Growth curve modeling of virtual events and online engagement in a palliative care peer support online health community for adolescents and young adults.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Online health communities (OHCs) have been identified as important outlets for social support and community connection for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) living with chronic illnesses. Despite evident benefits, there remains a gap in research on methods to maximize sustained patient engagement within OHCs. This study assessed per-patient daily commenting rates over time, as well as associations with program staff and volunteer-facilitated events and engagement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We utilized data from 662 daily patient, volunteer, and staff comment totals within a Discord server hosted through the Streetlight at UF Health Streetlight Gaming and Online Team, between January 2019 and January 2022. Multilevel models were used to assess per-patient daily commenting rates and examine associations with OHC-level predictors of staff and volunteer-facilitated daily and seasonal events, as well as the number of daily active users. RESULTS: Per-patient comment rates showed an overall negative slope with time in most models. Unadjusted and adjusted growth curve models showed that daily events (ß = .21), seasonal events (ß = .18), and total daily active users (ß = .09) were all significantly associated with increases in per-patient daily comment rates. DISCUSSION: Results suggest that social event facilitation strategies can be applied to increase AYA patient engagement in OHCs. Seasonal events and staff and volunteer engagement may be the effective means of maintaining engagement among long-term patients. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the importance of staff and volunteer presence in OHCs in driving long-term patient engagement and in considering patient needs and perspectives in developing OHC features.