A virtual community of practice to empower patients with recent ischemic heart disease: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a virtual community of practice (vCoP) in improving the activation of individuals with ischemic heart disease (IHD).

Method: We conducted a randomized controlled trial. A total of 282 patients with IHD from Madrid, Catalonia, and the Canary Islands were randomly allocated to an intervention or a control group.

Implementation of a virtual community of practice to promote the empowerment of middle-aged people with multimorbidity: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Empowering people living with multimorbidity (multiple chronic conditions) to gain greater confidence in managing their health can enhance their quality of life. Education focused on self-management is a key tool for fostering patient empowerment and is mostly provided on an individual basis. Virtual communities of practice (VCoP) present a unique opportunity for online education in chronic condition self-management within a social context.