The iPeer2Peer Mentorship Program for Young Adults With Heart Disease

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Peer Mentorship: The iPeer2Peer intervention is a peer support mentorship program that will provide modelling and reinforcement by pre-screened and trained peer mentors to the mentees. The mentorship program will encourage mentees to develop and engage in self-management and transition skills and support the participants; practice of these skills. The mentors will provide information and support to mentee participants via 5-10 calls (using WhatsApp) of 20-30 minute durations and text messaging (using WhatsApp) for 12 weeks to encourage participation in self-management skill building tailored to their needs.

Study summary

Young adults with heart failure, including those who have undergone a heart transplant, experience considerable psychosocial stressors associated with living with a chronic illness, including heightened levels of anxiety and depression, and poor health-related quality of life compared to 'healthy' peers. Psychosocial challenges during young adulthood are especially concerning as this life stage represents a unique transitional period for fostering self-identity, friendships, mastery, and decision-making competencies. As young people with heart failure transition into adult healthcare systems, they take on greater personal responsibility due to their increasing independence and involvement in care decisions, and require more support and resources to live longer, healthier lives. Peer support provided by a person with a similar experience has been found to improve disease self-management and psychosocial health outcomes in pediatric healthcare.

An established, online mentorship program, iPeer2Peer (iP2P), will be employed through a pilot feasibility waitlist randomized controlled trial with repeated measures across five sites. Sixty mentees will be recruited and randomized into intervention and control groups. Thirty mentees in the intervention group will be matched 1:1 with 20 trained mentors. These pairings will connect over 12 weeks through video calls and text messaging to provide peer support to improve self-management and psychosocial health outcomes.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Recruitment and withdrawal rates — Baseline to study completion
  (a) Recruitment rates (more than 70%) and withdrawal rates (less than 15%) as calculated using data recorded in participant recruitment log.
• Level of engagement — 12 weeks
  Measured via semi-structured interviews or focus groups.
• Adherence — 12 weeks
  More than 80% rate of completion of at least five audio or video calls over 12 weeks and 100% rate of completion of all online outcome measures as calculated using data recorded in participant program tracking log.
• Acceptability — 12 weeks
  When the innovation is agreeable, palatable or satisfactory. Measured via focus groups or semi-structued interviews.
• Barriers and enablers — 12 weeks
  Measured via semi-structued interviews or focus groups.

Trial sites (1)

Other trials for the same condition