Heart Disease - CHESS

How does an internet intervention help patients with coronary heart disease achieve better health?

This project was funded by the BUPA Foundation for Medical Research (2006 - 09) and an NIHR PhD fellowship for Cicely Kerr (2006 - 10). Its aim was to determine the key active ingredients of a web-based self-management programme for people with Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) by tracking psychological, cognitive and behavioural changes in a sample of users and relating these to patterns of use of the intervention. The first part of the project required substantial updating and Anglicisation of a US intervention (CHESS - HD) (1), while the second part used mixed methods, combining quantitative and qualitative data to address the research questions. (2) The work formed the basis of Cicely Kerr's PhD, which was awarded in 2010, and supervised by Elizabeth Murray and Lorraine Noble.

Reference List

(1) Kerr C, Murray E, Burns J, Turner I, Westwood M, MacAdam C, et al. Applying user-generated quality criteria to develop an Internet intervention for patients with heart disease. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare. In press 2008.

(2) Kerr C, Murray E, Noble L, Morris R, Bottomley C, Stevenson F, et al. The potential of Web-based interventions for heart disease self-management: a mixed methods investigation. J Med Internet Res 2010 Dec 2;12(4):e56.