Virtual peer-to-peer (VP2P) mentoring for adolescents with congenital heart disease: A needs assessment and pilot randomized controlled trial

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect in Canada, affecting about 1 in every 100 children. Adolescents with CHD (AWCHD) must learn to independently manage their disease and plan for the future, including the transition to adult care. Many young adults living with CHD find the transition from pediatric to adult care to be challenging, and research shows that between 21-76% of young adults experiences lapses in cardiology care. Patients who do not receive follow-up care as adults have an increased need for urgent interventions and are at an increased risk of requiring hospital admission. These lapses in care can be caused by a range of factors, but often they are related to the challenges young adults experience when learning how to navigate adult healthcare systems, advocate for themselves, and develop self-management and coping skills. One intervention that has helped young adults develop some of these skills to support the transition is peer mentorship. Peer mentorship has been shown to improve health outcomes and symptoms for adolescents with chronic disease, however no research to date has examined the role of peer support for AWCHD. There is a need now more than ever to develop and test virtual support interventions as the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions have limited opportunities for AWCHD to receive peer support. Therefore, the goal of this study to refine and test a virtual peer mentorship intervention for AWCHD which will provide emotional and social support, encourage AWCHD to develop and engage in self-management and transition skills, and provide education related to CHD. This study will be completed in two phases: Phase 1 - a needs assessment, and Phase 2 - a pilot randomized controlled trial to test the feasibility of delivering this intervention. This research will enable us to tailor this unique peer mentorship program to the CHD population, which will allow further study and clinical implementation.