ACT Workshops: A Novel Delivery Modality to Increase Access to Care for Rural Veterans

This study investigates access, effectiveness, and acceptability of 1-day ACT workshops on problematic mental health symptoms.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Psychological Distress; Access to Care
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Workshop; Behavioral: Treatment as usual (TAU)

Detailed Description

This study proposes to investigate access, effectiveness, and acceptability of 1-day ACT workshops delivered in 2 rural VA primary clinics with 32 Veterans with problematic mental health symptoms (i.e., depression, PTSD, or anxiety) that are risk factors for suicide.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 37
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Syracuse, New York, United States, 13210
      • Syracuse Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1) current mental health symptoms as measured by one of the following indicators: PHQ-9 ≥ 10, PCL-5 ≥ 30, or GAD-7 ≥ 10.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. cognitive impairment measured by BOMC,
2. current psychosis or mania as evidenced in the medical record,
3. current suicidal intent as measured by the P4,
4. use of mental health services within or outside of VA in the last 6 months as measured by CPRS and the non-VA services questionnaire.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Other: VA primary care patients; VA primary care patients with psychological distress are being enrolled

Behavioral: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Workshop; ACT workshops are single-day workshops that last 5-6 hours. The workshops will 1) Acceptance and Mindfulness Training emphasizing new ways of managing troubling thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations (e.g., learning how to recognize, and develop cognitive distance from unhelpful thoughts) and strategies to willingly face experiences that cannot be changed; and 2) Committed Action Training to help Veterans clarify what matters most to them (e.g., valued domains including family, friends, spirituality, career) and what they want to stand for in life, how they want to behave, and what strengths and qualities they want to develop. Within this context, the workshop will encourage engagement in, rather than avoidance of, actions consistent with valued directions, including engagement in healthcare. Workshop participants will be given homework related to implementing a key coping skill.; Behavioral: Treatment as usual (TAU); TAU will consist of a consult to a mental health provider at their rural clinic. The patient will then be scheduled for an intake and offered traditional mental health treatment options. Treatment options are likely to include outpatient individual psychotherapy, psychotherapy groups, or medication management.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Access to mental health care	Access to care is measured by hours of active treatment Veterans receive within and outside of VA.	1 month
Psychological Distress	Psychological distress as measured by the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Score range on 0-42. Higher scores indicate greater psychological distress.	1 month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Syracuse VA Medical Center
• Collaborators: VA Office of Research and Development; Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 30, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): June 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 14, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 18, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): January 19, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 22, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 19, 2024
• Last Verified: April 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 1576467

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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