ABSTRACT
Introduction: The Inherited Cardiac Conditions (ICC) clinical nurse specialist (CNS) team host coffee mornings for parents and their children who are affected by cardiomyopathy. These were held in response to parents' requests to meet other families affected by the condition. Support groups for families of children with heart disease can identify positive coping strategies and the need for psychological support (Jackson et al., 2018). Since the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK, incoming calls to the nurse specialists from families were greatly increased, due to heightened anxieties surrounding COVID-19 and its potential effects on children with cardiomyopathy. Therefore, the CNS team responded by adapting the coffee morning forum to a virtual platform with questions and answers surrounding COVID-19 and cardiomyopathy. Methods: The first virtual cardiomyopathy coffee morning was held on the 23rd June 2020 via Microsoft teams, a secure and accessible platform. Parents of children with cardiomyopathy under the age of 5 years were invited. Parents were asked to submit anonymous questions prior to the morning if they wished. It aimed to be more accessible for families, rebuild a support network and help ease anxieties surrounding COVID-19 in the presence of the consultant and the clinical nurse specialists. Results: 6 families attended. Feedback from parents was collated in relation to their experience of the first virtual coffee morning via email and feedback forms. This assisted in identifying the benefits of the event and how this can be adapted for future practice i.e. more regular sessions with guest speakers. Results identified that all parents found it very reassuring, informative and it eased their anxiety in relation to COVID-19 and cardiomyopathy. Conclusions: Overall, the adaptation of the coffee morning to a virtual platform was deemed valuable as evidenced by feedback from staff and families that attended. Although the coffee morning was focused around COVID-19 for the event that took place during the pandemic, the team envisage that the focus can change in accordance with participants wishes. The virtual coffee morning is an initiative that will be incorporated into the future practice of the CNS team to further support families with children affected by cardiomyopathy.