Communication and Health Investments for Elderly Women

NCT07279480 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2505001660
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,200
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study investigates how household communication plays a role in elderly women's take-up of health check-ups in rural Tamil Nadu, India. First, we survey elders and their caretakers to measure demand for check-ups for elders. We measure how interest in check-ups changes when we offer different versions of transportation support, to understand how much interest in check-ups are affected by the degree of caretaker involvement required. Second, we conduct a randomized evaluation of interventions to improve take-up of free health check-ups at a nearby private hospital. We will cross-randomize two interventions. The first randomizes who is informed about the check-up: either only the elder is informed or both the elder and the caretaker are informed about the check-up. The second randomizes whether free transportation is provided to and from the check-up. We will measure take-up of the check-up. We will also measure elders' willingness to mention the check-up to the caretaker.

Conditions

Communication About Health Information; Take-up of Preventative Care

Keywords

Elderly women; India; Household communication; Preventative health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Sign-up rates for check-up.

  This will be a measure of whether the elder is signed up for the check-up by the caretaker. This will be measured either when the caretaker calls to reserve a spot for the elder or when the research team follows up with the household before the check-up.

  Assessed at 3 days after the intervention

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Elder attendance at check-up.

  1 week after the intervention

• Elder willingness to mention check-up to caretaker

  Assessed 2 days after the intervention

Study Arms (4)

Tell elder only, without transport (Control)

NO INTERVENTION

Elder is informed about the check-up. No free arranged transportation offered.

Tell elder only, with free transport

EXPERIMENTAL

Elder is informed about the check-up. We offer to arrange private transportation to and from the hospital at no cost.

Behavioral: Free Transport

Tell elder and caretaker, without transport

EXPERIMENTAL

Both elder and the caretaker are directly informed about the check-up. No free arranged transportation offered.

Behavioral: Tell both

Tell elder and caretaker, with free transport

EXPERIMENTAL

We offer to arrange private transportation to and from the hospital at no cost.

Behavioral: Tell both; Behavioral: Free Transport

Interventions

Tell both BEHAVIORAL

Both elder and the caretaker are directly informed about the check-up.

Tell elder and caretaker, with free transport; Tell elder and caretaker, without transport

Free Transport BEHAVIORAL

We offer to arrange private transportation to and from the hospital at no cost.

Tell elder and caretaker, with free transport; Tell elder only, with free transport

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 60 Years - 75 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Elderly women aged 60-75

You may not qualify if:

• Those with severe hearing, speech, mental, or mobility impairment

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab: lead

Study Sites (1)

JPAL SA at IFMR

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600018, India

RECRUITING

Central Study Contacts

Jenny Wang

CONTACT

617-253-3807; wangjm@mit.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 1, 2025
• First Posted: December 12, 2025
• Study Start: November 10, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026
• Last Updated: December 12, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

IN (1)