Clinical trial NCT05579717: Examining the Effectiveness of EAL
Official title: Examining the Effectiveness of Equine Assisted Learning for Trauma-exposed Public Safety
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Trauma
Keywords: EAL
PTSD
posttraumatic stress disorder
public safety personnel
first responder
Equine Assisted Learning
horse therapy
trauma
Lead sponsor: McMaster University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of Saskatchewan
name: University of Regina
First posted: 2022-10-14
Enrollment: 40
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Intervention model description: Participants will be assigned to an intervention group or a waitlist control group based on the time they complete their initial baseline interview. Individuals in the waitlist control group will be offered the opportunity to participate in EAL once they have completed the study.
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This quasi-experiment will evaluate the effectiveness of Equine Assisted Learning for reducing symptoms associated with trauma exposure among public safety personnel (e.g., fire fighters, police, paramedics, etc.).

Detailed description: The purpose of the proposed project is to investigate the effectiveness of Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) for reducing symptoms associated with trauma exposure among public safety personnel. EAL is an intervention in which mental health clinicians and equine specialists work together with clients to address a learning goal via unmounted interaction with a horse. Recent literature indicates that EAL shows promise in addressing a range of mental health diagnoses among a variety of populations, including military and Royal Canadian Mounted Police veterans with PTSD. The EAL intervention will be delivered at Cartier Farms in Spruce Home, Saskatchewan. Research components of this study will be conducted virtually via Zoom.

The investigators will employ a quasi-experimental design with pre-post and follow-up testing. Participants will be assigned one of two groups based on the time that they complete their initial baseline interview: (1) the intervention group will receive the EAL intervention for 8 weeks, while (2) the waitlist control condition will not receive this treatment for the same amount of time. Data on trauma exposure symptom severity will be collected from all participants prior to the start of the the study (baseline), again 8 weeks later (post), and then a final time 3 months later (follow-up). The two conditions will then be compared to determine whether there are differences in trauma exposure symptom severity between groups. To obtain a sufficient sample size while also running appropriately sized interventions of 6-10 participants per session, the researchers will conduct 4-6 rounds of group assignment. All individuals in the waitlist control condition will be offered EAL following their completion of the study.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. English-speaking adults;
2. Currently or previously employed as public safety personnel (e.g., police officer, fire fighter, paramedic, healthcare worker, emergency dispatcher, correctional officer);
3. Reside in Saskatchewan;
4. Meet diagnostic criteria for having experienced a Criterion A traumatic event;
5. Able to provide written informed consent;
6. Have access to a smart phone, tablet, or computer with a working microphone and camera; and
7. Have access to consistent and reliable internet.

Exclusion:

1. Meet/met current/past diagnostic criteria for several psychiatric, neurodevelopmental, and neurological conditions;
2. History of severe head trauma with loss of consciousness or history of traumatic brain injury;
3. Have previously completed at least half of the EAL curriculum at Cartier Farms.

Primary outcomes:
measure: PTSD symptomatology
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: PTSD symptomatology
timeFrame: 20 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Mental health symptomatology
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Depression, anxiety, and stress symptomatology
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Substance involvement
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Health complaints
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Sleep quality
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Body awareness
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Moral injury
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Dissociation
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Emotion regulation
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Exposure to childhood trauma
timeFrame: Completed once at baseline
measure: Alcohol use disorder symptomatology
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Cannabis use disorder symptomatology
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Substance use disorder symptomatology
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Resilience
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Self-compassion
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Health and disability
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Disability
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Work functioning and productivity
timeFrame: 20 weeks
Other outcomes:
measure: Heart rate variability
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Sleep quality
timeFrame: 20 weeks
measure: Experience in EAL
timeFrame: 8 weeks
Locations:
city: Prince Albert
country: Canada
facility: Cartier Farms
state: Saskatchewan
Study officials:
affiliation: McMaster University
name: Margaret McKinnon, PhD, CPsych
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: