Preserving Function Among Disability Applicants

Preserving Function Among Disability Applicants: A Motivational Enhancement Approach to Benefits Counseling

To test the hypothesis that veterans counseled around managing their benefits will work more and have a better quality of life than those receiving non-specific counseling.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Disability
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Benefits Counseling; Behavioral: VA Orientation

Detailed Description

The aim is to develop and test the efficacy of Benefits Counseling to improve quality of life among veterans who apply for VA benefits. Benefits Counseling involves providing claimants information about rehabilitation and work-related activities, benefits determination and management, and available substance abuse treatment . Benefits Counseling is designed to increase motivation to be active and promote engagement in substance abuse treatment. After enrolling 15 participants in an open-label pilot phase, 300 veterans who are not receiving benefits and are applying to VBA for disability benefits will be randomly assigned to Benefits Counseling or the control condition, VA Orientation, and both groups will be followed for one year.

The primary outcome measures will be observer-rated and self-rated quality of life. Secondary outcome measures will include substance use and treatment utilization.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 120
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

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

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Applying for VA service connection and not currently receiving VBA benefits.
2. Veterans who have been rated 0% service-connected but do not receive financial benefits are eligible to participate.
3. Able to provide valid consent
4. Age 18-65
5. Expresses willingness to discuss benefits with a counselor
6. Anticipates difficulty working

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Already receiving VA payments
2. Already receiving SSI or SSDI
3. Has a conservator

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1; Benefits Counseling	Behavioral: Benefits Counseling; Help deciding whether to work
Active Comparator: 2; VA Orientation	Behavioral: VA Orientation; Orientation to services available at VA

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Days engaged in work and work-related activities	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
substance use (as measured by days having used illicit drugs, alcohol to intoxication in the preceding days)	6 months
treatment utilization (days in last 30 having participated in rehabilitation and work-related activities, number of days having participated in non-inpatient substance abuse treatment, number of days on any inpatient unit)	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: US Department of Veterans Affairs
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Marc I. Rosen, MD, VA Connecticut Health Care System (West Haven)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2007
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 1, 2009
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 16, 2007
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 17, 2007
• First Posted (Estimate): September 18, 2007

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): July 2, 2009
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 30, 2009
• Last Verified: June 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: substance abuse; disability; case management; vocational rehabilitation
• Other Study ID Numbers: MR0024; MIRECC