City Research Online

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the feasibility and acceptability of peer-befriending, for people with aphasia.

DESIGN: Single-blind, parallel-group feasibility randomised controlled trial comparing usual care to usual care + peer-befriending.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: People with aphasia post-stroke and low levels of distress, recruited from 5 NHS Hospitals and linked community services; their significant others; and 10 befrienders recruited from community.

INTERVENTION: Six 1-hour peer-befriending visits over three months.

MAIN MEASURES: Feasibility parameters included proportion eligible of those screened; proportion consented; missing data; consent and attrition rates. Acceptability was explored through qualitative interviews. Outcomes for participants and significant others were measured at baseline, 4- and 10-months; for peer-befrienders before training and after one/two cycles of befriending. RESULTS: Of 738 patients identified, 75 were eligible of 89 fully screened (84%), 62 consented (83% of eligible) and 56 randomised. Attrition was 16%. Adherence was high (93% attended ⩾2 sessions, 81% all six). The difference at 10 months on the GHQ-12 was 1.23 points on average lower/better in the intervention arm (95% CI 0.17, -2.63). There was an 88% decrease in the odds of GHQ-12 caseness (95% CI 0.01, 1.01). Fourty-eight significant others and 10 peer-befrienders took part. Procedures and outcome measures were acceptable. Serious adverse events were few (n = 10, none for significant others and peer-befrienders) and unrelated.

CONCLUSIONS: SUPERB peer-befriending for people with aphasia post-stroke experiencing low levels of distress was feasible. There was preliminary evidence of benefit in terms of depression. Peer-befriending is a suitable intervention to explore further in a definitive trial.Clinical trial registration-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov Unique identifier: NCT02947776Subject terms: Translational research, mental health, rehabilitation, quality and outcomes, stroke.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Publisher Keywords:	Feasibility study, peer-befriending, aphasia, mood
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics R Medicine > RT Nursing
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Language & Communication Science
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

Export

Downloads