Pilot the Use of VA Make the Connection Campaign to Facilitate Help Seeking Among Vulnerable Veterans

Not Applicable

Withdrawn

• Conditions: Mental Health Issue (E.G., Depression, Psychosis, Personality Disorder, Substance Abuse); Help-Seeking Behavior
• Interventions: Other: Active Control Group; Other: Exposure to Make the Connection messages

• Registration Number: NCT03407443
• Lead Sponsor: Canandaigua VA Medical Center

Brief Summary

This pilot study seeks to determine if exposure to the Make the Connection campaign messages developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is associated with changes in mental-health related outcomes, specifically: (1) psychosocial determinants that drive help seeking behaviors (knowledge, attitudes and intentions); and (2) perceived barriers to seeking care. Participants are randomly assigned to message exposure or control (no exposure) conditions. Data from this project will inform mental health education and outreach efforts targeted towards Veterans experiencing mental health concerns.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2016-07
• Study First Submitted: 2018-01-09
• Study First Submitted QC: 2018-01-16
• Study First Posted: 2018-01-23
• Primary Completion: 2022-09
• Study Completion: 2022-09
• Status Verified: 2023-02
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-02-06
• Last Update Posted: 2023-02-08

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: WITHDRAWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: Not specified

Inclusion Criteria

Veterans of all gender/sex, race/ethnicities that in the past 6 months:

• utilized health services in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA);
• screened positive on the PHQ-2, AUDIT-C or PC-PTSD and/or received a mental health diagnosis as documented in VA medical record
• Fluent in English language
• Capable of understanding goals of study
• Capable of providing verbal consent
• Willing and able to download/use study Android mobile application for duration of study

Exclusion Criteria

• Not a U.S. Veteran who has utilized VA health care in the past 6 months
• Did not screen positive and/or was not diagnosed with mental health disorder
• Determined cognitively impaired and unable to provide verbal consent
• Determined to be in high distress during recruitment screening
• Currently institutionalized (i.e., hospitalized; incarcerated, etc.)
• Unwilling and/or unable to download and use use the study app

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Active Control group	Active Control Group	-
Exposure to Make the Connection messages	Exposure to Make the Connection messages	-

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
change in help seeking behavior	change from baseline behavior at 16 weeks	self-report treatment engagement in VA or non-VA services

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Attitudes towards help seeking	assessed up to 16 weeks	self-reported treatment beliefs and likelihood for help seeking
Barriers to care	assessed up to 16 weeks	The 6-item stigma Scale developed by Britt et al. (2000; 2008) to assess stigma of accessing treatment for psychological problems among military personnel is used w/a 5 point likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). Logistical barriers to care are also assessed using the 5-item Barriers to Care scale (Hoge et al. 2004) to assess barriers to accessing psychological treatment w/ a 5 point likert scale (1=strongly disagree; 5= strongly agree). Higher values represent a worse outcome (e.g., higher endorsement of stigma).