MA-CEAL Community Health Ambassador Program

NCT07136402 | Withdrawn

• 2 other identifiers: H-45218OT2HL158287
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: N/A
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

This research is being conducted to investigate how to increase primary care health care visits and screenings and treatment for hypertension and diabetes in residents of housing developments in Boston. The investigators are partnering with Boston Housing Authority (BHA) and Trinity housing management to randomize 12 housing developments (6 in intervention and 6 in control). 6 residents from the housing developments will become Community Health Ambassadors (CHA). The CHAs will be trained to conduct "workshops" within the intervention arm. These workshops will cover Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and Hypertension (HTN) information. Along with the workshops, CHAs will act as mentors for the residents and provide them with resources to connect them to primary care, Community Health Centers, food pantry resources, how to get insurance, and other needed services. CHAs will be part-time employees of the Massachusetts Community Engaged Alliance (MA-CEAL), so they will be paid for the work they are doing while simultaneously building their professional skill set. MA-CEAL's community engagement (CE) team will act as liaisons and mentors for the CHA's to help guide them and also connect them to opportunities for career/personal development.

Conditions

Hypertension; Diabetes Mellitus; Health Care Utilization

Keywords

Community health ambassadors (CHA); Community health centers; Workshops

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Number of primary care visits

  Self-report primary care visits in the last 18 months will be obtained using selected items from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

  Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Number of screenings for diabetes

  Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months

• Number of screenings for hypertension

  Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months

Study Arms (2)

Intervention (Phase A)

EXPERIMENTAL

Community health centers randomized into this arm will receive study interventions in the first 18 months of the study.

Other: Educating participants about healthcare resources; Other: Healthcare appointments; Other: Workshops

Control (Phase B)

EXPERIMENTAL

Community health centers randomized into this arm will be wait listed and will not receive study interventions during the first 18 months of the study. They will receive study interventions during the last 12 months of the study.

Other: Educating participants about healthcare resources; Other: Healthcare appointments; Other: Workshops

Interventions

Educating participants about healthcare resources OTHER

MA-CEAL team members, including the community health ambassador (CHA), will assist in connecting residents with healthcare resources.

Control (Phase B); Intervention (Phase A)

Healthcare appointments OTHER

MA-CEAL team members, including the community health ambassador (CHA), will assist residents in making physician appointments.

Control (Phase B); Intervention (Phase A)

Workshops OTHER

Trained CHAs will provide workshops with information about diabetes and hypertension and how to be screened and get care.

Control (Phase B); Intervention (Phase A)

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Current resident in selected Boston Health Authority (BHA) and Trinity housing developments
• Speak and understand English and/or Spanish

You may not qualify if:

• Does not speak English or Spanish
• Not a resident of the development

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Boston Medical Center: lead
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI): collaborator
• Massachusetts Community Engaged Alliance (MA-CEAL): collaborator

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Hypertension; Diabetes Mellitus; Patient Acceptance of Health Care

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Vascular Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Metabolic Diseases; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Endocrine System Diseases; Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Benjamin Linas, MD MPH

  Boston Medical Center, Infectious Disease

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

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

Model Details: A waitlist-control trial design will be used for this study. 6 of the 12 participating housing developments will be randomized into the intervention arm and 6 into the control arm. At month 0 all participants will participate in baseline activities (surveys). At month 18 the control arm will begin the intervention. The whole study is projected to take 36 months.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 13, 2025
• First Posted: August 22, 2025
• Study Start: September 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2028
• Last Updated: October 2, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share