Connect ME: Improving Social Connectedness

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center11 enrolled

Overview

To assess the reach and effectiveness of a behavioral activation intervention for older adults experiencing low social connectedness by Area Agency on Aging Staff.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Social Connectedness

Interventions

Brief Behavioral Activation for Improving Social ConnectednessBEHAVIORAL

Brief Behavioral Activation for Improving Social Connectedness (BBAISC): BBAISC was developed to address social connectedness. Grounded in Behavioral Activation (Lejuez et al., 2011), BBAISC is a structured, 6-session skill-building intervention that has 4 key elements (Pepin et al., 2020): 1. Psychoeducation: Psychoeducation focused on homebound status, social connectedness, and associated changes in behavior. 2. Behavioral Activation intervention rationale: Framing how changing behavior can positively impact social connectedness (i.e., improve social connectedness and reduce loneliness). 3. Exploration of life areas, values, and activities: Focused on identifying life areas and values most relevant to the participant. Then, these values are used to generate activities that are aligned with those values. 4. Activity monitoring and planning: Participants are encouraged to schedule and organize their day based on what is important rather than their current mood or feeling state.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 60 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Older adults (age\>60) will be enrolled because they are the target population served by the home-delivered meals program and the target sample for this study. Exclusion Criteria: * Clinically significant depression (Patient Health Questionnaire; PHQ-9 ≥ 10) or active suicide risk (Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale; C-SSRS), or Cognitive Impairment (Blessed Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test\>9) * Clients who score 1 or greater on question 9 of the PHQ-9 will be further assessed for suicide risk using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) * Clients will meet exclusion criteria for a positive response to any item * We will exclude older adults with uncorrectable hearing or vision impairment rendering them unable to use the tele-conferencing equipment. * Those who cannot speak English and have impaired decision-making capacity * Adults unable to consent will be excluded * Individuals who are not yet adults (infants, children, teenagers) will be excluded * Pregnant women will be excluded * Prisoners will be excluded

Locations (1)

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Social Connectedness A, Baseline

10-item Duke Social Support Index (DSSI)

Time frame: before the intervention

Social Connectedness A, Change from Baseline to Post Intervention

10-item Duke Social Support Index (DSSI)

Time frame: immediately following the intervention

Social Connectedness A, Change from Post Intervention to Follow Up

10-item Duke Social Support Index (DSSI)

Time frame: 12 weeks post intervention

Social Connectedness B, Baseline

8-item PROMIS Social Isolation Scale

Time frame: before the intervention

Social Connectedness B, Change from Baseline to Post Intervention

8-item PROMIS Social Isolation Scale

Time frame: immediately following the intervention

Social Connectedness B, Change from Post Intervention to Follow Up

8-item PROMIS Social Isolation Scale

Time frame: 12 weeks post-intervention

Secondary Outcomes

Intervention Reach

Reach will be determined by the proportion of eligible agency clients who agree participate in the study.

Time frame: 12 Months

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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