Evaluating the Impact of Senior Companion Programs

NCT05368480 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: 22-04-7161
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,040
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Senior Companion Programs (SCP) facilitate partnerships between community volunteers and local homebound seniors. Seniors served by the SCP will be provided with a companion who will conduct weekly visits with them, help with meal preparation or deliveries, provide transportation, assist with simple housekeeping, and socialize with the client amongst other tasks. These services are directed towards helping the senior client continue living independently in their own home instead of moving into an assisted living or nursing home. The SCP model is being evaluated to determine the impact of the services on the client's overall well-being and independent living status.

Conditions

Aging; Disabilities Multiple

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Difference in rates of self-reported loneliness between treatment and control groups

  The research team will use survey data to quantify the effect of receiving a senior companion on self-reported loneliness 6- and 18-months after study enrollment.

  6- and 18-months after study enrollment

• Difference in rates of self-reported life satisfaction between treatment and control groups

  The research team will use survey data to quantify the effect of receiving a senior companion on self-reported life satisfaction 6- and 18-months after study enrollment.

  6- and 18-months after study enrollment

• Difference in rates of self-reported independent living status between treatment and control groups

  The research team will use survey data to quantify the effect of receiving a senior companion on self-reported independent living status 6- and 18-months after study enrollment.

  6- and 18-months after study enrollment

• Difference in mortality rates of between treatment and control groups

  The research team will match participants in the study to the Social Security Administration's Master Death File to determine deaths among the study participants to quantify the effect of receiving a senior companion on mortality.

  6- and 18-months after study enrollment

Other Outcomes (1)

• Self-reported physical and mental health

  6- and 18-months after study enrollment

Study Arms (2)

Senior Companion

EXPERIMENTAL

Receives a companion to socialize with them, help with daily tasks, etc.

Other: Senior Companion Program

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Referred to other services available in the community

Interventions

Senior Companion Program OTHER

Receives a companion to socialize with them, help with daily tasks, etc.

Senior Companion

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 21 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Each agency will maintain their standard of care definition of eligibility for services. Generally, these criteria include: the client must be at least 21+ or 65+ years of age (depending on the agency) and the client's current living situation makes them a good fit for services. "Good fit for services" is up to the agency based on how they typically admit clients for services. Some factors that enter into the definition of a good fit include: the client must either be isolated, lacking in social ties that assist them, or their caregivers need respite services, in which case we provide them the same services as an isolated individual. Volunteer assistance must be vital to the client remaining in the home.

You may not qualify if:

• Participants under the age requirement for a given home will be excluded as will those who are deemed not a good fit for services. This might include clients who are not homebound or who's homes are in such poor condition that an agency doesn't feel the visiting companion would be safe.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• William Evans: lead
• Health Association of Niagara County, Inc.: collaborator
• Catholic Charities: collaborator
• Georgia Southern University: collaborator
• The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society: collaborator
• Positive Maturity, Inc.: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556, United States

RECRUITING

Study Officials

• William N Evans, PhD

  University of Notre Dame

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Sarah Kroeger, PhD

  University of Notre Dame

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

William N Evans, PhD

CONTACT

574-631-7039; wevans1@nd.edu

Vivian W Crumlish, MEd

CONTACT

574-631-1669; vcrumlis@nd.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Dr. William Evans, Keough Hesburgh Professor of Economics

Model Details: Clients will be kept on a waitlist. When a companion becomes available in a particular geographic area, the agency will take the top two on the list with corresponding geographies, complete an intake interview for both and then use a computer to randomly assign one to treatment (receiving the companion) and one to control (referrals to other services).

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 5, 2022
• First Posted: May 10, 2022
• Study Start: May 2, 2022
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2025
• Study Completion: December 1, 2025
• Last Updated: June 1, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: We will make data available when we release a publication resulting from the study. There will not be an end date for when data will be available.
• Access Criteria: We will make our dataset available to the general public by posting it on the website for the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).

Locations

US (1)