Rebuilding Life After Stroke: The Power of Peer Support, Confidence, and Community in identifying the key components and psychosocial factors that influence the effectiveness of peer befriending

This study is a mixed-methods observational study that aims to identify and understand the key components and psychosocial factors that influence the effectiveness of the existing Singapore National Stroke Association (SNSA) Peer Befriending Programme for stroke survivors. The exposure in this study is prior participation in the SNSA Peer Befriending Programme. This is an existing community-based programme that matches stroke survivors with trained peers who have lived experience of stroke. Participants will not receive access to the Peer Befriending Programme solely because they are enrolled in this study. Eligible stroke survivors may participate in the SNSA Peer Befriending Programme regardless of whether they agree to take part in this research study. Participation in the research study is therefore separate from participation in the Peer Befriending Programme. The study will recruit stroke survivors who have already participated in at least three SNSA Peer Befriending sessions. This minimum exposure is intended to ensure that participants have sufficient experience of the programme to share meaningful reflections. The study will not assign participants to peer befriending, withhold peer befriending, modify the programme, or alter the usual delivery of the SNSA Peer Befriending Programme. Peer befriending involves matching stroke survivors with trained peers who provide emotional support, encouragement, shared understanding, and social connection. The programme is non-clinical and is not standardised as a therapeutic intervention. It aims to support psychosocial outcomes such as mood, self-efficacy, perceived social support, and social participation. For participants who consent to take part in the study, involvement will consist of two research sessions: Session 1: Demographic screening and questionnaires Participants will complete demographic profiling and a series of questionnaires. This session is expected to take approximately 1 hour, with breaks between questionnaires. The questionnaires will collect information on mood and psychological well-being, quality of life, post-stroke participation, self-efficacy, and perceived social support. The measures include: Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9): depressive symptoms EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level Questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L): health-related quality of life Stroke Impact Scale (SIS): post-stroke participation and perceived stroke impact General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES): self-efficacy Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS): perceived social support Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10): psychological distress Session 2: Semi-structured interview Participants will take part in one semi-structured interview using a study-specific interview guide with 12–16 open-ended questions. The interview will explore participants’ lived experiences of the SNSA Peer Befriending Programme, including their motivations, confidence, occupational engagement, perceived benefits and challenges, interpersonal connections, and factors influencing befriender–befriendee matching. The interview is expected to last approximately 75 minutes, including a 15-minute break or shorter breaks to reduce fatigue. With participants’ consent, interviews will be audio-recorded without participant identifiers for transcription and thematic analysis. The study will observe participants’ experiences and perceived impact of peer befriending, including engagement with the programme, perceived usefulness of peer support, motivational experiences, barriers and facilitators, confidence, social connectedness, self-efficacy, mood, and community participation. No physical intervention, clinical treatment, experimental manipulation, biological sample collection, or additional physical assessments will be conducted. The study does not involve retrospective medical record review. The overall observation period for each participant will be from enrolment and consent until completion of the two research sessions, comprising the demographic screening/questionnaire session and the semi-structured interview session. Data collection is expected to take place between April and June 2026. There is no planned longitudinal follow-up beyond completion of these research sessions.