Progressive Goal Attainment Program for Veterans (PGAP for Vets)

The Progressive Goal Attainment Program for Veterans Project

The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of the Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP) in improving employment outcomes and community engagement among U.S. veterans with disabilities.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mental Disorders; Worries; Pain or Disability
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Progressive Goal Attainment Program

Detailed Description

Veterans with disabilities often have low self-esteem and motivation, significant depression and a belief that their disability precludes them from gainful employment. The Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP) is specifically designed to target these psycho-social risk factors of disability. PGAP is a structured, 10-week intervention that focuses on helping clients develop a planned activity schedule to assist them in resuming desirable life activities, including employment. The PGAP for Veterans Project will test the feasibility of delivering PGAP to U.S. military veterans. The research will focus on the best means of service delivery, staffing needs and how to coordinate PGAP in a larger veteran service system. MDRC will also gather information on the target population, recruitment methods, the feasibility of scaling and replication, and employment outcomes among the sample. Two hundred veterans will be enrolled and randomly assigned into the study across two sites: Errera Community Care Center within (part of the VA Connecticut Health Care System) and the Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 199
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Connecticut
    • West Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06516
      • VA Connecticut Health Care Center
  • Texas
    • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
      • Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 55 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Self-reporting a disability.
• Unemployed or under-employed.
• Likely to benefit from PGAP (i.e. unengaged in social and community activities, difficulty attaining work due to motivational factors).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Does not consent to be in the study.
• Significant barriers: serious substance abuse, significant psychotic disorders and cognitive disabilities that would preclude them from active participation in PGAP.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Progressive Goal Attainment Program	Behavioral: Progressive Goal Attainment Program; The Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP) is a behavioral intervention originally developed in Canada at McGill University in order to increase return to work and community integration for individuals who receive worker's compensation. PGAP is the first disability program that is specifically designed to target the psycho-social risk factors of disability. The premise behind PGAP is that inactivity and attitudinal barriers increase work disability, and these issues are a primary cause of unemployment for individuals with physical and mental disabilities. PGAP is a structured, 10-week intervention that focuses upon helping clients develop a planned activity schedule to assist them in resuming desirable life activities.; Other Names: PGAP
No Intervention: VA employment services

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Employment	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Quality of Life	Lehman Quality of Life Interview: Participants to rate their level of satisfaction with several domains of their lives (e.g. daily activities, social relations etc.) and their feelings about their lives as a whole on a 1-7 ("delighted" to "terrible") scale.	6 months
Citizenship	Citizenship Measure: 42-item scale that asks about the person's involvement in community and social activities and their ability to act and make choices on their own behalf on a 1-5 ("not at all/never" to "a lot/very often") scale	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: MDRC
• Collaborators: Bristol-Myers Squibb; VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center; The Boeing Company; The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven; Disabled American Veterans
• Investigators: Study Director: Peter Baird, MDRC; Principal Investigator: Jack Tsai, VA Connecticut Healthcare System; Principal Investigator: Anthony Kerrigan, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Adams H, Ellis T, Stanish WD, Sullivan MJ. Psychosocial factors related to return to work following rehabilitation of whiplash injuries. J Occup Rehabil. 2007 Jun;17(2):305-15. doi: 10.1007/s10926-007-9082-3. Epub 2007 May 8.
• Sullivan MJ, Adams H, Rhodenizer T, Stanish WD. A psychosocial risk factor--targeted intervention for the prevention of chronic pain and disability following whiplash injury. Phys Ther. 2006 Jan;86(1):8-18. doi: 10.1093/ptj/86.1.8.
• Sullivan MJ, Feuerstein M, Gatchel R, Linton SJ, Pransky G. Integrating psychosocial and behavioral interventions to achieve optimal rehabilitation outcomes. J Occup Rehabil. 2005 Dec;15(4):475-89. doi: 10.1007/s10926-005-8029-9.
• Hossain F, Baird P, and Pardoe R. Improving employment outcomes and community integration for veterans with disabilities: Early implementation of the Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP) for Veterans Demonstration. April 2013. New York: MDRC.

Helpful Links

• The Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP)
• MDRC PGAP for Veterans Project Page
• Link to working paper with results cited above

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 1, 2013
• Study Completion (Actual): November 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 23, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 27, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): March 29, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 11, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 9, 2020
• Last Verified: June 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Employment; Perceived Disability; Mental Wellness; Social Integration and Engagement; Goal Achievement
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: PGAP for Vets 1166.01.410.10