Loneliness Group Intervention

NCT05619718 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 12528
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 50
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this pilot study is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a group loneliness intervention in geriatric psychiatry inpatients. This type of group loneliness intervention is based on functional analytic psychotherapy and is called Awareness, Courage, and Love Groups.

Conditions

Loneliness

Keywords

loneliness; geriatric; functional analytic psychotherapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale (IOS)

  Brief single-item pictorial measure of social closeness. The minimum value is 1, the maximum value is 7, and higher scores indicate a better outcome.

  Up to 2 months

• UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-6)

  Brief measure of loneliness. The minimum value is 6, the maximum value is 24, and higher scores indicate a worse outcome.

  Up to 2 months

• Relational Health Indices (RHI)

  Brief measure of group relational health. The minimum value is 8, the maximum value is 40, and higher scores indicate a better outcome.

  Up to 2 months

• Quantitative Program Satisfaction

  Brief measure of program satisfaction. The minimum value is 0, the maximum value is 16, and higher scores indicate a better outcome.

  Up to 2 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale

  Up to 2 months

• Sacred Moment Qualities (SMQ)

  Up to 2 months

Other Outcomes (1)

• Satisfaction Questionnaire

  Up to 2 months

Study Arms (2)

Treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

Treatment group will receive Awareness, Courage, and Love Groups for loneliness.

Behavioral: Awareness, Courage, and Love Groups

Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Control group will receive treatment as usual in the form of Mutual Help Meetings.

Other: Mutual Help Meetings

Interventions

Awareness, Courage, and Love Groups BEHAVIORAL

Groups based on the Awareness, Courage, and Love framework from functional analytic psychotherapy

Treatment

Mutual Help Meetings OTHER

Groups based on treatment as usual where patients gather to discuss how they can help others on the ward, and make requests for how others can help them.

Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 60 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Admission to geriatric psychiatry inpatient unit

You may not qualify if:

• Individuals who are disoriented to person, delirious, unable to tolerate or participate meaningfully in the group, or otherwise unable to provide consent to research and psychotherapy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's: lead
• Western University, Canada: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Parkwood Institute Mental Health

London, Ontario, N6C 0A7, Canada

Location

Study Officials

• Elisabeth VanBussel, MD

  St. Joseph's Health Care London

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 9, 2022
• First Posted: November 17, 2022
• Study Start: February 23, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 25, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2027
• Last Updated: September 24, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)