A nurse-led peer support program to address frailty in nursing homes: preliminary outcomes from a pilot pre-post...

Nursing home residents are at high risk of frailty and often have limited opportunities for meaningful social interaction. This study developed and pilot-tested a nurse-led peer support program that incorporated structured motor-cognitive activities for frail nursing home residents. The primary aim was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the program. The secondary aim was to assess changes in handgrip strength, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, and social frailty after program participation.

A single-group pretest-posttest pilot study was conducted in two nursing homes in South Korea. Frail residents were eligible if they were aged 65 years or older, met the Fried frailty phenotype criteria, could participate in group activities, and had a Korean Mini-Mental State Examination score of 18 or higher. The 6-week program was delivered once weekly for 50 min by a nurse, with support from peer leaders. Feasibility was evaluated using completion, session adherence, and adverse events. Acceptability was evaluated using program satisfaction scores and oral feedback. Secondary outcomes were assessed at baseline and posttest. The paired t-test with Bonferroni correction was used to analyze secondary outcomes.

Of the 27 residents enrolled, 22 completed the program. The program completion rate was 81.5%, and the session adherence rate was 89.4%. No adverse events occurred during the program. Program satisfaction was high, with a mean score of 17.55 ± 1.79 out of 20. Depressive symptoms and social frailty scores decreased after the program, whereas handgrip strength and cognitive function remained largely unchanged.

The nurse-led peer support program was feasible and acceptable for frail nursing home residents. The findings suggest potential improvements in depressive symptoms and social frailty; however, these results should be interpreted cautiously because of the single-group pilot design. Further controlled studies with longer follow-up are needed to evaluate the program's effectiveness.