Recruiting

Sauna Visits

Sponsor:

UCLA

Code:

NCT07223099

Conditions

Loneliness

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 19 - 25

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Sauna Visits

Study Details

Brief summary:

This pilot trial will test an intervention (sauna visits) targeting reductions in loneliness in adults aged 19-25 years.

Participants will:

  • Visit a sauna in San Francisco once per week for 2 hours by themselves or with a friend, for 8 weeks total
  • Complete online surveys throughout their participation

The main question this pilot trial aims to answer are:

  • To what extent do participants find the study design acceptable?
  • To what extent do participants complete the weekly sauna visits?
  • To what extent do participants complete the weekly online surveys?

Conditions

Loneliness

Study ID

NCT07223099

Start date

Apr 20, 2026

Status verified date

Aug, 2026

Completion date

Mar 30, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Mar 30, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 19 - 25

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged 19-25
  • English-speaking
  • Able to provide written informed consent
  • Graduated from high school or high school equivalent
  • Elevated level of loneliness
  • Able and willing to receive study text messages
  • Able to attend weekly in-person sauna visits in San Francisco, CA

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Self-reported heat intolerance
  • Pregnancy, active lactation, or intention to become pregnant during the study period
  • Regular use of any nicotine products, including cigarettes, vapes, chewing tobacco, or other forms of nicotine (if use is not regular, must be willing to refrain for 24 hours before and 24 hours after sauna visits)
  • Current social heat practices 2 or more times per month (e.g., visiting sauna or hot tub facilities with others present)
  • Unwilling to refrain from using marijuana products and alcohol for the 24 hours before and 24 hours after sauna visits
  • Unwilling to refrain from heavy exercise on the day of sauna visits
  • Any medical condition that, in the opinion of investigators, may increase the risk of sauna use or introduce excessive variance into physiological or behavioral responses to sauna visits
  • Use of any medication that might impact thermoregulatory capacity or that, in the opinion of investigators, would increase risk of study participation or introduce excessive variance into physiological or behavioral responses to sauna visits

Study Design

Enrollment

15 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Other

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Sauna Visits

Participants will complete 2-hour visits, by themselves or with another person of their choosing, to a local sauna in San Francisco for 8 weeks.

Interventions

Sauna Visits

Weekly 2-hour visits to a sauna in San Francisco by themselves or with one person of their choice for 8 weeks.

Primary outcome measure

  • Participation Acceptability [ Time Frame: 8 weeks ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

SOCIAL Study Team

415-514-8445socialstudy@ucsf.edu

Sarah M Fisher, MS

415-476-1218sarah.fisher4@ucsf.edu

Locations

Osher Center for Integrative Health

Recruiting

San Francisco, California, United States, 94115

Contacts

Sarah M Fisher, MS

415-476-1218socialstudy@ucsf.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of California, San Francisco

Last update posted

Aug 13, 2026

Last verified

Aug, 2026

Keywords

  • Loneliness
  • Sauna
  • Gen Z
  • Young adult
  • Emerging adult

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of California, San Francisco on 2026-08-13.