Pilot Evaluation of AboutFace: Novel Peer Education Resource for Veterans

May 22, 2019 updated by: VA Office of Research and Development

Pilot Evaluation of AboutFace: A Novel Peer Education Resource for Veterans

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the AboutFace peer education website for the purpose of reducing stigma and improving attitudes toward seeking mental health services among Veterans.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Research suggests that at least 1 in 10 Veterans will meet criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to their military experience. Treatment is widely available to Veterans with PTSD, and national dissemination initiatives have increased Veterans' access to best practice interventions. However, treatment seeking remains strikingly low among Veterans with PTSD. In fact, most Veterans with PTSD do not seek mental health services due to perceived stigma and other associated barriers. The National Center for PTSD recently developed and launched AboutFace, a peer education resource for Veterans. The investigators of this study believe that AboutFace has tremendous potential to reduce stigma and improve attitudes toward seeking mental health services among Veterans. However, it has not yet been evaluated. Investigators have partnered with the National Center for PTSD to launch this mixed methods pilot evaluation of AboutFace. There will be two phases to this study. During Phase I- Usability, 20 Veterans will be recruited to participate in individual interviews during which they will be asked to describe the ease of use of the AboutFace website for the researchers. During Phase II- Feasibility, 60 Veterans will be randomized to one of two conditions- About Face or Usual Care. All participants will complete several brief assessments measuring PTSD symptoms and attitudes toward seeking mental health services. Participants will then be randomized to either receive a link to the About Face website or to receive a link to a general online brochure about PTSD. After two weeks, participants will complete the assessment measures once again to determine any changes in attitudes toward seeking mental health services and potential changes in PTSD symptoms.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

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
    • South Carolina
      • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29401-5799
        • Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Must be 18 years of age
  • Recommended for PTSD treatment following evaluation
  • Internet access
  • English Speaking

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Minors under the age of 18
  • Non-Veterans
  • Negative for PTSD

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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Phase II- Experimental Group
Participants were provided with instructions and a web link for accessing the AboutFace website after the baseline assessment.
Other: AboutFace Website
AboutFace is an informational website that utilizes digital storytelling to describe PTSD symptoms and different treatments for PTSD.
No Intervention: Phase II- Usual Care Group
Participants were provided with instructions and a web link for accessing some online PTSD education materials after the baseline assessment.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Endorsed and Anticipated Stigma Inventory (EASI)
Time Frame: pre-treatment (baseline) & post-treatment (two-week) assessment

THE EASI assesses for perceptions of treatment effectiveness, stigma, and external barriers to treatment seeking. Answers are ranked from 1 to 5 with 1 being "Strongly Disagree" and 5 being "Strongly Agree" and higher scores are indicative of greater stigma. Total scores can range from 40 to 190.

Phase I participants did not participate in Phase II (the clinical trial portion of the study) and were not assessed using this measure.
pre-treatment (baseline) & post-treatment (two-week) assessment
PTSD Checklist (PCL-V)
Time Frame: pre-treatment (baseline) & post-treatment (2-week) assessment

The PCL-V is a 20-item self-report measure that assesses PTSD severity. Individual item responses can range from 0-4 with 0 being "Not At All" and 4 being "Extremely" and total scores can range from 0 to 80. Higher numbers on the PCL-V are indicative of greater PTSD severity.

Phase I participants did not participate in Phase II (the clinical trial portion of the study) and were not assessed using this measure.
pre-treatment (baseline) & post-treatment (2-week) assessment
PTSD Treatment Initiators
Time Frame: two weeks post assessment
percentage/rate of PTSD treatment initiation at post assessment (2-weeks) Phase I participants did not participate in Phase II (the clinical trial portion of the study) and were not assessed using this measure.
two weeks post assessment

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

VA Office of Research and Development

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kenneth J Ruggiero, PhD MA BA, Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC

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

April 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 16, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 26, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

July 1, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 5, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 22, 2019

Last Verified

May 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PPO 14-360

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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.

Clinical Trials on PTSD

Clinical Trials on AboutFace Website

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Uruguay

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe