Improving Adult Protective Services Client Outcomes: A Stepped-Care Social and Mental Health Engagement Program

NCT06257095 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: HSC-MS-23-0344
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 400
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the feasibility and effectiveness of an 8-week social engagement program aimed at reducing depression and increasing social engagement among seniors who are transitioning out of Adult Protective Services (APS) for either elder abuse or self-neglect.

Conditions

Depression in Old Age

Keywords

social engagement; Adult Protective Services (APS); elder abuse; self neglect

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Change in social isolation assessed by the Duke Social Support Index (DSSI-6)

  This is a 6-item questionnaire and each is measured from 1(hardly ever) to 3(most of the time) for a maximum score of 18, higher score indicating greater social support

  baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up

• Change in loneliness as assessed by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA )loneliness scale

  This is a 20-item questionnaire , each item is rated as either O ("I often feel this way"), S ("I sometimes feel this way"), R ("I rarely feel this way"), N ("I never feel this way") for a score range of 0-3,for a maximum score of 60, higher score indicating worse outcome

  baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up

• Change in depression as assessed by the PATIENT HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE (PHQ-9)

  This is a 9 item questionnaire and each is scored from 0(not at all) to 3(nearly every day) , for a maximum score of 27 , higher score indicating more depression

  baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up

• Recurrence of Elder mistreatment (EM)

  This is a yes or no questionnaire that will be answered by adult protective services (APS)

  From participant's first call to 1 month post final call

• Recurrence of self neglect (SN)

  This is a yes or no questionnaire that will be answered by adult protective services (APS)

  From participant's first call to 1 month post final call

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Change in anxiety as assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7)

  baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up

• Change in resilience as assessed by the Brief Resilience Scale

  baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up

• Change in Anxiety as Assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-Item Scale (GAD-2)

  baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up

• Change in Depressive Symptoms as Assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2)

  baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up

Study Arms (2)

Treatment

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Stepped-care social and mental health engagement; Behavioral: APS Usual care

Usual Care

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Behavioral: APS Usual care

Interventions

Stepped-care social and mental health engagement BEHAVIORAL

Each student will be matched to an older adult and the students will make one call o the older adult which lasts upto 1 hour each week for 8 weeks. Ending each call, the student will assess symptoms of depression anxiety through questionnaires. If the participant responds yes on two consecutive calls to any of these questions, they will be asked if they would like to receive a call from the University of Texas Health Science Center Trauma and Resilience Center to discuss free counseling services.

Treatment

APS Usual care BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive a phone call for data collection. Then they will be offered to receive an abbreviated version of the stepped-care social and mental health engagement intervention, lasting only 6-weeks with the option to continue calls if agreeable between the student and older adult.

Treatment; Usual Care

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Older Adults
• an APS validated EM/SN case
• able to provide informed consent
• able to speaks English or Spanish
• able to hear sufficiently using the telephone
• transitioning out of APS intervention (i.e. in the case closure phase of the APS service).
• Student
• college or university student
• enrolled in a health-related program
• commit to making 8-weekly consecutive calls
• complete the required 1-hour training and assessment.

You may not qualify if:

• Older Adults
• Individuals needing a proxy to consent
• suspected or confirmed decision-making capacity impairments or uncontrolled psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, paranoia, delusion, or delirium
• Student
• only engaging in the program to fulfill some educational requirement

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston: lead
• Department of Health and Human Services: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Houston, Texas, 77030, United States

RECRUITING

Study Officials

• Jason Burnett, PhD

  The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Jason Burnett, PhD

CONTACT

(713) 873-4685; Jason.Burnett@uth.tmc.edu

Jordan Broussard, MS

CONTACT

713 500 0321; Jordan.Broussard@uth.tmc.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 5, 2024
• First Posted: February 13, 2024
• Study Start: August 9, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 31, 2026
• Last Updated: June 3, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)