PEER CONNECT: peer coaching for long term conditions
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN12623577 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN12623577 |
| IRAS number | 301946 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | IRAS 301946 |
- Submission date
- 27/07/2021
- Registration date
- 31/08/2021
- Last edited
- 03/09/2024
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
NHS England estimates that 25-40% of patients have poor knowledge of their health condition(s) and poor skills and confidence to manage their health and well-being. People with less confidence and skills to manage their health condition (termed here low activation) are more likely to have unmet health needs and require emergency care. Receiving focused support from someone managing their health and well-being well (peer coaching) may help.
Torbay Medical Research Fund is funding a study to see how easy it is to set up and evaluate a volunteer peer coaching service for people from rheumatology, chronic pain, and multiple sclerosis clinics at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust. People reporting high levels of knowledge, skills, and confidence (high activation) are providing the coaching. These volunteers will take part in a coaching training programme and be supervised through monthly group and individual sessions with coach coordinators. Volunteers will coach interested people over six months in the form of short conversations lasting 15 minutes to an hour. Coaching will be provided in a Covid-19 secure environment either online via MS teams, by telephone, or face-to-face.
Who can participate?
People attending pain, rheumatology, or multiple sclerosis clinics at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust who meet the above inclusion criteria to either be a coach or receive coaching.
What does the study involve?
People eligible and wanting to be coached (referred to as peers) will be allocated (using a process similar to tossing a coin) to receive either peer coaching and usual care, or usual care only. At the beginning of the study, after six months and again three months later peers will be asked to complete a range of health and well-being questionnaires. Peers, coaches, staff, and study decliners will be interviewed about their experiences. After the nine months, people receiving only usual care will be offered coaching. Findings from the study will enable the researchers to decide whether or not a larger trial of a volunteer peer coaching service is possible and how best to do it.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Coaches
Benefits- It is possible that training to be a coach and talking about experiences of coaching will enhance a coach's own knowledge, skills or confidence for managing their health and they may experience other positive benefits from contributing to research and service development processes.
Risks- it is possible that discussing experiences of coaching may cause emotional distress. If this does occur we will ensure the coach has the opportunity to discuss their experiences further with someone from the peer coaching service.
Peers
Benefits- it is hoped that taking part in the coaching will enhance knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage their health more effectively.
Risks-it is possible that interpersonal issues may arise between peers and their coaches. Should this occur both parties will be encouraged to report such issues to the coaching coordinator and alternative coaching arrangements will be made. It is possible that coaches may offer inaccurate advice which could be detrimental to how someone manages their condition. To try and ensure this does not happen, coaches will be trained to recognise boundaries to their role and limitations of their own knowledge. Any uncertainties will be addressed through regular supervisory meetings with the coordinator. To ensure the safety of peers and coaches, the coach training will include elements of safeguarding, data protection, and study reporting procedures. In addition, all coaches will have completed a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check prior to working with peers.
Where is the study run from?
University of Plymouth and Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
April 2021 to August 2023
Who is funding the study?
Torbay Medical Research Fund (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Agne Straukiene, agne.straukiene@nhs.net
Rachel Dennett, rachel.dennett@plymouth.ac.uk
Contact information
Scientific
Personalised care team, TSDFT
St Edmunds
Victoria Park Road
Torquay
TQ1 3QH
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0003-0400-0502 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)7766 363154 |
| rachel.dennett@plymouth.ac.uk |
Public
Personalised care team, TSDFT
St Edmunds
Victoria Park Road
Torquay
TQ1 3QH
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)7766 363154 |
|---|---|
| rachel.dennett@plymouth.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Single centre two arm feasibility randomised controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Hospital |
| Study type | Other |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request a patient information sheet. |
| Scientific title | A single site feasibility two arm randomised controlled trial of peer coaching for adults with long term conditions: the PEER CONNECT study |
| Study acronym | PEER CONNECT |
| Study hypothesis | Is it feasible to undertake a future multi-centre RCT to determine the impact on health and well-being of a targeted peer coaching intervention for people with low activation attending outpatient services? |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 15/10/2021, London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee (The Old Chapel, Royal Standard Place, Nottingham, NG1 6FS, UK; +44 (0)207 1048 088; surrey.rec@hra.nhs.uk), ref: 21/LO/0715 |
| Condition | People with long-term conditions attending pain, rheumatology and multiple sclerosis clinics. |
| Intervention | Participants who are eligible and consent to receive coaching from volunteer peer coaches will be randomly allocated 1:1 ratio using random permuted blocks, stratified by outpatient clinic (pain, multiple sclerosis, or rheumatology) to receive either coaching and usual care or usual care alone. Participants will receive up to 14 peer coached session provided in a COVID-19 secure environment either on-line, by telephone or face-to-face (if safe to do so). A range of self reported outcome measures will be collected at baseline, post intervention (six months) and three months after the intervention finishes (nine months). |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | 1. Feasibility outcomes: 1.1. Peer recruitment rate (%) = number of peers recruited/ potentially eligible cohort (indicated by the number of information packs sent or handed out) x100 1.2. Coach recruitment rate (%) = number of volunteer coaches recruited/ potentially eligible cohort (indicated by the number of information packs sent or handed out) x100 1.3. Retention rates will be calculated as the proportion of peers completing all questionnaires at 6 months i.e. the end of the coaching intervention. Follow-up rates will be calculated as the proportion of peers completing all questionnaires at 9 months. 1.4. Coach retention will be calculated as the proportion of coaches who complete the training programme and coaching of (at least) one peer |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Patient Activation is measured using the Patient Activation Measure (PAM®) at baseline, six and nine months. 2. Mental wellbeing is measured using the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale at baseline, six and nine months. 3. General health status and quality of life is measured using the SF-36 at baseline, six and nine months. 4. Health confidence is measured using the Health Confidence Score at baseline, six and nine months. 5. The impact of Long-term conditions, experience of services and support, and self-care is measured using the Long Term Conditions Questionnaire at baseline, six and nine months. 6. Health service utilisation is measured using a bespoke resource use questionnaire at baseline, six and nine months. 7. Specific symptoms, depending on diagnosis are measured with one of the following questionnaires at baseline, six and nine months: Brief Pain Inventory;Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale;The EULAR Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease: PsAID9 for clinical trials ; The Bath AS Disease Activity Index (BASDAI); Rheumatoid Arthritis Impact of Disease (RAID) questionnaire 8. Qualitative - we will gather the views of participants about the intervention and participation in the study via semi-structured interviews at the end of the intervention period |
| Overall study start date | 20/04/2021 |
| Overall study end date | 19/08/2023 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Patient |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Lower age limit | 18 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 15 coaches, 60 people being coached, 10 people declining coach/coaching, 6 staff |
| Total final enrolment | 28 |
| Participant inclusion criteria | 1. Aged 18 years or older (peers and volunteer coaches) 2. Attendance at one of three outpatient clinics (rheumatology, pain and multiple sclerosis) in TSDFT (peers and volunteer coaches) 3. PAM Level 1 or 2 (peers), PAM 3 or 4 (volunteer coaches) 4. Willing and able to engage in the six-month intervention (peers and volunteer coaches) 5. Willing and able to commit to undertaking assessments at baseline, six and nine months (peers). 6. Capacity to provide informed consent (peers and volunteer coaches) 7. Sufficient fluency in English to be able to engage with the intervention and study material (peers and volunteer coaches) |
| Participant exclusion criteria | 1. Aged under 18 years 2. Potential peers scoring PAM 3 or 4 3. Potential volunteer coaches scoring PAM 1 or 2 4. Participation in another observational/ interventional research trial 5. Not able to commit to six-month intervention period 6. Not able to provide informed consent 7. Insufficient fluency in English to engage with intervention/ study material |
| Recruitment start date | 23/11/2021 |
| Recruitment end date | 30/06/2022 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centre
Torquay
TQ2 7AA
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Hospital/treatment centre
R&D Department, Horizon Centre
Torbay Hospital
Lowes Bridge
Torquay
TQ2 7AA
England
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)1803 656638 |
|---|---|
| tsdft.researchgovernance@nhs.net | |
| Website | https://www.torbayandsouthdevon.nhs.uk/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/05374b979 |
Funders
Funder type
Charity
Private sector organisation / Other non-profit organizations
- Alternative name(s)
- TMRF
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/08/2024 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Dissemination Planned publication of study results in a peer-reviewed journal. In addition we will share our findings in magazines that are read by the public and people with long term conditions. We will also present the findings at local (Torbay), regional and national meetings and at scientific conferences. A lay summary of the study findings will be made available for participants at the end of the study. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are/will be available upon request from Dr Julian Elston via email at julian.elston@nhs.net or julian.elston@plymouth.ac.uk. Anonymised qualitative and quantitative data will be available on request until August 2028. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protocol article | 29/09/2022 | 30/09/2022 | Yes | No | |
| HRA research summary | 28/06/2023 | No | No | ||
| Results article | 19/08/2024 | 20/08/2024 | Yes | No |
Editorial Notes
03/09/2024: The following changes were made:
1. Individual participant data (IPD) sharing plan and summary were added.
2. The total final enrolment was added.
20/08/2024: Publication reference added.
05/06/2024: The intention to publish date was changed from 01/04/2024 to 01/08/2024.
30/09/2022: Publication reference added.
22/07/2022: The overall trial end date has been changed from 19/04/2023 to 19/08/2023 and the plain English summary updated accordingly.
09/11/2021: The ethics approval was added.
12/10/2021: The recruitment start date has been changed from 01/10/2021 to 23/11/2021.
28/07/2021: Trial's existence confirmed by Torbay Medical Research Fund.
