Study offers peer support to help patients like Sarah through heart disease

For Sarah, who was born with congenital heart disease, support offered from others sharing the same condition has provided connection and comfort on her health journey.

Experiencing open-heart surgery twice as a child, and many other cardiac-related procedures including heart surgery in 2023, Sarah has since lived a full life, having six children and now two grandchildren.

“After the isolation experienced during COVID, I found there was a community of people online who shared a similar health journey to me,” Sarah said.

“Connecting with others who also had heart disease offered unique support from someone who was walking in my same shoes.”

Sarah then came across a randomised controlled trial at Fiona Stanley Hospital called Heart2Heart. The new research will test whether a digital peer support program can help people with heart disease to better manage their condition by feeling more socially connected.

Designed with input from people living with heart disease, the study includes the Heart2Heart app (exernal site) which has:

• online group chats for peers who have lived experience of heart disease
• educational resources about heart health and healthy lifestyle
• moderation by health professionals to keep the space safe and supportive.

Head of Department, Exercise Physiology, Professor Andrew Maiorana, a co-investigator in the project, said the research was motivated by the loneliness and social isolation many people with heart disease reported after their discharge from hospital.

“While medical and clinical care is important, emotional support and a sense of connection like Sarah experienced can make a big difference to recovery,” Andrew said.

“This research program was developed to see if digital peer support can be an easy, affordable and effective way to help people with heart disease feel more socially connected and supported during cardiac recovery.”

The hospital is one of several cardiac rehabilitation sites across the nation where Heart2Heart is taking place, alongside other sites in Western Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria. Online recruitment also allows any adult across Australia with a confirmed diagnosis of heart disease to participate.

“Participants are randomly placed into either the intervention group who get access to the Heart2Heart app (external site) for six months, or the control group who receive their usual care, but will be offered the app after 12 months,” Andrew said.

“Follow up at 6 and 12 months determines how the program affects participants social connection, lifestyle, self-efficacy, health-related quality of life, hospital readmission, health service use and satisfaction.

“The research gathers clinical and patient-reported outcomes and experience measures, with findings aiming to improve outcomes for patients with heart disease,” Andrew said.

Funded by the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and the NSW Office of Health and Medical Research, this research project had ethical clearance from Western Sydney Local Health District Ethics Committee. The research is conducted in collaboration with Primary Investigator Professor Julie Redfern from Bond University, as well as an extensive multidisciplinary group of associated investigators from many other institutions and is likely to be completed in 2026.

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