During the last of four surgeries in a single week for a tear to her aorta, Judy Crane had a stroke. Then 47 and at the height of her career in medical sales, she felt overwhelmed by loss. The stroke left her weakened on one side and struggling to understand and express language, a condition called aphasia.

Weeks later, Crane's speech therapist connected her by phone with another patient with aphasia, whose stroke had occurred before Crane's and whose speech had largely returned to normal. "She told me how scared she had been about her future after the stroke," recalls Crane. "Then she told me about the steps she took to get back her life. That made me feel I could do that as well," says Crane, whose own speech now bears little trace of the difficulty she had after her 2005 stroke.

The Power of Mentorship

Several years later, Crane was invited to be a patient representative on the stroke committee at the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, MD, where her outpatient rehabilitation took place.

After sharing her own positive experience connecting to another stroke survivor, Crane recommended that the medical center launch a stroke peer mentoring program. Two years ago, it did. Since then, Crane has undergone training and mentored six stroke survivors under hospital staff supervision. "Hearing about someone else's experience made a world of difference to me, so I'm glad I can bring that world of difference to others," she says.

"I can't think of any neurologic condition for which a peer mentoring relationship would not help," says Mollie McDermott, MD, assistant professor of neurology at the University of Michigan and the neurologist in charge of the peer mentoring program there. Patients may not feel comfortable discussing certain concerns, such as sex after a stroke or spinal cord injury, with their neurologist or family members, she explains. "Speaking about these topics with someone who has experienced them may be more useful," she says. And mentors benefit as well. "It's a two-way street. Both members of the relationship feel valued," Dr. McDermott says.

Thriving Programs

Many medical centers and some patient organizations offer peer mentoring programs. The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, for example, offers a national certification program with video conference training sessions. MedStar National Rehabilitation Network in Washington, DC, offers programs for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke patients. And the University of Michigan Medical Center, which offers several programs for neurologic conditions, including stroke and TBI, recently created a training toolkit for other mentoring programs to use.

Careful Selection

Mentors are selected by the medical center's social workers and physicians for traits such as empathy, intuitiveness, patience, discretion, and friendliness. Programs may require applicants to undergo background checks.

Basic Rules

Certain parameters help ensure the success of these programs, says Melissa Cunningham, a volunteer coordinator at the University of Michigan Medical Center. First, patients can expect that they will be listened to and have their boundaries respected. Second, professional staff check in regularly with mentors and peers to be sure the relationships are going well and to discourage mentors from dispensing inappropriate advice or trying to diagnose. The staff also works with teams to determine when it might be time for the arrangement to end, either to foster independence for the peer or to avoid burnout for the mentor.

Training may entail one session or several, depending on the program. Mentors and peers can set their own schedule. They may meet in person each week or exchange emails or phone calls as needed. The program can offer advice on how to structure the relationship, says Bill Cawley, manager of the peer and family support program at the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, who has been a mentor since shortly after he was paralyzed in an accident 25 years ago.

Making a Match

Mentor programs match patients by age, type of illness or injury, and common interests. That's how Justin Hauser, 23, was matched with Billy Vickers, 36. They both sustained spinal cord injuries—Vickers in a motorcycle accident in 2003 and Hauser in a swimming pool accident in 2016-and they both share a love of hunting and fishing. That common ground paved the way for a trusting relationship, and helped Hauser open up. "Billy suggested I find someone I trusted, like a doctor, parent, or friend, to talk about my feelings."

With Vickers' encouragement, Hauser began seeing a psychiatrist. "Billy helped me see that the bad days weren't my life, they were just bad days," he says. In January, Hauser became certified as a mentor himself.

Caregiver Benefits

While the main relationship is between mentor and peer, many mentors, with the permission of the patient, will share their experiences with caregivers as well. "Caregivers are just as hungry as patients to know what lies ahead," Cawley says.

How to Join a Peer Mentoring Program

Contact the social worker at your local hospital, check with the staff at your doctor's office, or contact the national office of the patient organization for your condition to find out about peer mentoring programs related to your condition. For example, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society offers a "newly diagnosed mentor program." (To sign up and get more information, call 800-344-4867.) And the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation offers a national peer mentoring program that deals with any condition that impacts mobility, says Bill Cawley, manager of the peer and family support program at the Reeve Foundation.