Peer to Peer Delivery of Behavioral Activation

Weill Medical College of Cornell University29 enrolled

Overview

The goal of this study is to test the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary impact of peer-delivered Behavioral Activation (BA) for depressed older adults (60+) who are Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) residents or senior center participants.

This project focuses on helping to solve a growing problem in health care today. Through increased screening in the older adult population, detection of depression has increased which has established a growing need for mental health resources. Unfortunately, there are limited resources to keep up with the steady increase of individuals in need. Training peers to work with older depressed adults in techniques such as behavioral activation provides an alternative model to help moderate the increased need and provide a unique intervention of care. Developing an innovative peer facilitated program has the potential to enhance the delivery of quality health care. The specific aims of the study are 1) to train peer coaches and implement Peer to Peer in the community 2) to examine depression ratings over time.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Depression

Interventions

Peer to PeerBEHAVIORAL

12 weekly sessions of peer-delivered behavioral activation

Standard Mental Health ReferralOTHER

Standard mental health referral to a community agency

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 60 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Age 60 and older * Member of Lenox Hill Senior Center, St. Peter's Senior Center, or Beth Abe * Score of 10+ on Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) Exclusion Criteria: * Presence of alcohol abuse, substance abuse, psychotic disorder, or bipolar disorder as observed on the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (SCID) * Inability to speak English * Dementia: Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score below 24 * High suicide risk, i.e. intent or plan to attempt suicide

Locations (1)

Weill Cornell Medical College

White Plains, New York, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Proportion of Peer to Peer Coaches Who Undergo Behavioral Activation Training and Achieve Certification

Proportion of Peer to Peer coaches who undergo Behavioral Activation training and achieve certification

Time frame: 4 weeks prior to Baseline

Number of Peer to Peer Clients Who Attend > 80% of Behavioral Activation Sessions

Number of Peer to Peer clients who attend \> 80% of Behavioral Activation sessions

Time frame: 12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes

Changes in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale Scores

Hamilton Depression Rating Scale mean change scores from baseline to 12 weeks. This scale measures severity of depressive symptoms (range=0-76), with higher scores indicating more sever depressive symptomatology.

Time frame: Baseline and 12 weeks

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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