An Aging Healthy Intervention for Older Adults Delivered by Community Health Workers in Senior Centers: A Clinical Trial (aCT)

ageWELL in the Community Together (aCT) Study

The aCT Study will develop, implement and evaluate a community health worker (CHW) integrated model of care delivery for older adults that is senior center based. CHW services will be available for older adult participants at three centers, 4 hours per week for 4 months. Three centers will continue usual services. Researchers will compare blood pressure, physical activity levels, fruit/vegetable consumption and psychosocial outcomes across groups before and after the intervention.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Healthy Aging
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: aCT CHW intervention

Detailed Description

The six senior centers are located in southeastern Kentucky. The CHWs are community-based, certified in the state of Kentucky and employed by a local organization. The CHW intervention will be guided by a training module developed by the researchers in collaboration with our collaborating partner, the University of Kentucky Center for Excellence in Rural Health that reflects evidence-based geriatric practices and formative assessment conducted in 2024/2025 with seniors and senior service administrators from the area

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 250
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Martha Kubik, PhD; Phone Number: 7039938870; Email: mkubik@gmu.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: William Baker; Phone Number: 8592183684; Email: mace.baker@uky.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Kentucky
    • Hazard, Kentucky, United States, 41701
      • University of Kentucky Center for Excellence in Rural Health

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria: Eligible participants will be age 60 years and older, registered as a meal program participant at a participating senior center and speak English.

Exclusion Criteria: Non-English speakers and older adults who access meal program services in senior centers not participating in the study are not eligible for study participation.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: aCT CHW Intervention; State-certified CHWs employed and supervised by Kentucky Homeplace, a local organization that provides training and CHW services to local communities, will deliver the intervention at three senior centers 4 hours per week for 4 months, which include health promotion and disease prevention services and programs, advocacy, and health screenings.	Behavioral: aCT CHW intervention; The aCT CHW intervention arm will be delivered by state-certified CHWs employed and supervised by Kentucky Homeplace, a local organization that provides training and CHW services to local communities. Trained CHWs will deliver the intervention at three senior centers 4 hours per week for 4 months, which will include health promotion and disease prevention services and programs, advocacy, and health screenings.
No Intervention: Usual practice; Three other senior centers who have agreed to study participation will serve as comparison sites, where older adults who visit the centers will continue to access usual services which have not typically included on-site CHW services.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
blood pressure	Blood pressure will be measured in duplicate, with appropriate size cuff and participant seated, arm supported so elbow at heart level and following a 5 minute rest.	Baseline following enrollment and 4-5 months later following completion of the intervention
physical activity levels	We will use a self-report measure, the Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity (RAPA), a 9-item questionnaire validated for use in older adults	Baseline following enrollment and 4-5 months later following intervention completion

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: George Mason University
• Collaborators: University of Kentucky
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Martha Kubik, PhD, George Mason University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): April 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 17, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 17, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 23, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 23, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 17, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: older adults, community health workers, senior centers
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00000967; FP00006108 (Other Grant/Funding Number: National Foundation to End Senior Hunger)

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