Clinical trial NCT00715650: Benefits Counseling to Preserve Function Among Disability Applicants
Official title: Benefits Counseling to Preserve Function Among Disability Applicants
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE2
Conditions: Veterans' Disability Claims
Keywords: Rehabilitation, Vocational
Compensation and Redress
disability evaluation
Lead sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
Sponsor class: FED
Collaborators: name: Yale University
First posted: 2008-07-15
Enrollment: 92
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: This study will address the problem that claimants with psychiatric disabilities who apply for and receive disability benefits go on to work less than those whose claims are denied.

Detailed description: The objective of this research is to conduct a 6-month randomized clinical trial comparing participants assigned to Benefits Counseling and to those assigned to the control condition, VA Orientation. Benefits Counseling is an adaptation of two counseling approaches to foster veterans' involvement in work and work-related activity compared to the control condition, VA Orientation. The first approach helped recipients of Social Security disability benefits for psychiatric illness return to work in part by alleviating beneficiaries' concerns that they would lose their benefits if they worked. The second approach is a Motivational Interviewing approach that showed great promise in engaging veterans with psychiatric disabilities in compensated work therapy.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Has never received VBA benefits
* Able to provide valid consent
* Expresses willingness to discuss benefits with a counselor
* Difficulty working as evidenced by a "Yes" to either (a), (b), or (c) of the question below about work-related difficulties: During the past 4 weeks, have you had any of the following problems (such as feeling depressed and anxious):

  * Cut down on the amount of time you spent on work or other activities?
  * Accomplished less than you would like?
  * Didn't do work or other activities as carefully as usual?
* Expresses willingness to try Benefits Counseling if assigned to it
* An evaluation by a psychiatrist or psychologist is scheduled

Exclusion Criteria:

* Already receiving VA payments
* Already receiving SSI or SSDI payments
* Has a conservator

Primary outcomes:
measure: Days of Work and Work-related Activity
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Days of Work and Work-related Activity
timeFrame: Month 1
measure: Days of Work and Work-related Activity
timeFrame: Month 3
measure: Days of Work and Work-related Activity
timeFrame: Month 6
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: West Haven
country: United States
facility: VA Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven Campus, West Haven, CT
state: Connecticut
Study officials:
affiliation: VA Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven Campus, West Haven, CT
name: Marc I. Rosen, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Meshberg-Cohen S, Reid-Quinones K, Black AC, Rosen MI. Veterans' attitudes toward work and disability compensation: associations with substance abuse. Addict Behav. 2014 Feb;39(2):445-8. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.09.005. Epub 2013 Sep 11.
citation: Rosen MI, Ablondi K, Black AC, Mueller L, Serowik KL, Martino S, Mobo BH, Rosenheck RA. Work outcomes after benefits counseling among veterans applying for service connection for a psychiatric condition. Psychiatr Serv. 2014 Dec 1;65(12):1426-32. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201300478. Epub 2014 Oct 31.