Feasibility of a Peer Mentor Training Program for Patients Receiving Hemodialysis: An Educational Program Evaluation

Area of Science:

• Nephrology
• Health Services Research
• Patient Education

Background:

• Maintenance hemodialysis patients face challenges that can be addressed through peer support.
• The PEER-HD study aimed to evaluate a peer mentorship training program designed for this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility, efficacy, and acceptability of a peer mentor training program for patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis.
• To determine if the training program improved participants' knowledge and self-efficacy related to dialysis and mentorship.

Main Methods:

• A multicenter study involving patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis as peer mentors.
• Training consisted of four 2-hour modules covering dialysis knowledge and mentorship skills.
• Feasibility, efficacy (knowledge and self-efficacy surveys), and acceptability (evaluation surveys) were quantitatively assessed pre- and post-training.

Main Results:

• The training program was feasible, with high attendance and favorable acceptability ratings (mean scores 3.43-3.93).
• Post-training knowledge scores showed a trend toward improvement (90.0% vs 78.1%, P=0.1), but this was not statistically significant.
• Self-efficacy scores did not significantly change after the training (P=0.2).

Conclusions:

• The PEER-HD peer mentor training program is feasible and acceptable for hemodialysis patients, requiring schedule accommodations.
• While the program demonstrated some knowledge uptake, the improvements were not statistically significant.
• Further investigation is needed to enhance the efficacy of peer mentorship programs in this population.