Personalized Outreach for Equitable Treatment in Rheumatology

NCT07022756 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: H24-03984
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The primary goal of this study is to determine whether providing patient honoraria and/or outreach services can improve the attendance rate of appointments at an inner city rheumatology clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia. The main question it aims to answer are:

• Does providing a financial honorarium ($20 for each follow-up appointment with completed bloodwork) improve attendance rate at an inner city rheumatology clinic?
• Does providing a personalized outreach service for rheumatic diseases improve attendance rate at an inner city rheumatology clinic? The researchers will compare providing patient honoraria to providing both honoraria and outreach services, and compare each of these to the regular appointment schedule without honoraria or outreach. Participants will:
• Undergo randomization to receive honoraria or honoraria and outreach services together
• Complete surveys about their health and understanding of their rheumatic disease at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month intervals
• Visit the clinic every month for check-ups and monitoring bloodwork if they are started on immunosuppressants for their condition

Conditions

Rheumatic Diseases; Inflammatory Arthritis; Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA); Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA); Connective Tissue Disease

Keywords

Rheumatology; Inflammatory Arthritis; Inner City Health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Attendance at in-person follow-up appointments

  Adherence to in-person follow-up measured by the ratio of appointments attended to appointments scheduled.

  Cumulative over 6 months

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI)

  3-month and 6-month intervals.

• Patient Qualitative Feedback

  3-month and 6-month intervals.

• Patient Reported Understanding of Disease and Medications

  3-month and 6-month intervals.

• Patient reported pain related to arthritis

  3-month and 6-month intervals

Other Outcomes (5)

• Tender Joint Count

  At the 6-month interval.

• Swollen joint count

  At the 6-month interval.

• Number of Emergency Department Visits During the Study Period

  Cumulative over 6 months

Study Arms (3)

Honoraria Only

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants in this arm of the study will only receive honoraria and not outreach

Behavioral: Honoraria

Honoraria and Outreach

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants in this arm of the study will receive both honoraria and outreach services

Behavioral: Honoraria; Behavioral: Outreach

Historical Control

NO INTERVENTION

The attendance rate to follow-up appointments among all patients with inflammatory arthritis due to a rheumatic disease at the Pender Rheumatology Clinic from Jan 2023 to Jun 2025.

Interventions

Honoraria BEHAVIORAL

A $20 honorarium for each appointment attended with completed bloodwork if requested.

Honoraria Only; Honoraria and Outreach

Outreach BEHAVIORAL

A personalized outreach service specific for rheumatic disease.

Honoraria and Outreach

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Have a diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis secondary to an autoimmune rheumatic disease
• Be attached to one of the Vancouver Coastal Health Community Health Centres for primary care
• Be willing to attend in-person appointments at Pender Community Health Centre
• Be at least 18 years of age and capable of consenting to participation
• Be able to receive medical care in English.

You may not qualify if:

• Have cognitive impairment or an untreated psychiatric condition that would severely impair ability to engage with outreach or treatment
• Have no reasonably reliable method of contact (phone, email, social media, etc.)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of British Columbia: lead
• Mary Pack Arthritis Center: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Pender Community Health Centre

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Rheumatic Diseases; Arthritis; Arthritis, Rheumatoid; Arthritis, Psoriatic; Connective Tissue Diseases

Interventions

Community-Institutional Relations

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Musculoskeletal Diseases; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases; Joint Diseases; Autoimmune Diseases; Immune System Diseases; Spondylarthropathies; Spondylarthritis; Spondylitis; Spinal Diseases; Bone Diseases; Psoriasis; Skin Diseases, Papulosquamous; Skin Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Public Relations; Organization and Administration; Health Services Administration

Study Officials

• Brent R Ohata, MD

  University of British Columbia

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Chu Ming (Alec) Yu, MD

CONTACT

778-807-3323; alec.yu@vch.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Lead Investigator - Personalized Outreach for Equitable Treatment in Rheumatology

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 7, 2025
• First Posted: June 15, 2025
• Study Start: July 2, 2025
• Primary Completion: April 1, 2026
• Study Completion: June 1, 2026
• Last Updated: July 4, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)