A Behavioral Intervention to Improve Work Outcomes

June 24, 2009 updated by: US Department of Veterans Affairs

A Behavioral Intervention to Improve Outcomes in VA Work Programs

This research has been designed to learn whether getting regular and specific feedback about work performance with small rewards for meeting goals helps people to improve their job performance and leads to better work outcomes, improved mental functioning, and better quality of life

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study is designed to test whether systematic work performance feedback with weekly goal setting, combined with small rewards given for goal achievement, leads to improved vocational, health, and quality of life outcomes for veterans enrolled in the various work service programs at this medical center. The long-term goal of this project is to determine the effectiveness of these interventions at this medical center and to use this experience for a multi-site cooperative study proposal.

Research Design and Methods: One hundred and fifty subjects accepted into work services at this medical center will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Work Feedback with Small Rewards, or Usual Services. In the Work Feedback with Small Rewards condition, participants attend a weekly workers meeting where they receive specific feedback based upon the Work Behavior Inventory and set weekly goals. They also receive small rewards for goal achievement that equal $10 per month. Participants in the Usual Services condition do not get specific work feedback but receive all the usual work services normally provided. They also receive $10 per month for active participation. Assessments include baseline evaluations of mental and physical health, social function, cognitive function, and quality of life. Evaluations of mental health, quality of life, and job satisfaction will occur at two months and four months. Six-month and twelve month evaluations will repeat the baseline assessment. Outcome measures will include biweekly work performance assessments, vocational outcomes, mental and physical health status, social and cognitive function, and quality of life

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

57

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Connecticut
      • West Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06516
        • VA Connecticut Health Care System (West Haven)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Veterans participating in a work program at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System; English-speaking

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No exclusion criteria based upon diagnosis, although VA work programs have pre-existing requirements such as a demonstrated need for services, a referral from a clinician, and an interest in work rehabilitation

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1
Intervention
Behavioral: Goal setting and work feedback group
Goal setting and feedback using WBI
No Intervention: 2
Work Services

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Competitive employment-
Time Frame: 6 month and 12 month follow-up
6 month and 12 month follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

US Department of Veterans Affairs

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Morris D Bell, PhD, VA Connecticut Health Care System (West Haven)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 2003

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2007

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 2, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 2, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

June 6, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 25, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 24, 2009

Last Verified

June 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • D3108R
  • MDB0007

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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