Take 2 Pills and Go Volunteer in the Morning

Take 2 Pills and Go Volunteer in the Morning: A Feasibility Study of Engaging Patients as Volunteers

In this study, doctors will "prescribe" volunteer work for their patients. The investigators are determining whether it is feasible for providers to recommend volunteering to their patients, and whether patients who are recommended this "treatment" actually do volunteer work (i.e., find it "acceptable"). The study is focused on uninsured patients at Loyola Medicine's Access to Care (ATC) Clinic. The study's secondary aim is to determine whether or not engaging in volunteer work yields health benefits.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Volunteers
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Volunteering

Detailed Description

In this feasibility study, doctors will "prescribe" volunteer work for their patients. The setting is Loyola Medicine's Access to Care Clinic, which serves patients who are low-income and uninsured (and often members of racial/ethnic minority groups). The investigators are determining whether it is feasible for providers in a low-resourced primary care setting to recommend volunteering to their patients, and whether patients who are recommended this "treatment" actually do volunteer work (and how much). The investigators are also interested in measuring whether volunteering is associated with any potential health benefits, specifically well-being and self-esteem.

Promoting volunteerism is the intervention because research evidence suggests that volunteer work may be good for one's health. For example, research shows that volunteering is associated with numerous potential health benefits: improved mental health, increased physical activity, higher preventive health care utilization, lower cardiovascular risk and lower mortality. Besides better health, volunteering also can teach valuable skills, help individuals meet others, and foster new relationships.

Despite all these potential benefits, rates of volunteering are low. Overall, just one in four people volunteers. Additionally, people who have lower incomes are less likely to volunteer (14% of people with incomes below $20,000 vs. 35% of people with incomes above $100,000. And minority groups are less likely to volunteer than whites (just 19% of African Americans and 15% of Latinos compared with 26% of Whites).

Thus, the intervention is aimed to increase volunteer participation rates among groups unlikely to volunteer: low-income uninsured persons who are members of racial/ethnic minority groups.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Julie S Darnell, PhD; Phone Number: 708-327-9022; Email: jdarnell1@luc.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Maywood, Illinois, United States, 60153
      • Recruiting
      • Access to Care Clinic
      • Contact: Matt Fitz, MD; Phone Number: 708-216-8757; Email: mfitz1@luc.edu
      • Sub-Investigator: Abigail Silva, PhD
      • Sub-Investigator: Nallely Mora, MD

Participation Criteria

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 * Access to Care patient

Exclusion Criteria

* None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Volunteering; The experimental arm will receive a volunteer "prescription" from their provider and assistance from a study team member to find a volunteer job.	Behavioral: Volunteering; Subjects recommended volunteer by their provider.
No Intervention: Control; The control arm will not be recommended to volunteer or assisted in finding a volunteer activity. They will answer the same survey questions as the intervention subjects.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Total volunteer hours	Investigators will sum the reported volunteer hours, which will be tracked at baseline and monthly for 6 months.	Baseline to six months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Score	Using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, investigators will compare changes in the total score from baseline to six months. The minimum score is 10 and the maximum score is 40. Higher scores indicate a better outcome, i.e, higher self-esteem. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale is administered twice: at baseline and at six months after baseline.	Baseline to six months
Change in Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global Health Short Form Scale	Using the PROMIS Global Health Short Form Scale, investigators will compare changes in the physical and mental subscores from baseline to six months. Higher scores reflect a better outcome, i.e., better functioning. The range of both the physical and mental health subscales range from 2 to 10. Raw scores will be converted to t-scores to facilitate interpretation. The PROMIS Global Health Short Form is administered twice: at baseline and at six months after baseline.	Baseline to six months
Change in the Arizona Integrative Outcomes Scale	Using the Arizona Integrative Outcomes Scale (AIOS), a visual analogue measure of well-being, investigators will compare changes from baseline to six months. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores reflecting a better outcome, i.e., better well-being.The AIOS is administered twice: at baseline and at six months after baseline.	Baseline to six months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Loyola University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Julie S Darnell, PhD, Loyola University Chicago

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 28, 2019
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): January 1, 2020
• Study Completion (Anticipated): January 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 29, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 28, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): July 31, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 31, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 28, 2019
• Last Verified: July 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: medically uninsured
• Other Study ID Numbers: 210989

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: This is a feasibility study. There are no plans to share data.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No