PRELIMINARY FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OF A GROUP-BASED PEER-MENTOR INTERVENTION TO PROMOTE DISEASE SELF-MANAGEMENT IN TRANSITION-AGE YOUTH (TAY)

• Published in: Journal of adolescent health 2019-02, Vol.64 (2S), p.S48
• Main Authors: Wiemann, Constance M, Benavides, Jacqueline, Graham, Sarah C, Garland, Beth H, Raphael, Jean L, Hergenroeder, Albert C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Age differences; Attendance; Chronic illnesses; Clinical medicine; Feasibility; Fidelity; Health care; Health education; Insurance; Intervention; Medical conditions; Medical diagnosis; Mentoring; Motivational interviewing; Prescription drugs; Recruitment; Refusal; Rheumatology; School to work transition; Selfmanagement; Teenagers
• ISSN: 1054-139X; 1879-1972

Purpose: Adolescents with chronic medical conditions need skills to successfully transition into adult healthcare. Peer mentors have been effectively used in other fields to model skills/behaviors and provide guidance to those navigating new experiences. This study provides preliminary data on the feasibility/acceptability of a group-based peer-mentor intervention to promote disease self-management in transition-age youth (TAY) from different services. Methods: Over the last eight months, 83 TAY ages 17-22 from gastroenterology, renal and rheumatology clinical services were randomly assigned to participate in a group-based, peer-mentor intervention (n=40) or enhanced standard care (n=43). To date, four intervention groups were formed based on the timing of recruitment (2-3 additional groups will be completed by February 2019). The intervention consists of four 4-hour Saturday sessions covering topics such as finding an adult doctor, refiling prescriptions, understanding insurance, and explaining your diagnosis. Sessions are led by peer mentors with chronic conditions who have successfully transitioned and been trained to use a Motivational Interviewing-informed approach. Feasibility/acceptability are evaluated by recruitment/retention rates, intervention sessions attended, program fidelity, and both TAY and mentor satisfaction. Results: 30 out of the 113 TAY approached refused study participation for the following reasons: attending college out of town (9); not interested (6); competing work, school or other activities (5); distance/transportation (5); religious reasons (3); parent refusal (1); did not want to commit to Saturdays (1). The number of TAY assigned to each group ranged from 5 to 14. The proportion of TAY attending at least one session steadily increased from 40% to 79% across groups due in part to the ongoing development and evaluation of strategies to promote engagement. Among those attending at least one session, the average number of sessions attended ranged from 2.25 to 2.54. Only 2 of the 16 sessions were incompletely implemented, which resulted in curriculum topics being carried over into the following sessions. Nearly 100% of TAY attendees agreed that each of the four sessions met their expectations. Sample comments from TAY included: "Sessions were engaging and fun"; "Enjoyed meeting others with chronic conditions"; "Activities brought the group together"; "Learned I wasn't alone"; and "Want more youth to attend." Sample mentor comment