Cardiac Arrest Recovery Enablement and Supported Self-management (CARESS): a study protocol for the feasibility testing of an online psychosocial and exercise rehabilitation programme for cardiac arrest survivors and co-survivors

Abstract

Aim: Little is known about how best to deliver support for the long-term recovery of cardiac arrest survivors, their family and close friends (co-survivors), or whether providing structured support is feasible. Working collaboratively, we have co-produced two online psychosocial and exercise rehabilitation care pathways for adult survivors and co-survivors – the Cardiac Arrest Recovery Enablement and Supported Self-management (CARESS) intervention. This study assesses the feasibility and acceptability of patient identification, recruitment, intervention delivery and outcomes assessment. Method: A single arm, multi-centre feasibility study with an embedded process evaluation. We will test the acceptability and delivery of a new rehabilitation intervention in the NHS setting. We will recruit 30 cardiac arrest survivors discharged to home, and 30 co-survivors. The CARESS rehabilitation intervention consists of three components delivered in real-time by video-call: (1) one-to-one consultation with a CARESS facilitator (week 1): a one-hour conversation to discuss motivation and set goals; (2) facilitator-led group support sessions (weeks 2–8; 1-hour): provided weekly, separately for survivors or co-survivors to develop their knowledge, skills, understanding and establish connections with peers; and (3) supervised group exercise rehabilitation sessions (weeks 3–8; up to 45 mins): provided weekly, for survivors to build confidence and fitness. Recruitment, retention, and completion of outcome measures will be evaluated. Exploratory outcomes will include health-related quality of life (PROPr 29+2), emotional wellbeing (HADS, WEMWBS), and fatigue (FACIT-f), measured at baseline (week 0) and post-intervention (week 11) to assess suitability for a randomised controlled trial. Interviews to explore participant and facilitator perspectives will inform the process evaluation. Discussion: This study assesses the feasibility of online delivery and findings will inform a future multi-centre randomised trial. Trial registration: ISRCTN16382742, prospectively registered 28/01/2025.