5 years ago

Peer-to-peer mentoring for African American women with lupus: A feasibility pilot

Ramakrishnan Viswanathan, Leonard Egede, Edith M. Williams, J. Madison Hyer, Delia Voronca, Trevor D. Faith, Jim C. Oates, Mulugeta Gebregzaibher
Objective To examine the feasibility and potential benefits of peer mentoring to improve the disease self-management and quality of life of individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Peer mentors were trained and paired with up to three mentees to receive self-management education and support by telephone over 12 weeks. This study took place at an academic teaching hospital in Charleston, South Carolina. Seven quads consisting of one peer mentor and three mentees were matched based on factors such as age, area of residence, marital and work status. Mentee outcomes of self-management, health-related quality of life, and disease activity were measured using validated tools at baseline, mid-intervention, and post-intervention. Descriptive statistics and effect sizes were calculated to determine clinically important (>0.3) changes from baseline. Results Mentees showed trends toward lower disease activity (p=0.004) and improved health-related quality of life, in the form of decreased anxiety (p=0.018) and decreased depression (p=0.057). Other improvements in health-related quality of life were observed with effect sizes exceeding 0.3, but did not reach statistical significance. In addition, both mentees and mentors gave very high scores for perceived treatment credibility and service delivery. Conclusion The intervention was well received. Training, peer mentoring program, and outcome measures were demonstrated to be feasible with modifications. This provides preliminary support for the efficacy, acceptability, and perceived credibility of a peer mentoring approach to improve disease self-management and health-related quality of life in African American women with SLE. Peer mentoring may augment current rheumatological care. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/acr.23412

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