Clinical trial NCT06707935: Mental Health Help-seeking Promotion in Older Adults
Official title: Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words: A Participatory Approach to Codesign Descriptive and Pictorial Social Norm Nudges and a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) to Examine Their Effectiveness in Improving Mental Health Help-seeking Intention
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Mental Health Help-seeking
Keywords: co-design
nudge
behavioural economics
mental health
help-seeking
Lead sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: The University of Hong Kong
First posted: 2024-11-27
Enrollment: 540
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 60
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The present study aims to examine the effectiveness of descriptive social norm nudges and pictorial social norm nudges in improving mental health help-seeking intention compared to educational information.

Detailed description: This study is a three-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) in 540 older adults aged 60 years and above recruited through NGOs, testing the utility of revised TPB with baseline data, and the effectiveness of descriptive social norm-nudges (intervention group 1) and pictorial social norm- nudges (intervention group 2) comparing to traditional mental health education (control). Participants will be evenly randomised and receive 1 message/picture per day consecutively for 2 weeks. Researchers blind to group allocation will interview participants at baseline (T0), 2 weeks (post-intervention, T1), and 12 weeks (follow-up, T2). The primary outcomes are changes in subjective norms and help-seeking intention assessed using a revised Chinese version of the theory of planned behaviour questionnaire (C-TPB); secondary outcomes include perceived behavioural control, help-seeking attitude, perceived barriers to help-seeking (C-TPB subscales), and mental health assessed by PHQ-9, GAD-7 and UCLA-3.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* aged 60 years or above at the time of the baseline assessment
* have no severe mental disorder or cognitive impairment
* have no severe visual impairment
* be able to read Chinese
* have a smartphone with an instant communication application to receive text and images

Exclusion Criteria:

* have severe difficulty in reading and communication
* show imminent suicidal risk at any stage of the study

Primary outcomes:
measure: Subjective norms toward mental health help-seeking
timeFrame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1, two weeks after T0), and to 12 weeks after the baseline (T2)
measure: Mental health help-seeking intention
timeFrame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1, two weeks after T0), and to 12 weeks after the baseline (T2)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Perceived behavioural control
timeFrame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1, two weeks after T0), and to 12 weeks after the baseline (T2)
measure: Help-seeking attitude
timeFrame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1, two weeks after T0), and to 12 weeks after the baseline (T2)
measure: Perceived barriers to help-seeking
timeFrame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1, two weeks after T0), and to 12 weeks after the baseline (T2)
measure: Depressive symptoms
timeFrame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1, two weeks after T0), and to 12 weeks after the baseline (T2)
measure: Anxiety symptoms
timeFrame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1, two weeks after T0), and to 12 weeks after the baseline (T2)
measure: Loneliness
timeFrame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1, two weeks after T0), and to 12 weeks after the baseline (T2)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hong Kong
country: Hong Kong
facility: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Study officials:
affiliation: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
name: Tianyin Liu, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: