Peer-support needs and experiences of young adults with chronic conditions: A mixed methods study

Health Care Transitions Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI:10.1016/j.hctj.2025.100114

Katherine Melton PhD, RN , Brynn Telenko , Peyton Miles , Sneha Dave , Sydney Reed , Rosa Kelekian MSW , Caroline Walsh , Shannon O’Donnell , Kathleen E. Walsh MD, MS

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Abstract

Introduction

Little is known about how young adults with chronic conditions view peer support and virtual peer-support programming. The purpose of this study is to (1) describe the psychosocial and peer support needs of young adults with different chronic conditions and (2) evaluate the acceptability of a virtual community led peer-support program.

Methods

We developed and pilot-tested a 64-item online survey that included items about demographics, diagnosis and disease severity, peer support use and beliefs, program use and satisfaction, the UCLA 3-item loneliness scale, and free text responses. 136 young adults (18−35) with chronic conditions recruited from an email listserv participated. Two researchers coded free text responses and integrated quantitative and qualitative data using a convergent parallel mixed methods approach.

Results

Participants expressed social isolation, difficulty connecting with healthy peers, and a desire for greater availability of peer support programs. Of the participants, 72 % (n = 96) reported a UCLA loneliness score ≥ 6, indicating loneliness. The majority (91 %, n = 119) expressed that it was important to them to know other chronically ill young adults. Only 11 % (n = 15) reported that their hospital provided peer support programming. Most (94 %;(n = 32) peer support participants were somewhat or completely satisfied with the program.

Conclusions

Across different chronic conditions, peer support was seen as an unmet need and greater availability of virtual peer support programs may help support the psychosocial wellbeing of young adults with chronic conditions.

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青年慢性病患者的同伴支持需求和经验：一项混合方法研究

我们对患有慢性疾病的年轻人如何看待同伴支持和虚拟同伴支持计划知之甚少。本研究的目的是(1)描述患有不同慢性疾病的年轻人的心理社会和同伴支持需求；(2)评估虚拟社区领导的同伴支持计划的可接受性。方法：我们开发并试点了一项64项的在线调查，包括人口统计、诊断和疾病严重程度、同伴支持的使用和信念、程序的使用和满意度、UCLA 3项孤独量表和免费文本回复。从电子邮件列表中招募了136名患有慢性疾病的年轻人（18 - 35岁）。两位研究人员使用收敛并行混合方法对自由文本响应进行编码，并整合定量和定性数据。结果：参与者表现出社会孤立，难以与健康的同伴联系，并希望获得更多的同伴支持计划。在参与者中，72% % （n = 96）报告UCLA孤独得分≥ 6，表明孤独。大多数人（91 %,n = 119）表示了解其他患有慢性疾病的年轻人对他们来说很重要。只有11% % （n = 15）报告他们的医院提供同伴支持规划。大多数(94 %;（n = 32）同伴支持参与者对该计划有些或完全满意。在不同的慢性疾病中，同伴支持被视为一种未满足的需求，虚拟同伴支持项目的更多可用性可能有助于支持患有慢性疾病的年轻成年人的心理社会健康。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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Health Care Transitions

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