Peer Mentoring in Promoting Follow-up Care Self-Management in Younger Childhood Cancer Survivors

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey31 enrolled

Overview

This pilot trial studies a peer mentoring and online self-management program to see how well it works in promoting follow-up care self-management in younger childhood cancer survivors. Childhood cancer survivors require lifelong follow-up care to identify, monitor, and treat medical and psychosocial late effects stemming from their cancer, its treatment, and lifestyle factors. A peer mentoring program + self-management may improve disease knowledge, health motivation, problem-solving skills, stress management, and communication with caregivers and providers in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. Evaluate the feasibility of the self-management + peer mentoring program in a pilot trial. II. Assess preliminary outcomes of the peer mentoring program. OUTLINE: All Participants will be asked to complete online self-management educational modules and 6 weekly peer mentor calls to facilitate engagement with the online modules and offer specialized support. We will also recruit and train peer Mentors.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Cancer Survivor

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 29 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: PEER MENTOR ELIGIBILITY: * Age 21-29 * At least 1.5 years from treatment * Self-reported primary responsibility for care and "complete readiness" using the Readiness for Transition Questionnaire PATIENT ELIGIBILITY: * Age 18-25 * At least 1.5 years from treatment * Currently does not independently self-manage follow-up care according to self-report to assume total responsibility for care (i.e., reports low readiness \[score of 1 or 2 out of 4\] OR scores \<3 on any of the 10-item responsibility scale from the Readiness for Transition Questionnaire) Exclusion Criteria: PATIENT EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Physician- or self-reported cognitive delay or impairment that would prevent self-management of healthcare

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Feasibility as Measured by Study Enrollment Rates, Retention Rates, Adherence to the Intervention, and Reasons for Study Drop Out.

Descriptive analyses will be used to evaluate expected enrollment (\> 50%), retention (\> 80%), and completion of intervention sessions (\> 75%).

Time frame: 6 weeks

Satisfaction With Intervention, Measured by 1) General Satisfaction, 2) Intervention Utility Questionnaire, 3) Impact Questionnaire (i.e., Effectiveness), and 4) Adherence Questionnaire ( i.e., Barriers to Engagement).

1. General Satisfaction: Average of each item reported separately. 1: Program; 2: Online educational materials; 3: Discussion with mentor; 4: Frequency of calls; 5: Program duration; 6: Material read. Items 1, 2, 3, \& 6 are rated on a 1 "not at all" to 5 "very" scale (higher=higher satisfaction). Item 4 uses a 1 "not frequent enough" to 3 "too frequent" scale. Item 5 uses a 1 "way too short" to 5 "way too long" scale. 2. 12-items adapted from Internet Intervention Utility Questionnaire; measures perceived usefulness on 1 "not at all" to 5 "very" scale, higher=higher usefulness. Average total score reported. 3. 16-item Impact Questionnaire measures perceived effectiveness in improving targeted skills using 1 "not at all" to 5 "very" scale (higher=greater perceived effectiveness). Average total score reported. 4. 6-item Adherence Questionnaire measures barriers to engagement using 1 "not a problem" to 3 "major problem" scale. (higher=bigger barrier). Average total score reported.

Time frame: 6 weeks (post-intervention)

Mentor Training Satisfaction

Mentor 6-item Training Satisfaction measured on a scale from 1 "strongly disagree" to 4 "strongly agree" (higher score=high satisfaction). Administered to Group Intervention Mentors only. Total average score is reported.

Time frame: Time of enrollment, after completing mentor training.

Secondary Outcomes

Transition Readiness, as Measured by the Readiness for Transition Questionnaire - Survivor Version

Respondents rate how responsible they are for various healthcare tasks on a 4-point scale, where 1= "not responsible at all", and 4= "almost always responsible." The Adolescent Responsibility Scale is calculated by averaging responses across all 10 items (RTQ-Survivor). A single item assessing "overall readiness to assume complete responsibility for health care" on the same 4-point scale is analyzed separately.