from Chapter 3. Prior to conducting a full evaluation, we implemented the program with two organizational staff and two peer mentors from SCI organizations with knowledge on self-compassion. This feedback helped to further tailor the program and make it more relevant for peer mentors. Chapter 5 (Article 3) used a mixed method approach (i.e., surveys and interviews) to empirically explore the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of the self-compassion program in improving compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, self-compassion, and mental health among fifteen peer mentors. The program proved to be feasible and acceptable, providing opportunities for peer mentors to connect with others who have shared lived experience. Compassion fatigue, self-compassion, and mental health improved from pre to post with small-to-medium effects (|r|=.12-.47) and pre to 6-week follow-up with small-to-large effects (|r|=.13-.56). Four themes were identified at post including: from a self-critic to a self-ally, being a better peer mentor, building resilience, and benefits to the organization. Taken together, this thesis provides insight that (1) compassion fatigue is a complex and multifaceted process, with self-compassion being critical to building resilience and (2) interventions to reduce compassion fatigue should be tailored to the needs of the population and implement strategies that promote resilience, such as self-compassion. This thesis contributed to the literature by exploring self-compassion within the CFRM, informing the development of a tailored intervention that can promote resilience towards compassion fatigue and improve mental health among peer mentors within SCI peer support programs
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.003 | 0.007 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.010 | 0.004 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.003 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.004 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".