Promoting Interventions for Climate Change to Upscale Resilience (PICCTURE) Trial in District Astore
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Not yet recruiting
- Sponsor
- Enrollment
- 1,350
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Household disaster resilience (DRI)
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The PICCTURE trial is a cluster randomized controlled study that will be conducted in District Astore, Pakistan, to evaluate the effectiveness of community-based interventions in improving resilience to climate-related hazards. The study compares community-led adaptation and resilience strategies and community interventions integrated with primary healthcare engagement against a control group. The objective is to determine whether these approaches improve household-level resilience, adaptive capacity, and health-related outcomes in a mountainous, climate-vulnerable population.
Detailed Description
District Astore, located in the mountainous region of Gilgit-Baltistan, is highly vulnerable to climate-related risks, including glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), landslides, extreme weather events, and rising temperatures. Its rugged terrain, geographic isolation, dependence on climate-sensitive livelihoods, and limited infrastructure exacerbate the impact of environmental shocks on health and socioeconomic conditions. These vulnerabilities make Astore an appropriate setting to evaluate scalable interventions aimed at strengthening community resilience.
This study is a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial conducted, where cluster is a village or group of villages. From total available clusters, 30 clusters will be randomly selected and allocated equally across three study arms. Within each cluster, households will be selected through simple random sampling following a complete household listing.
Two intervention arms and one control arm are included. The first intervention arm delivers structured, community-led adaptation and resilience activities through Village Management Committees (VMCs), formed with representation from local stakeholders including elders, teachers, and vulnerable households. The second intervention arm builds upon this approach by incorporating formal engagement of Lady Health Workers and primary healthcare providers to strengthen health-related components, improve service linkage, and enhance outreach to high-risk populations. The control arm does not receive additional inputs.
Intervention components, informed by prior vulnerability assessments, include training and capacity-building on disaster preparedness and response, livelihood diversification, financial literacy, and health awareness. These are delivered through participatory group sessions, simulation exercises, and community mobilization activities over a one-year period. Training sessions are conducted monthly during the initial six months and bi-monthly thereafter, using standardized curricula adapted to the local context.
Primary outcomes are changes in the Disaster Resilience Index (DRI) and Multidimensional Livelihood Vulnerability Index (MLVI), assessed at baseline and endline. Secondary outcomes include health care-seeking, morbidity and mortality, nutrition, environmental resilience, and mental health. Process indicators evaluate intervention delivery, participation, and preparedness mechanisms such as emergency planning, financial coping strategies, and household disaster preparedness. A rapid assessment will be conducted if a major climate-related hazard occurs during the study period to estimate real-world impact under disaster conditions.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Prevention
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •Permanent residents of the selected study area
- •Aged 18 years and above
- •Willing to provide informed consent
Exclusion Criteria
- •1- Temporary residents or non-residents of the study are
Arms & Interventions
Control
Clusters do not receive any additional intervention beyond existing services and standard conditions during the study period.
Community Interventions (CI)
Clusters receive a structured package of community-led adaptation and resilience interventions delivered through Village Management Committees (VMCs). Activities include training and participatory sessions on disaster risk reduction, livelihood diversification, financial literacy, and health awareness. Sessions are conducted using participatory learning approaches to strengthen household and community adaptive capacity.
Intervention: Community Interventions (Other)
Community + Primary Healthcare Intervention (CHI)
Clusters receive the same community-based interventions as Arm 1, with additional engagement of Lady Health Workers and primary healthcare providers. Health system actors support delivery of health-related components, promote care-seeking, and strengthen linkages between communities and health services to enhance resilience outcomes.
Intervention: Community Interventions (Other)
Community + Primary Healthcare Intervention (CHI)
Clusters receive the same community-based interventions as Arm 1, with additional engagement of Lady Health Workers and primary healthcare providers. Health system actors support delivery of health-related components, promote care-seeking, and strengthen linkages between communities and health services to enhance resilience outcomes.
Intervention: Primary Healthcare Intervention (Other)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Household disaster resilience (DRI)
Time Frame: At baseline and endline (12 month)
Household disaster resilience will be assessed using the Disaster Resilience Index (DRI), a validated multidimensional composite measure of a household's ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from shocks. The DRI comprises three domains: Coping Capacity, reflecting baseline resources and conditions that enable immediate response; Adaptive Capacity, capturing the ability to adjust and respond effectively through access to systems, resources, and support; and Transformative Capacity, measuring longer-term potential to learn, improve, and strengthen resilience over time. The score ranges from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating greater household resilience.
Household vulnerability
Time Frame: At baseline and endline (12 month)
Household vulnerability will be assessed using the Multidimensional Livelihood Vulnerability Index (MLVI), a validated composite measure capturing susceptibility to shocks across three domains. Adaptive Capacity reflects the ability to cope with and adjust to stressors, including access to resources, livelihood diversity, and social support. Sensitivity captures the degree to which households are affected by shocks, based on their wellbeing, health, food and water security, and environmental conditions. Exposure measures the extent to which households experience environmental and socio-economic shocks that threaten livelihoods. The score ranges from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating greater household vulnerability.
Secondary Outcomes
- Food security(At baseline and endline (12 month))
- Mental Health(At baseline and endline (12 month))
Investigators
Dr Jai Kumar Das
Associate Professor and Assistant Director
Aga Khan University