Improving Adult Protective Services Client Outcomes: A Stepped-Care Social and Mental Health Engagement Program

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Depression in Old Age
• Interventions: Behavioral: Stepped-care social and mental health engagement; Behavioral: APS Usual care

• Registration Number: NCT06257095
• Lead Sponsor: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the feasibility and effectiveness of an 8-week social engagement program aimed at reducing depression and increasing social engagement among seniors who are transitioning out of Adult Protective Services (APS) for either elder abuse or self-neglect.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2023-08-09
• Status Verified: 2024-02
• Study First Submitted: 2024-02-05
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-02-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-02-05
• Study First Posted: 2024-02-13
• Last Update Posted: 2024-02-13
• Primary Completion: 2025-02-01
• Study Completion: 2025-06-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 300

Inclusion Criteria

Older Adults

• an APS validated EM/SN case
• able to provide informed consent
• able to speaks English or Spanish,
• community-dwelling,
• able to hear sufficiently using the telephone
• transitioning out of APS intervention (i.e. in the case closure phase of the APS service).

Student

• college or university student
• enrolled at one of the UTHealth graduate programs in Houston, University of Houston, Texas Southern University, Sam Houston State University, or Rice University
• commit to making 8-weekly consecutive calls
• complete the required 1-hour training and assessment.

Exclusion Criteria

Older Adults

• Individuals needing a proxy to consent
• suspected or confirmed decision-making capacity impairments or uncontrolled psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, paranoia, delusion, or delirium
• Older adults transitioning to a nursing home, assisted-living, or residential care facility

Student

-only engaging in the program to fulfill some educational requirement

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Treatment	Stepped-care social and mental health engagement	-
Usual Care	APS Usual care	-
Treatment	APS Usual care	-

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in social isolation assessed by the Duke Social Support Index (DSSI-6)	baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up	This is a 6-item questionnaire and each is measured from 1(hardly ever) to 3(most of the time) for a maximum score of 18, higher score indicating greater social support
Change in loneliness as assessed by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA )loneliness scale	baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up	This is a 20-item questionnaire , each item is rated as either O ("I often feel this way"), S ("I sometimes feel this way"), R ("I rarely feel this way"), N ("I never feel this way") for a score range of 0-3,for a maximum score of 60, higher score indicating worse outcome
Change in depression as assessed by the PATIENT HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE (PHQ-9)	baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up	This is a 9 item questionnaire and each is scored from 0(not at all) to 3(nearly every day) , for a maximum score of 27 , higher score indicating more depression
Recurrence of Elder mistreatment (EM)	From participant's first call to 1 month post final call	This is a yes or no questionnaire that will be answered by adult protective services (APS)
Recurrence of self neglect (SN)	From participant's first call to 1 month post final call	This is a yes or no questionnaire that will be answered by adult protective services (APS)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in anxiety as assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7)	baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up	This is a 7-item questionnaire , each is scored from 0(not at all) to 3(nearly every day), for a score range of 0-21 higher score indicating more anxiety
Change in resilience as assessed by the Brief Resilience Scale	baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up	This is a 6-item questionnaire, questions 1, and 5 are scored from 1(strongly disagree) to 5(strongly agree) and questions 2, 4 and 6 are reverse scored , for a score range of 6-30. The total score is then divided by the number of questions answered to get the final score. higher score indicating more resilience.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; 🇺🇸 Houston, Texas, United States