Afghan Evacuee Resettlement for Stronger Communities (AER)

NCT06786741 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Project# 3964
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 52
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Background. Under Operation Allies Welcome, approximately 88,500 Afghan evacuees have resettled in the United States (US). Evacuees face unique integration, well-being, and mental health challenges. Settlement is nationwide, including key locations of Illinois (IL) and Tennessee (TN). Study aims. In the proposed study, investigators will pilot test a 3-week culturally responsive and flexible, sprint (rapid) intervention, AER (Afghan Evacuee Resettlement) for Stronger Communities, with Afghan evacuees in IL and TN. A beta version of the first-ever AI platform, Dost, for Afghan evacuees will also be tested. Innovation. This is the first flexible and culturally responsive intervention and AI app created for Afghan evacuees to be delivered in English and Dari. Up-to-date data from evacuees over the past year inform this intervention. Methods. To pilot test the intervention, a randomized control trial (RCT) with an optional waitlist will be conducted with approx. 50-60 evacuees across IL and TN. Community liaisons from partner agencies will also be recruited for intervention delivery. Participants in the intervention group will also be able to access the AI platform. Evacuees and liaisons will be invited to provide feedback on the intervention and evacuees will be invited to provide feedback on the platform. Expected results. Investigators expect to test the central hypothesis of the study, that individuals who receive the sprint intervention and access the AI platform will have reduced stress outcomes (integration, social relationships, and mental health) compared to those who do not. Impact. Findings will build new evidence for migrants in Chicago and nationally. This project will also further interdisciplinary collaboration across Loyola University Chicago and beyond.

Conditions

Stress Reduction; Healthy Relationships; Emotional Wellbeing

Keywords

evacuees; Afghan; stress; culturally responsive; integration

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Stress reduction

  Reduced stress as measured by PSS-4 instrument (0=never, 1=almost never, 2=sometimes, 3=fairly often, 4=very often \*some scoring and questions were modified to make them culturally responsive.

  Weeks 0, 1, 2,3, 4-week follow up

• Integration

  IPL Integration Index (1 to 5, 1 low, and 5 is high); Economic self-efficacy (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 3=agree, 5=strongly agree) \*some scoring and questions were modified to make them culturally responsive.

  Weeks 0, 1, 3, 4-week follow up

• Healthy Relationships

  Healthy relationships as measured by Relationship Assessment Scale (1=low, 2, 3, 4, 5=high); Brief Family Relationship Scale (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree); Gender role beliefs scale (1=strongly agree, 2=moderately agree, 3=slightly agree, 4=undecided, 5=slightly disagree, 6=moderately disagree, 7=strongly disagree. \*some scoring and questions were modified to make them culturally responsive.

  Weeks 0, 2, 3, 4-week follow up

• Emotional Wellbeing

  Emotional wellbeing as measured by Post-migration stress scale (1=never, 2=seldom, 3=sometimes, 4=often, 5=very often), brief Cope inventory (1=haven't been doing this at all, 2=been doing a little bit, 3=doing this a medium amount, 4=doing this a lot) \*some scoring and questions were modified to make them culturally responsive.

  Weeks 0, 3, 4-week follow up

• Psychological distress

  Kessler-6 to measure psychological distress (1=all of the time, 2=most of the time, 3=some of the time, 4=a little of the time, 5=none of the time) \*some scoring and questions were modified to make them culturally responsive.

  Weeks 0, 1, 2,3, 4-week follow up

Study Arms (2)

AER Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Intervention participants are provided with a 3 week rapid intervention.

Behavioral: AER for Stronger Communities

Control

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Control participants are provided access to short videos across the same 3 week period.

Other: Placebo Comparator

Interventions

AER for Stronger Communities BEHAVIORAL

3 week rapid intervention aimed at reducing stress.

AER Intervention

Placebo Comparator OTHER

3 week short video program (control)

Control

Eligibility Criteria

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

1. 18 years old or older, resettled to US post-2021 from Afghanistan 2. speaks English or Dari 3. has access to smart phone.

Contact the study team to discuss eligibility requirements. They can help determine if this study is right for you.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Loyola University Chicago: lead

Study Sites (1)

Loyola University

Chicago, Illinois, 60611, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Aerosols

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Colloids; Complex Mixtures; Dosage Forms; Pharmaceutical Preparations

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: January 10, 2025
• First Posted: January 22, 2025
• Study Start: September 5, 2024
• Primary Completion: December 19, 2024
• Study Completion: December 19, 2024
• Last Updated: January 24, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-01

Locations

US (1)