This study aims to address treatment and service disparities and prevent disability among racial/ethnic and linguistic minority elders. It tests the effectiveness and implementation readiness of the Positive Minds-Strong Bodies Enhanced intervention (PMSB-E), a combined mental and physical health intervention designed to be implemented in low-resource community settings. This renewal grant project includes a streamlined intervention with new components designed to improve and maintain participant outcomes.
The Positive Minds-Strong Bodies Enhanced intervention addresses the dual challenges of mental health and physical disability among minority elders. The core Positive Minds intervention includes 10 sessions offered by Community Health Workers over a maximum of 6 months, designed to identify and correct negative distortions or cognitions, promote behavioral activation and encourage supportive relationships. Strong Bodies is a 36-session physical intervention consisting of a series of exercises conducted while wearing a weighted vest in a group setting over 6 months; both interventions include a group maintenance component to maintain gains. The investigators will evaluate the acceptability, effectiveness and twelve-month sustainability of the Enhanced Positive Minds-Strong Bodies intervention (E-PMSB) offered by Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Exercise Trainers in community-based organizations (CBOs) and community clinics. The intervention is offered in English, Spanish, Mandarin or Cantonese.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
427
The Positive Minds Strong Bodies Enhanced intervention (PMSB-E) was designed to provide a single, integrated program that could address the dual challenges of mental health and disability among minority elders. PMSB-E seeks to improve mood symptoms, identify and correct negative distortions or cognitions, promote behavioral activation through engaging the participant in pleasant activities, and encourage developing supportive relationships. All sessions are tailored to the participant's needs using a collaborative approach.
Participants in this arm will receive a booklet about anxiety and depression in Spanish, English, or Mandarin/Cantonese. Research staff will call the participant 4 times over the course of 6 months to administer mental health items, a suicide questionnaire, and a question about medication side effects to mimic the administration schedule in the intervention group.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Acceptability
\>/= 70% of participants attending \>/= 50% of their intervention sessions, reporting satisfaction with treatment.
Time frame: 6 months at end of treatment
Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (change)
Widely used measure of depression and anxiety in clinical monitoring and outcome assessment.
Time frame: Baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months after baseline
Short Physical Performance Battery (change)
Assessment of standing balance, timed 4-m walk, and timed test of five chair-rise repetitions, to assess functional limitations. A virtual option will be used while in person assessment is not possible due to COVID-19.
Time frame: Baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months after baseline
Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument (LLFDI) - functional component (change)
Self-report instrument designed to measure both functional capacity and components of disability.
Time frame: Baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months after baseline
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.