Peer Support for Post Intensive Care Syndrome Self-Management (PS-PICS): Study protocol for peer mentor training

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Health Services Research
• Psychology

Background:

• Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) presents significant challenges for ICU survivors, impacting their long-term health, well-being, and quality of life.
• Existing self-management interventions for PICS are limited and often fail to address key barriers to recovery and health improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the feasibility of a peer mentor training program designed to connect new ICU survivors with those who have successfully recovered.
• To examine the eligibility, recruitment, and retention rates of peer mentors.
• To assess changes in participant knowledge of PICS, symptom reporting, and health-related quality of life.

Main Methods:

• A prospective clinical feasibility trial involving up to 20 adult ICU survivors.
• Participants underwent a 6-week peer mentor training program incorporating motivational interviewing (MI).
• Surveys were administered pre-training, 6 weeks post-training, and 3 months post-training to assess social isolation, depression, functional status, and self-management behaviors.

Main Results:

• The study is the first to embed peer-led motivational interviewing training within a peer support intervention for ICU survivors.
• While not powered for hypothesis testing, the trial yields valuable data on intervention feasibility, study operations, and fidelity.
• Longitudinal outcome data will inform the characteristics of participants and the feasibility of the intervention.

Conclusions:

• The PS-PICS trial provides crucial data for developing and implementing effective interventions for PICS self-management.
• This research addresses a critical gap in current self-management support for ICU survivors.
• The findings pave the way for future interventions aimed at improving health status, well-being, and potentially reducing healthcare costs for this population.