Online Peer Support in Long-term Conditions

NCT06222346 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: 328175
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 126
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Over 15 million people in England live with a long-term physical health condition. Low mood, loneliness and worry related to chronic illness are very common. In partnership with people with long-term conditions we have co-designed an online peer support platform to help people with health problems connect, support others, share experiences, and receive evidence-based information and advice on self-management. This study explores if the platform is feasible to implement and acceptable for people with long-term conditions experiencing mild depressive symptoms. Those allocated to the intervention arm will be invited to try out an online peer support platform with psychoeducational resources named "CommonGround". Those in the control arm will be guided to use the National Health Service NHS "Mental Health" webpages.

Conditions

Long-term Physical Health Conditions; Subthreshold Depression

Keywords

online; peer support; psychoeducation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Incidence of probable Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

  Measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-8 (PHQ-8 \>9 = 1; PHQ-8 ≤9 = 0).

  3 months

Secondary Outcomes (10)

• Symptoms of depression

  Mid-intervention (Week 6) and 3 months

• Symptoms of anxiety

  3 months

• Well-being

  3 months

• Health-related quality of life

  3 months

• Social connectedness

  3 months

Other Outcomes (9)

• Feasibility outcomes

  Baseline and 3 months

• Usability

  3 months

• Acceptability

  3 months

Study Arms (2)

CommonGround Platform

EXPERIMENTAL

Online Peer Support and Psychoeducational Platform

Behavioral: CommonGround

Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

National Health Service (NHS) "Mental Health" webpage(s)

Behavioral: NHS Mental Health

Interventions

CommonGround BEHAVIORAL

Through collaboration with people living with LTCs, clinicians, academics, and web design experts, we have co-designed an online peer support and psychoeducation platform to help people with physical health conditions connect, support others, share experiences, and receive evidence-based information and advice on self-management. The web-based platform offers users access to peer support forums with embedded psychoeducation content. The following components are key features of the platform: * A discussion forum * A private "My Garden" page that stores posts from other users and psychoeducation content that the user has decided to 'save'. * A "resources" page giving access to evidence-based psychoeducation material on the mind-body link * A 'Crisis and Further Support' page, where users can find further organisations and sources of support, particularly for crisis situations. The peer support platform does not offer one-to-one or crisis support.

CommonGround Platform

NHS Mental Health BEHAVIORAL

Participants in the control arm will be directed towards the "Mental Health" webpage(s), an online resources page provided by the NHS. These resources are not specifically targeted at people living with LTCs. They include information sheets and mental health support on topics such as advice for life situations and events. Additionally, it hosts a "self-help" section that includes guides, tools, and activities to support mental health, but does not include any interactive or peer support elements.

Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Probable SUBD (scoring 5-9 on the PHQ-8).
• Currently living with one or more LTCs. A long-term condition is a diagnosed physical medical condition with a duration of ≥6 months that demonstrates recurrence or deterioration and is typically associated with a poor prognosis. There are no restrictions on the type of LTCs. Please see list below.
• Aged ≥18 years old.
• Access to the internet (via phone, desktop, or laptop).
• Sufficient English to engage with the platform (assessed via self-report during screening).
• Ability to give informed consent (i.e., no known circumstances/conditions that may affect capacity to consent, e.g., dementia, memory loss or awaiting diagnosis).

You may not qualify if:

• Have ever received a clinical diagnosis of severe mental illness of bipolar, psychosis, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and/or schizophrenia, and/or a diagnosis of dementia.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• King's College London: lead
• BitJam: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

King's College London

London, United Kingdom

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Lavelle G, Jones HG, Carr E, Aylwin-Foster E, Lawrence V, Simpson A, Hotopf M. Online Peer Support for Long-Term Conditions: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Jul 23;14:e71513. doi: 10.2196/71513.

  PMID: 40700748 DERIVED

Study Officials

• Matthew Hotopf, PhD, FRCPsych, FMedSci

  King's College London

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Elly Aylwin-Foster, MSc

  King's College London

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Ewan Carr, PhD

  King's College London

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Vanessa Lawrence, PhD

  King's College London

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Alan Simpson, PhD

  King's College London

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Ciara Regan, MSc

  King's College London

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Hannah G Jones, BSc

  King's College London

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Grace Lavelle, PhD

  King's College London

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 20, 2023
• First Posted: January 24, 2024
• Study Start: February 12, 2024
• Primary Completion: October 30, 2024
• Study Completion: December 3, 2024
• Last Updated: January 14, 2025

Record last verified: 2024-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

GB (1)