Clinical trial NCT04781608: In It Together: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Treat Distress Among Older Adults With Sensory Loss and Their Spouses
Official title: In It Together: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Treat Distress Among Older Adults With Sensory Loss and Their Spouses
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Sensory Loss (Impairment of Sight and/or Hearing)
Keywords: Sensory loss
Hearing impairment
Sight impairment
Elderly couples
Age 60 or older
Online
Digital
Intervention
Acceptance and Commitment therapy
Lead sponsor: University of Copenhagen
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Velux Fonden
First posted: 2021-03-04
Enrollment: 662
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 60
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Participants will be randomized to one of two conditions: 1) Intervention group, which will receive access to the digital intervention program, and 2) Control group, who will not receive immediate acess to the digital intervention program.

Intervention group:

Participants will be asked to complete survey measures at baseline (prior to access to the 4-module digital intervention program), 6-weeks, 10 weeks, and 18 weeks.

Control group:

Participants will be asked to complete survey measures at baseline , 6-weeks, and 10 weeks (control group participants gain access to the digital intervention program after completion of the 10-week survey).
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Impairments in hearing and/or vision are common in older age. Having lived one's life as a fully sighted and hearing individual, older adults with sensory loss must come to terms with their declining capacity to interact with others and waning independence. There is ample research evidence showing that sensory loss (i.e., loss of hearing, vision or both) can be a distressful experience for older adults and their spouses, yet little has been done to understand what works in alleviating this distress or develop scalable cost-effective interventions to counter this distress or associated outcomes like depression, anxiety, poor quality of life, and lower relationship quality. In this project, the investigators will design and test an easy-to-administer, online intervention aimed at reducing emotional and marital distress in older adults with sensory loss and their spouses. The goal of the intervention will be to develop acceptance of the sensory loss through a series of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy inspired educational, self-compassion, and therapeutic activities. In prior research, acceptance has been flagged as a promising factor on which to intervene to assist older couples' emotional and marital recovery in the context of sensory loss. Thus, the investigators expect that the intervention should show encouraging results regarding the alleviation of distress in this group and contribute significantly to the psychosocial rehabilitation of older adults with sensory loss and their spouses.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Be 60 years of age or older
* Be able to read and write in Danish
* Be in a romantic relationship of at least 1 year
* Live together with the partner (share housing)
* Feel either one self or one's partner has a sensory loss (hearing and/or sight) that affects day-to-day life. This sensory loss does not need to be confirmed by a health care provider.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Less than 60 years of age
* Cannot read or write in Danish
* Not in a romantic relationship
* Relationship length of less than 1 year
* Not living together with the partner (not share housing)
* Currently receiving psychological help (therapy/intervention)

Primary outcomes:
measure: WHO-5 well-being
timeFrame: Within the last 2 weeks
measure: Couple Satisfaction Index
timeFrame: Follow-up 1: During the last 6 weeks
measure: Depression
timeFrame: Within the last 2 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Psychological flexibility
timeFrame: Follow-up 1: During the last 6 weeks
measure: Communication
timeFrame: Follow-up 1: During the last 6 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Copenhagen
country: Denmark
facility: University of Copenhagen
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Copenhagen
name: Camilla S Øverup, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: University of Copenhagen
name: Gert Martin Hald, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: