Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Code:

NCT06257095

Conditions

Depression in Old Age

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 65+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Stepped-care social and mental health engagement

APS Usual care

Study Details

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

Study ID

NCT06257095

Start date

Aug 9, 2023

Status verified date

May, 2026

Completion date

Oct 31, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Oct 31, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 65+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

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.

Exclusion Criteria:

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

Study Design

Enrollment

400 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Supportive Care

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Treatment

active comparator: Usual Care

Interventions

Stepped-care social and mental health engagement

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.

APS Usual care

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.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in social isolation assessed by the Duke Social Support Index (DSSI-6) [ Time Frame: baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up ]
  • Change in loneliness as assessed by the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA )loneliness scale [ Time Frame: baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up ]
  • Change in depression as assessed by the PATIENT HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE (PHQ-9) [ Time Frame: baseline, 4-week and 8-week follow-up ]
  • Recurrence of Elder mistreatment (EM) [ Time Frame: From participant's first call to 1 month post final call ]
  • Recurrence of self neglect (SN) [ Time Frame: From participant's first call to 1 month post final call ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Jason Burnett, PhD

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

Jordan Broussard, MS

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

Locations

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Recruiting

Houston, Texas, United States, 77030

Contacts

Jason Burnett, PhD

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

Jordan Broussard, MS

(713) 500-0321Jordan.Broussard@uth.tmc.edu

More Information

Sponsor

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Last update posted

Jun 3, 2026

Last verified

May, 2026

Keywords

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

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston on 2026-06-03.