Pilot the Use of VA Make the Connection Campaign to Facilitate Help Seeking Among Vulnerable Veterans

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This pilot study seeks to determine if exposure to the Make the Connection campaign messages developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is associated with changes in mental-health related outcomes, specifically: (1) psychosocial determinants that drive help seeking behaviors (knowledge, attitudes and intentions); and (2) perceived barriers to seeking care. Participants are randomly assigned to message exposure or control (no exposure) conditions. Data from this project will inform mental health education and outreach efforts targeted towards Veterans experiencing mental health concerns.

Official Title
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Evaluation of the VA's Public Awareness Campaigns

Conditions
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Mental Health Issue (E.G., Depression, Psychosis, Personality Disorder, Substance Abuse), Help-Seeking Behavior

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Exposure to Make the Connection messages
* Other: Active Control Group


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Veterans of all gender/sex, race/ethnicities that in the past 6 months: utilized health services in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); screened positive on the PHQ-2, AUDIT-C or PC-PTSD and/or received a mental health diagnosis as documented in VA medical record Fluent in English language Capable of understanding goals of study Capable of providing verbal consent Willing and able to download/use study Android mobile application for duration of study Exclusion Criteria: Not a U.S. Veteran who has utilized VA health care in the past 6 months Did not screen positive and/or was not diagnosed with mental health disorder Determined cognitively impaired and unable to provide verbal consent Determined to be in high distress during recruitment screening Currently institutionalized (i.e., hospitalized; incarcerated, etc.) Unwilling and/or unable to download and use use the study app

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 89 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: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Exposure to Make the Connection messages<br> | Other: Exposure to Make the Connection messages<br>* Participants are exposed to Make the Connection messages (each approximately 3 minutes in length) weekly for over a four-month study period through the study mobile application.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Active Control group<br> | Other: Active Control Group<br>* Participants are exposed to VA news clips/segments (each approximately 3 minutes in length) weekly for over a four-month study period through the study mobile application.<br>|
| No Intervention: No exposure control group<br> | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| change in help seeking behavior | self-report treatment engagement in VA or non-VA services | change from baseline behavior at 16 weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Attitudes towards help seeking | self-reported treatment beliefs and likelihood for help seeking | assessed up to 16 weeks | 
| Barriers to care | The 6-item stigma Scale developed by Britt et al. (2000; 2008) to assess stigma of accessing treatment for psychological problems among military personnel is used w/a 5 point likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). Logistical barriers to care are also assessed using the 5-item Barriers to Care scale (Hoge et al. 2004) to assess barriers to accessing psychological treatment w/ a 5 point likert scale (1=strongly disagree; 5= strongly agree). Higher values represent a worse outcome (e.g., higher endorsement of stigma). | assessed up to 16 weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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mental health promotion campaign, veterans