Virtual communities of practice to enhance patient activation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Effectiveness of virtual communities of practice to enhance patient activation and quality of life across a variety of clinical conditions. (Short title: Virtual communities of practice to enhance patient activation)
IRAS ID
328926
Contact name
Usman Jaffer
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
n/a, n/a
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 3 months, 8 days
Research summary
There has been an exponential increase in the range of educational and self-management materials available online concerning many chronic conditions. Some of these resources incorporate online discussion forums where patients can meet others with similar chronic conditions and also have their questions answered by qualified clinicians. Wenger (1998) describes a community of practice as a group of people with similar interests who improve their knowledge and skill through their regular interactions. This can be translated into both patients who have similar chronic conditions, and physicians who work in the corresponding specialties, interacting in virtual communities to improve their knowledge and skill of the management of certain chronic conditions. Additionally, Demiris (2006) discusses how virtual communities have the potential to improve patient empowerment but more research is required to determine this, and also their effect on patient outcomes. This study will be evaluating the effectiveness of virtual communities of practice to enhance patient activation and quality of life for patients with longterm health conditions including varicose veins, diabetic foot disease and abdominal aortic aneurysm, as well as other related longterm health conditions (such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure and obesity). The virtual communities of practice will be on one of the online resources to which these patients are regularly signposted to as per their usual care.
Wenger, E. 1998. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511803932
REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
24/WA/0190
Date of REC Opinion
5 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion