Clinical trial NCT01565863: Progressive Goal Attainment Program for Veterans
Official title: The Progressive Goal Attainment Program for Veterans Project
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Mental Disorders
Worries; Pain or Disability
Keywords: Perceived Disability
Mental Wellness
Employment
Social Integration and Engagement
Goal Achievement
Lead sponsor: MDRC
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: VA Connecticut Healthcare System
name: Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
name: The Boeing Company
name: Bristol-Myers Squibb
name: The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
name: Disabled American Veterans
First posted: 2012-03-29
Enrollment: 199
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 55
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of the Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP) in improving employment outcomes and community engagement among U.S. veterans with disabilities.

Detailed description: Veterans with disabilities often have low self-esteem and motivation, significant depression and a belief that their disability precludes them from gainful employment. The Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP) is specifically designed to target these psycho-social risk factors of disability. PGAP is a structured, 10-week intervention that focuses on helping clients develop a planned activity schedule to assist them in resuming desirable life activities, including employment. The PGAP for Veterans Project will test the feasibility of delivering PGAP to U.S. military veterans. The research will focus on the best means of service delivery, staffing needs and how to coordinate PGAP in a larger veteran service system. MDRC will also gather information on the target population, recruitment methods, the feasibility of scaling and replication, and employment outcomes among the sample. Two hundred veterans will be enrolled and randomly assigned into the study across two sites: Errera Community Care Center within (part of the VA Connecticut Health Care System) and the Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, Texas.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Self-reporting a disability.
* Unemployed or under-employed.
* Likely to benefit from PGAP (i.e. unengaged in social and community activities, difficulty attaining work due to motivational factors).

Exclusion Criteria:

* Does not consent to be in the study.
* Significant barriers: serious substance abuse, significant psychotic disorders and cognitive disabilities that would preclude them from active participation in PGAP.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Employment
timeFrame: 6 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Quality of Life
timeFrame: 6 months
measure: Citizenship
timeFrame: 6 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: West Haven
country: United States
facility: VA Connecticut Health Care Center
state: Connecticut
city: Houston
country: United States
facility: Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: MDRC
name: Peter Baird
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
affiliation: VA Connecticut Healthcare System
name: Jack Tsai
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center
name: Anthony Kerrigan
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Adams H, Ellis T, Stanish WD, Sullivan MJ. Psychosocial factors related to return to work following rehabilitation of whiplash injuries. J Occup Rehabil. 2007 Jun;17(2):305-15. doi: 10.1007/s10926-007-9082-3. Epub 2007 May 8.
citation: Sullivan MJ, Adams H, Rhodenizer T, Stanish WD. A psychosocial risk factor--targeted intervention for the prevention of chronic pain and disability following whiplash injury. Phys Ther. 2006 Jan;86(1):8-18. doi: 10.1093/ptj/86.1.8.
citation: Sullivan MJ, Feuerstein M, Gatchel R, Linton SJ, Pransky G. Integrating psychosocial and behavioral interventions to achieve optimal rehabilitation outcomes. J Occup Rehabil. 2005 Dec;15(4):475-89. doi: 10.1007/s10926-005-8029-9.
citation: Hossain F, Baird P, and Pardoe R. Improving employment outcomes and community integration for veterans with disabilities: Early implementation of the Progressive Goal Attainment Program (PGAP) for Veterans Demonstration. April 2013. New York: MDRC.