Connect ME: Improving Social Connectedness

Improving Social Connectedness in Homebound Older Adults by Integrating a Brief Evidence-Based Telehealth Intervention Into Area Agency on Aging Services

To assess the reach and effectiveness of a behavioral activation intervention for older adults experiencing low social connectedness by Area Agency on Aging Staff.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Social Connectedness
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Brief Behavioral Activation for Improving Social Connectedness

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 11
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Hampshire
    • Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States, 03756
      • Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 60 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Older adults (age>60) will be enrolled because they are the target population served by the home-delivered meals program and the target sample for this study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Clinically significant depression (Patient Health Questionnaire; PHQ-9 ≥ 10) or active suicide risk (Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale; C-SSRS), or Cognitive Impairment (Blessed Orientation-Memory-Concentration Test>9)
• Clients who score 1 or greater on question 9 of the PHQ-9 will be further assessed for suicide risk using the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)
• Clients will meet exclusion criteria for a positive response to any item
• We will exclude older adults with uncorrectable hearing or vision impairment rendering them unable to use the tele-conferencing equipment.
• Those who cannot speak English and have impaired decision-making capacity
• Adults unable to consent will be excluded
• Individuals who are not yet adults (infants, children, teenagers) will be excluded
• Pregnant women will be excluded
• Prisoners will be excluded

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Brief Behavioral Activation for Improving Social Connectedness; Active, 6 session Brief Behavioral Activation for Improving Social Connectedness

Behavioral: Brief Behavioral Activation for Improving Social Connectedness; Brief Behavioral Activation for Improving Social Connectedness (BBAISC): BBAISC was developed to address social connectedness. Grounded in Behavioral Activation (Lejuez et al., 2011), BBAISC is a structured, 6-session skill-building intervention that has 4 key elements (Pepin et al., 2020): Psychoeducation: Psychoeducation focused on homebound status, social connectedness, and associated changes in behavior.; Behavioral Activation intervention rationale: Framing how changing behavior can positively impact social connectedness (i.e., improve social connectedness and reduce loneliness).; Exploration of life areas, values, and activities: Focused on identifying life areas and values most relevant to the participant. Then, these values are used to generate activities that are aligned with those values.; Activity monitoring and planning: Participants are encouraged to schedule and organize their day based on what is important rather than their current mood or feeling state.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Social Connectedness A, Baseline	10-item Duke Social Support Index (DSSI)	before the intervention
Social Connectedness A, Change from Baseline to Post Intervention	10-item Duke Social Support Index (DSSI)	immediately following the intervention
Social Connectedness A, Change from Post Intervention to Follow Up	10-item Duke Social Support Index (DSSI)	12 weeks post intervention
Social Connectedness B, Baseline	8-item PROMIS Social Isolation Scale	before the intervention
Social Connectedness B, Change from Baseline to Post Intervention	8-item PROMIS Social Isolation Scale	immediately following the intervention
Social Connectedness B, Change from Post Intervention to Follow Up	8-item PROMIS Social Isolation Scale	12 weeks post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Intervention Reach	Reach will be determined by the proportion of eligible agency clients who agree participate in the study.	12 Months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Renée L Pepin, PhD, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 30, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): January 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 22, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 9, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): January 17, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 3, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 31, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY02001734

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
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No