Pacing the sessions was important and we provided a break mid-session to enable participants to look away from the screen and manage their energy levels . The sessions themselves were kept to an hour and provided late morning .
We received some criticism of the time chosen , due to participants having other commitments , but found it was typically well attended and worked for the majority of participants .
Content was reviewed against research fatigue management provided to survivors of stroke ( Ablewhite et al 2021 ; Tremayne et al 2021 ), to ensure that the course was relevant , responsive and accessible .
We wanted to encourage engagement in the sessions so tried to avoid just delivering information in the form of a presentation . Not all participants wanted to verbally contribute , so we were able to make use of the chat facility – again easier to do with two of us in the session .
Establishing the group
There was learning needed within the team . Running face-to-face groups is different to facilitating online and required some knowledge of IT systems for the initial sessions . MS Teams was used , due to its availability within the trust , and a clear guide to accessing the format was created and sent out to patients .
Access to the group depended on access to technology . Library services were contacted to identify any potential technology on loan , but none was available at the start of the group . Patients who did not have access to technology were not able to join the groups .
Remote access did , however , enable one patient to attend while on holiday in France and another to attend while admitted into hospital . Once the group became embedded into service delivery , referrals remained consistent .
We raised awareness through email , task updates , feedback at team meetings , discussion in multidisciplinary team and discipline meetings . Therapists would discuss the group with patients and – with their consent – refer them .
Service leaflets are being developed to provide patients with written information on all of the virtual groups available .
Quality measures
Surveys were sent out to all patients at the start and end of the course , in order to provide a quality measure , in the format of a link and a QR code , while paper versions were also sent to patients with a prepaid envelope . From this , 94 % of respondents identified that they were satisfied with the service provided in 2023 .
Anecdotal feedback identified that patients found the group useful , that it enabled patients to meet with others experiencing fatigue , and that the virtual delivery of the group enabled patients to attend from home , holiday and even during admission into hospital .
Learning and change
There has been some key learning that we have taken so far from the group , which has informed changes and has been shared with similar projects within the team .
Course length has changed to improve engagement . Attendance figures demonstrated that participants were less likely to attend the fifth and final session when a two-week gap fell between the fourth and fifth session . This gap was removed and the sessions ran consecutively .
The sessions are interactive throughout the course . Participants have felt confident in sharing their own experiences and in questioning any content they feel unsure about – including breathing exercises . Feedback from participants enabled the content to be kept relevant and responsive with information packs added to the information sent to participants .
42 OTnews September 2023