Project inCharge: Increasing the Rate of Comprehensive Eye Care Utilization by Older African Americans Through Community-Based Eye Health Education Program

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The study design is a randomized intervention evaluation. Ten senior centers in predominately African American communities in the Birmingham, Alabama will be selected as sites for the educational intervention. Five centers will be randomly assigned to receive an educational intervention communicating practical information about vision, eye conditions and eye care as pertinent to the older African American population. The other five centers will serve as social-contact controls, where participants will receive an engaging information session on a non-health related topic. The primary outcome of interest is the change in percentage of persons receiving comprehensive eye care from pre- to post- intervention. The secondary outcomes are the process outcomes of improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and values about vision, eye conditions, and eye care.

Official Title
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Project inCharge: Increasing the Rate of Comprehensive Eye Care Utilization by Older African Americans Through Community-Based Eye Health Education Program

Conditions
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Eye Disease, Eye Care, Vision

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Eye care education
* Behavioral: Social-contact control


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: African Americans ages >=60 years residing in the communities targeted for intervention or control activities Exclusion Criteria: Persons who do not speak English, persons who are not community-dwelling.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 60 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: 1<br>Educational intervention communicating practical information about vision, eye conditions and eye care. | Behavioral: Eye care education<br>* Participants will receive an educational intervention communicating practical information about vision, eye conditions and eye care pertinent to the older African American population<br>|
| Sham Comparator: 2<br> | Behavioral: Social-contact control<br>* Participants receive an engaging informational session on a non-health related topic<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in the percentage of persons receiving comprehensive eye care from pre- to post- intervention |  | 6 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and values about vision, eye conditions, and eye care and reduction in perceived barriers to care. |  | 18 months |