Virtual Peer Research Articles

Virtual Peer Support for ICU Survivors Is Feasible, and May Improve Outcomes for ICU Survivors: Results from the icuRESOLVE-D (icu Recovery Solutions Co-Designed through SurVivor Engagement – Digital) Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

Virtual Peer Support for ICU Survivors Is Feasible, and May Improve Outcomes for ICU Survivors: Results from the icuRESOLVE-D (icu Recovery Solutions Co-Designed through SurVivor Engagement – Digital) Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

Virtual Peer Support: Impact of Online Social Interactions Among Members of a Japanese Single Mothers’ Community

Virtual Peer Support: Impact of Online Social Interactions Among Members of a Japanese Single Mothers’ Community

How does virtual peer presence relate to learning from video lectures and subsequent explanation generation? The moderated mediating roles of motivation and explanation characteristics

Finding effective ways to improve students’ learning from video lectures will not only improve online education efficacy, it will also play an important role in the digital transformation of education. Generating written explanations has shown some benefits for learning, and peer presence may be an implementation-related boundary condition. This study tested the impacts of virtual peer presence (presence vs. absence) and generative tasks (generating explanations vs. no generation) on students’ learning in a video-based learning context. Students’ attention, meta-comprehension accuracy, motivation, cognitive load, learning achievements, and explanation characteristics were measured. Results showed some benefits of having a virtual peer, and of generating written explanations on students’ learning. Moreover, mediating analyses revealed the mediating role of motivation between peer presence and learning achievement, and moderated mediating analyses revealed the moderating role of explanation characteristics between peer presence and motivation. Our findings not only extend the understanding of the positive effects of generating written explanations in video-based learning contexts, they also provide implications for improving students’ learning from video lectures as well as optimizing online video lectures.

A Virtual Multi-institution Pediatric Radiology Peer Teaching Conference Improves Knowledge of Educators

Rationale and ObjectivesMedical education led by peers and near-peers has been shown to benefit both teachers and learners and can be successfully incorporated into radiology education. The authors created a virtual, multi-institution pediatric radiology conference employing peer and near-peer teaching with the goals of improving radiology knowledge and enhancing the educational experience of radiology trainees. Materials and MethodsTwo radiology residency programs implemented a common pediatric radiology curriculum and joint quarterly virtual peer teaching conference. Conferences featured short teaching sessions led by six to ten radiology trainees and were facilitated by attending pediatric radiologists. Knowledge assessments (KA) consisting of multiple-choice questions inspired by conference learning objectives were sent to peer educators before the conference (pre-conference), directly after the conference (immediate post-conference), and three months after the conference (delayed post-conference). Surveys were distributed to peer educators immediately after conferences to assess conference reception and solicit feedback. Quantitative data was analyzed using ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, and post-hoc Tukey HSD test. ResultsFour conferences featured 33 peer educators consisting primarily of first-year (60.6 %), second-year (18.2 %), and third-year (15.2 %) radiology residents. Compared to pre-conference scores, immediate post-conference scores were significantly increased (HSD 13, p = 0.02) and delayed post-conference scores were increased without statistical significance (HSD 5.8, p = 0.29). Almost all survey respondents perceived the conferences as helpful, well-organized, and effective in teaching pediatric radiology. A majority of participants expressed interest in participating in future peer teaching radiology conferences. ConclusionA virtual pediatric radiology peer and near-peer teaching conference held between two radiology residencies improved short-term radiology knowledge of educators and was highly received.

The Affirmatory and Nugatory Influence of Facebook Virtual Peer in Shaping the Attitudes and Behavior of Adolescence

Peer group is an important agent of learning during adolescence and a new form of peer group has emerged in 21st century called virtual peer group. The objectives of this paper are to explore the affirmatory and nugatory influence of Facebook virtual peer in shaping the attitudes and behavior of adolescence. A triangulation method is followed to explore the objectives where a total of 80 respondents were interviewed using survey method for quantitative data through simple random sampling and In-depth interviews (IDI) to gather qualitative data. A theoretical and conceptual framework has been developed to understand the study concept more precisely. Quantitative data analyzed through Ms. Excel and qualitative data analyzed through narrative analysis. This study has found that the way adolescents think, talk, behave, eat, and dress is positively or negatively influenced by the virtual peer group with who they are connected 24 hours though Social Networking Sites.

Harnessing peer mentorship as a tool to turn human resource for health brain drain into brain gain: a case study of a Nigerian peer-mentored research group

BackgroundPeer mentorship can be a potential tool to reduce the disparities in health research capacity between high- and low- and middle-income countries. This case study describes the potential of peer mentorship to tackle two critical issues: bridging health research capacity of doctors from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the transformation of human resource for health brain drain into "brain gain".Case presentationIn 2021, a virtual peer mentorship group was established by 16 alumni of the University of Benin College of Medical Sciences' 2008 graduating class, residing across three continents. This program aimed to facilitate research collaboration and skill development among colleagues with diverse research experience levels, fostering a supportive environment for career development in research. The group relied heavily on digital technology to carry out its activities due to the different geographical locations of the group members. Led by experienced peer leaders, the group fostered a collaborative learning environment where members leveraged each other's expertise. Within 18 months, we published two research papers in high-impact peer-reviewed global health journals, launched a mixed-methods research study, and conducted training sessions on research design and implementation. Findings from our work were presented at conferences and workshops. However, logistical hurdles, competing priorities, structural constraints, and uneven participation presented challenges.ConclusionThe peer mentorship collaboration has achieved some successes so far, and this model can be emulated by other cohorts of medical professionals across LMICs. Despite the group's success at a micro- or individual level, there remain significant structural barriers to research capacity building in LMICs that can only be addressed at the meso- and macro-levels by institutions and government, respectively. A systems-level approach is required to develop and support research capacity building and foster global research collaboration and effectively turn brain drain into brain gain.

The “Silent Firefighters”: an examination and evaluation of peer support sessions for medical laboratory professionals in Canada

PurposeThe Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS) Peer Support Project was a formal and virtual peer support group pilot for medical laboratory professionals in Canada to determine its application for CSMLS members and obtain information regarding the current state of medical laboratory professionals’ mental health, well-being and burnout. CSMLS learned what is contributing to stress at work, coping strategies and barriers to accessing support or help for their mental health among medical laboratory professionals.Design/methodology/approachThe qualitative and exploratory pilot study examined medical laboratory professionals from Canada. Two peer support groups were facilitated in April and May 2022 by a trained mental health clinician. Peer support delivery was virtual and delivered via Zoom. The purposive sample featured medical laboratory technologists, Educators and Supervisors/Directors who were CSMLS members. The qualitative analysis was conducted via analytical memos and incorporated both manual and NVivo software analysis.FindingsOverall themes were identified within the data analysis and included barriers to mental health care; increased stigma for mental health; mixed messaging regarding mental health; feeling invisible; medical laboratory professionals would like to manage stress better but their increasing workload demands and challenges with scheduling and staffing add to their stress. Participants also highlighted their role and its context using metaphors such as “the silent firefighters”, and “the Bass Guitar of the Hospital”. Based on the evaluations, the peer support sessions encouraged participants to address their own mental health, validate their experiences and increase their comfort level in discussing mental health.Social implicationsIt identified a potential resource for medical laboratory professionals and determined that further mental health resources would be beneficial for their field. It also identified their strong commitment to patient care and their role as a medical laboratory professional.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to examine peer support as a mental health resource for medical laboratory professionals. Additionally, its focus was on a Canadian population with virtual delivery.

Mothers’ Internet Journeys Through Social, Health Care, and Virtual Systems When Congenital Anomalies Are Diagnosed In Utero

ObjectiveTo examine mothers’ internet usage, in conjunction with social, health care, and virtual peer support navigations, when congenital anomalies were diagnosed in utero. DesignQualitative descriptive, consisting of semistructured interviews. SettingInterview data were collected over Zoom; mothers participated from locations of their choosing. ParticipantsMothers of neonates discharged postoperatively from NICUs for uterine-diagnosed congenital anomalies. The sample was purposefully recruited from private Facebook groups for parents of children with congenital anomalies. Intervention/MeasurementsAnalysis was done with deductive coding using concepts from the third iteration of the systems engineering initiative for patient safety theory. The a priori codes were health care, social, journey–benefit, journey–risk, task, and technology. ResultsTwenty-two mothers signed up for an interview; 12 completed an interview, and 10 did not. The majority (n = 8, 66%) were White, had a bachelor’s or graduate degree (n = 7, 58%) and were between 24 and 33 years of age (n = 8, 66%). Nine themes emerged: (a) Providers cautioned searching for diagnosis information but encouraged private Facebook groups for peer support, (b) Mothers’ inquiries for their own care are lacking, (c) Search for information while recognizing parent-partner’s coping differences, (d) Pace information from friends and family with patience and appreciation, (e) Manage inquiries from friends and family with group sharing, (f) Private Facebook groups provide a means of receiving and giving peer support, (g) Exposure to difficult stories on Facebook is a risk of stress, (h) Select a NICU, learn about their children’s diagnoses, participate in virtual peer support, and (i) Device features frame search strategies. ConclusionMothers reflected on the internet as a burden and a source of support in their health care journeys. The ubiquity of internet access calls for mothers to include in their health care journeys the complexities of managing time spent on the internet.

Bringing together multimodal and multilevel approaches to study the emergence of social bonds between children and improve social AI.

This protocol paper outlines an innovative multimodal and multilevel approach to studying the emergence and evolution of how children build social bonds with their peers, and its potential application to improving social artificial intelligence (AI). We detail a unique hyperscanning experimental framework utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to observe inter-brain synchrony in child dyads during collaborative tasks and social interactions. Our proposed longitudinal study spans middle childhood, aiming to capture the dynamic development of social connections and cognitive engagement in naturalistic settings. To do so we bring together four kinds of data: the multimodal conversational behaviors that dyads of children engage in, evidence of their state of interpersonal rapport, collaborative performance on educational tasks, and inter-brain synchrony. Preliminary pilot data provide foundational support for our approach, indicating promising directions for identifying neural patterns associated with productive social interactions. The planned research will explore the neural correlates of social bond formation, informing the creation of a virtual peer learning partner in the field of Social Neuroergonomics. This protocol promises significant contributions to understanding the neural basis of social connectivity in children, while also offering a blueprint for designing empathetic and effective social AI tools, particularly for educational contexts.

"There's always something, and then there's more": a qualitative examination of how virtual peer led self-management can create community around the evolving SCI experience.

Self-management programs for spinal cord injury (SCI) are a growing adjunct to traditional healthcare services aiding individuals with SCI in learning and managing symptoms and medical care. A benefit of self-management programs is that they can be facilitated by peers, offering a unique lived experience of adjusting to and managing SCI. While a growing body of literature highlights the effectiveness of peer led programs, there is limited understanding of how individuals engage with peer programs or critical components of peer support. The current study seeks to understand how individuals engaged with peers in the context of a self-management program. Secondary qualitative analysis of online forum posts resultant from a peer led self-management course for SCI. Content analysis revealed several themes of how participants engaged with members of the group, including skill building, resource sharing, and problem solving. A process level theme of emotional connection to others living with similar SCI-related challenges was defined as "bearing witness." Participants commented frequently that groups were the first time they engaged with a community with lived experience, and shared experience was frequently highlighted in the responses from individuals as one of the most unique and important aspects of the intervention. Themes identified suggest that bearing witness was a critical component of peer led intervention. While self-management content provided structure for engagement and discussion, participants report that connectedness and shared experience made content more impactful and relevant. Future research should examine if alignment of peer and participant experience increases the impact of interventions and explore if this theme is important for other chronic medical populations.

Transcending technology boundaries and maintaining sense of community in virtual mental health peer support: a qualitative study with service providers and users

BackgroundThis qualitative study explores the experiences of peer support workers (PSWs) and service users (or peers) during transition from in-person to virtual mental health services. During and following the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for accessible and community-based mental health support has become increasingly important. This research aims to understand how technological factors act as bridges and boundaries to mental health peer support services. In addition, the study explores whether and how a sense of community can be built or maintained among PSWs and peers in a virtual space when connections are mediated by technology. This research fills a gap in the literature by incorporating the perspectives of service users and underscores the potential of virtual peer support beyond pandemic conditions.MethodsData collection was conducted from a community organization that offers mental health peer support services. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 employees and 27 service users. Thematic analysis was employed to identify key themes and synthesize a comprehensive understanding.ResultsThe findings highlight the mental health peer support needs that were met through virtual services, the manifestation of technology-based boundaries and the steps taken to remove some of these boundaries, and the strategies employed by the organization and its members to establish and maintain a sense of community in a virtual environment marked by physical distancing and technology-mediated interrelations. The findings also reveal the importance of providing hybrid services consisting of a mixture of in person and virtual mental health support to reach a broad spectrum of service users.ConclusionsThe study contributes to the ongoing efforts to enhance community mental health services and support in the virtual realm. It shows the importance of virtual peer support in situations where in-person support is not accessible. A hybrid model combining virtual and in-person mental health support services is recommended for better accessibility to mental health support services. Moreover, the importance of organizational support and of equitable resource allocation to overcome service boundaries are discussed.

The pecking order: a Bourdieusian look at authority in virtual peer crits

AbstractCultural capital having sway in establishing authority in educational fields, including architecture, has been prevalent in scholarly work discussing the traditional studio setup. With the growing use of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) in architectural education, some studios, their occupants, and artifacts moved to the new medium. Such change places those studios in a precarious position vis-a-vis traditional architectural pedagogy, problematizing cultural capital and authority. This research examines the relationship between cultural capital and authority, focusing on MUVE-mediated studio peer crits. It adopts a quasi-experimental approach, where twenty-four participants with varying design proficiencies in diverse peer compositions completed a timed design task. The research employs linkography for analysis and Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical framework for interpretation. The findings suggest that MUVEs have a transformative effect on exogenous cultural capital, potentially disrupting previously established norms and hierarchies in architectural pedagogy and creating new hierarchical models, which add nuances to the existing models in the literature. A MUVE-mediated studio has the potential to present the studio as a new exploratory ground not weighed down by pre-established notions of studio culture "habitus."

Understanding via Exploration: Discovery of Interpretable Features With Deep Reinforcement Learning.

Understanding the environments through interactions has been one of the most important human intellectual activities in mastering unknown systems. Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has already been known to achieve effective control through human-like exploration and exploitation in many applications. However, the opaque nature of deep neural network (DNN) often hides critical information about feature relevance to control, which is essential for understanding the target systems. In this article, a novel online feature selection framework, namely, the dual-world-based attentive feature selection (D-AFS), is first proposed to identify the contribution of the inputs over the whole control process. Rather than the one world used in most DRL, D-AFS has both the real world and its virtual peer with twisted features. The newly introduced attention-based evaluation (AR) module performs the dynamic mapping from the real world to the virtual world. The existing DRL algorithms, with slight modification, can learn in the dual world. By analyzing the DRL's response in the two worlds, D-AFS can quantitatively identify respective features' importance toward control. A set of experiments is performed on four classical control systems in OpenAI Gym. Results show that D-AFS can generate the same or even better feature combinations than the solutions provided by human experts and seven recent feature selection baselines. In all cases, the selected feature representations are closely correlated with the ones used by underlying system dynamic models.

Student perspectives on peer education using a virtual platform to enhance advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPE)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused dramatic disruptions in the education of pharmacy students who graduated in 2022. As an additional active learning opportunity at a New York City hospital site with multiple preceptors and faculty, a monthly student-led virtual educational conference was implemented. The objective of this study was to assess student perspectives on the implementation of a virtual peer education conference. Methods: Between May 2021 and May 2022, a total of twenty-eight students participated as presenters or attendees. All students completed a 13-item survey to evaluate the impact their participation in the virtual conference had on their overall learning and how similar opportunities could impact their future learning experiences. Results: When asked to rate on a scale from 1 (did NOT improve at all) to 5 (greatly improved my learning), 93% (26/28) of students rated their change in learning after attending the student-led conference as a four or five. Students identified that participation enhanced their drug/disease state knowledge, improved their presentation skills and/or improved their critical thinking and clinical application skills. Conclusion: In the future, advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPE) can consider the inclusion of peer education through an online platform as a strategy to facilitate learning in pharmacy programmes.

Peer support provider and recipients' perspectives on compassion in virtual peer support stroke programs: "You can't really be supportive without compassion".

Peer support programs demonstrate numerous benefits, including emotional, instrumental, informational, and affirmational social support. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many peer support stroke programs in Canada have been delivered virtually. Compassion must be consistently applied to build meaningful interactions, but the shift to virtual services may have changed the quality of interaction and compassion in virtual services. While compassion is recommended in health and social services to improve outcomes, satisfaction, and service quality, compassion in virtual peer support stroke programs remains understudied. We aimed to describe compassionate support in virtual peer support stroke programs from peer support providers' and recipients' perspectives. This qualitative descriptive study was guided by Sinclair & colleagues' model of compassion. Peer support recipients or peer support providers participated in interviews transcribed and analyzed using a hybrid thematic analysis. Sixteen were peer support recipients, six were peer support providers, and two were both peer support providers and recipients. Participants agreed that compassion was essential in these programs. Participants perceived compassion to be a result of the virtues of compassionate facilitators (i.e., genuineness, passion, and empathy), relational space, and communication within the virtual peer support stroke program (e.g., sense of awareness or intuition of compassion, aspects of engaged peer support provision), virtuous response (e.g., knowing the person and actions that made the peer support recipient feel like a priority). Compassion was facilitated by listening and understanding peer support recipients' needs as they relate to stroke (i.e., seeking to understand peer support recipients and their needs), attending to peer support recipients' needs (e.g., timely actions to address their needs), and achieving compassion-related program outcomes (e.g., alleviating challenges and enhancing wellbeing). The absence of these components (e.g., lacking genuineness, passion and empathy) was a barrier to compassion in virtual peer support stroke programs. Study findings describe facilitators and barriers to perceived compassion in virtual peer support stroke programs and provide practical recommendations that can be adapted into programs to improve program quality.

Evaluating the Effects of Online Instruction and Virtual Peer Coaching on Rural Teachers’ Use of Behavior-Specific Praise

Effective use of classroom management practices is critical to creating positive classroom climates supporting students’ academic and behavioral outcomes, and teachers in rural areas have a strong need for training in classroom management. One classroom management practice with significant support is behavior-specific praise (BSP). Research shows teachers need training to use BSP at high frequencies. Multicomponent training packages with sustained coaching have demonstrated increases in teacher use of BSP, but more flexible training approaches are needed to meet the needs of rural teachers. We used a multiple baseline design to first evaluate the effects of an online module on rural teachers’ use of BSP. Then, we evaluated the additive effects of asynchronous, virtual peer coaching on BSP. Results tentatively suggest the presence of a functional relation between virtual peer coaching and BSP following the online module and suggest the absence of a functional relation between the online module alone and BSP.

Supporting and Incentivizing Peer Leaders for an Internet-Based Private Peer Community for Youths With Type 1 Diabetes: Social Network and Directed Content Analysis.

Youths with type 1 diabetes (T1D) frequently experience stigma. Internet-based peer communities can mitigate this through social support but require leaders to catalyze exchange. Whether nurturing potential leaders translates into a central role has not been well studied. Another issue understudied in such communities is lurking, the viewing of exchanges without commenting or posting. We aimed to assess the centrality of the peer leaders we selected, trained, and incentivized within the Canadian Virtual Peer Network (VPN)-T1D. This is a private Facebook (Meta Platforms, Inc) group that we created for persons aged 14 to 24 years with T1D. We specifically sought to (1) compare a quantitative estimate of network centrality between peer leaders and regular members, (2) assess the proportions of network exchanges that were social support oriented, and (3) assess proportions of high engagement (posts, comments, reactions, and votes) and low engagement (lurking) exchanges. We recruited peer leaders and members with T1D from prior study cohorts and clinics. We trained 10 leaders, provided them with a monthly stipend, and encouraged them to post on the private Facebook group we launched on June 21, 2017. We extracted all communications (posts, messages, reactions, polls, votes, and views) that occurred until March 20, 2020. We calculated each member's centrality (80% of higher engagement communications comprising posts, comments, and reactions plus 20% of members with whom they connected). We divided each member's centrality by the highest centrality to compute the relative centrality, and compared the mean values between leaders and members (linear regression). We calculated the proportions of communications that were posts, comments, reactions, and views without reaction. We performed content analysis with a social support framework (informational, emotional, esteem-related, network, and tangible support), applying a maximum of 3 codes per communication. VPN-T1D gained 212 regular members and 10 peer leaders over 33 months; of these 222 members, 26 (11.7%) exited. Peer leaders had 10-fold higher relative centrality than regular members (mean 0.53, SD 0.26 vs mean 0.04, SD 0.05; 0.49 difference; 95% CI 0.44-0.53). Overall, 91.4% (203/222) of the members connected at least once through posts, comments, or reactions. Among the 75,051 communications, there were 5109 (6.81%) posts, comments, and polls, 6233 (8.31%) reactions, and 63,709 (84.9%) views (lurking). Moreover, 54.9% (3430/6253) of codes applied were social support related, 66.4% (2277/3430) of which were informational (eg, insurance and travel preparation), and 20.4% (699/3430) of which were esteem related (eg, relieving blame). Designating, training, and incentivizing peer leaders may stimulate content exchange and creation. Social support was a key VPN-T1D deliverable. Although lurking accounted for a high proportion of the overall activity, even those demonstrating this type of passive participation likely derived benefits, given that the network exit rate was low. RR2-10.2196/18714.

PEERNaija—a mobile health platform incentivizing medication adherence among youth living with HIV in Nigeria: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundPoor medication adherence is a major barrier to HIV control among youth living with HIV (Y-PLWH). The PEERNaija application (app) is an adapted smartphone app grounded in social cognitive and contigency management theories and designed to harness peer-based social incentives and conditional financial incentives to promote medication adherence. The app delivers a multifaceted medication adherence intervention including (1) peer-based social incentives, (2) financial incentives, (3) virtual peer social support, and (4) early clinic-based outreach for non-adherent Y-PLWH. A pilot trial of the app will be conducted in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with the 4th largest HIV epidemic, and home to 10% of the world’s four million Y-PLWH.MethodsIn this randomized controlled trial, we will compare implementation outcomes (feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness measured via validated scales, enrollment and application installation rates, feedback surveys and focus group discussions with participants, and back-end application data), and preliminary efficacy (in improving medication adherence and viral suppression) of the PEERNaija app at 6 months. Participants in Arm 1 (PEERNaija) will receive daily medication reminders, peer-based social incentives, and virtual peer social support. Participants in Arm 2 (PEERNaija +) will additionally receive a conditional financial incentive based on their adherence performance. Eligibility for Y-PLWH includes (1) being aged 14–29 years, (2) being on ART, (3) owning a smartphone, (4) being willing to download an app, and (5) being able to read simple text in English.DiscussionThis study will serve as the basis for a larger intervention trial evaluating the PEERNaija app (and the integration of mHealth, incentive, and peer-support-based strategies) to improve HIV outcomes in a critically important region of the world for Y-PLWH.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov. NCT04930198. First submitted date: May 25, 2021. Study start: August 1, 2021, https://clinicaltrials.gov/. Protocol version: January 21, 2022.

Explorer la faisabilité, l’acceptabilité et la satisfaction d’un programme virtuel de mentorat par les pairs pour les étudiants et les étudiantes en soins infirmiers de premier cycle : une étude à méthodes mixtes

Final-year nursing students are known to face high levels of stress due to increased demands in academics and clinical practicum. In this study, a virtual peer mentoring program was pilot-tested, involving alumni as mentors. Using a mixed-methods approach, we sought to describe the acceptability, feasibility and satisfaction associated with the intervention. Study intervention involved: a) orientation, b) mindful self-compassion training workshop, and c) virtual mentorship interactions for nine months. Evaluation of study variables was done at the completion of training and at the end of the virtual peer mentoring program via self-reported questionnaires and interviews. The current virtual peer mentoring intervention was deemed acceptable, feasible and satisfactory to mitigate challenges for final-year nursing students. The virtual component of the study was considered to be convenient and appropriate, however, future mentoring interventions could be more effective by employing a form of mixed-contact involving both virtual and in-person interactions.

"It just made me feel better": qualitative examination of the implementation of a novel virtual psychosocial support program for adolescents with cancer.

Adolescents with cancer routinely report feelings of isolation and exclusion, including from medical decision-making. To address this problem and support adolescents, we designed and implemented the novel, virtual, weekly Teens4Teens peer support group and patient education program. We examined the views of participating adolescents, program guest speakers, and program moderators as they pertained to the need for the program, its feasibility, acceptability, and perceived impact. We recruited all available adolescents, moderators, and guest speakers who participated in Teens4Teens to take part in audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using thematic analysis. We conducted 21 interviews across participant groups. We identified four broad themes: pathways into the Teen4Teens program, Teens4Teens implementation capacity, perspectives of the positive impact of Teens4Teens, and suggestions to improve Teens4Teens. These themes described a perceived need for adolescent-centered psychosocial programming in pediatric cancer care, provided lessons on how best to build and apply such a program, and highlighted the value of the program for both adolescents' and clinicians' acceptability, feasibility, and perceived utility. Adolescents, guest speakers, and moderators valued Teens4Teens and made suggestions to improve capacity to routinely implement the program. Adolescent-tailored psychosocial programming, such as Teens4Teens, is positioned to be integrated into clinical care with relative ease and may serve to improve the cancer care experience of adolescents and their families. This study has potential to provide researchers and clinicians with valuable information about the content, design, and delivery of virtual peer support programming for adolescents with cancer.