Εffectiveness of a Digital Social Intervention in Primary Care

Summary

The goal of this study is to deliver a definitive randomised controlled trial to measure the effectiveness and assess cost-effectiveness of a digital social intervention for patients with asthma, composed of promoting engagement with online peer support in a primary care consultation, followed by engagement with online peer support for 12 months. The main questions/objectives this study aims to answer/address are: * Does promoting engagement with an online health community in primary care help people with troublesome asthma to experience fewer asthma symptoms? * To assess cost-effectiveness of the intervention (including quality of life, well-being, use of healthcare services etc); stakeholder satisfaction (patients and healthcare professionals) with the intervention; fidelity of protocol delivery; context in which positive outcomes can be triggered.

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

To participate in the study, participants will need to:

* Be adult asthma patients (aged 18 to 99) who have expressed their interest in digital social interventions in the recruitment survey.
* Report troublesome asthma (i.e. an ACT score of less than 20) in the recruitment survey).
* Be competent to consent for themselves, as determined by the healthcare professional delivering the consultation.

There are no specific criteria for selecting participants for the exit interviews (a convenience sample of patients and clinicians will be used and recruitment will continue until data saturation).

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients who are already members of the Asthma + Lung UK online health community or other asthma online health communities/Facebook groups (i.e. general use of social media will not prevent participation).
* Palliative or end of life patients.
* Patients receiving institutional long-term care (receiving total care in residential homes or living in nursing homes).
* Patients considered unsuitable to take part in the study by their general practitioners/nurses.

There are no specific criteria for selecting participants for the exit interviews (a convenience sample of patients and clinicians will be used and recruitment will continue until data saturation).

Conditions2

Browse More Trials