Clinical trial NCT04038775: Take 2 Pills and Go Volunteer in the Morning
Official title: Take 2 Pills and Go Volunteer in the Morning: A Feasibility Study of Engaging Patients as Volunteers
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Volunteers
Keywords: medically uninsured
Lead sponsor: Loyola University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2019-07-31
Enrollment: 50
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: The first 25 patients are placed into the intervention group (recommended volunteering by their provider) and the next 25 patients are placed into the control group (not recommended volunteering).
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: In this study, doctors will "prescribe" volunteer work for their patients. The investigators are determining whether it is feasible for providers to recommend volunteering to their patients, and whether patients who are recommended this "treatment" actually do volunteer work (i.e., find it "acceptable"). The study is focused on uninsured patients at Loyola Medicine's Access to Care (ATC) Clinic. The study's secondary aim is to determine whether or not engaging in volunteer work yields health benefits.

Detailed description: In this feasibility study, doctors will "prescribe" volunteer work for their patients. The setting is Loyola Medicine's Access to Care Clinic, which serves patients who are low-income and uninsured (and often members of racial/ethnic minority groups). The investigators are determining whether it is feasible for providers in a low-resourced primary care setting to recommend volunteering to their patients, and whether patients who are recommended this "treatment" actually do volunteer work (and how much). The investigators are also interested in measuring whether volunteering is associated with any potential health benefits, specifically well-being and self-esteem.

Promoting volunteerism is the intervention because research evidence suggests that volunteer work may be good for one's health. For example, research shows that volunteering is associated with numerous potential health benefits: improved mental health, increased physical activity, higher preventive health care utilization, lower cardiovascular risk and lower mortality. Besides better health, volunteering also can teach valuable skills, help individuals meet others, and foster new relationships.

Despite all these potential benefits, rates of volunteering are low. Overall, just one in four people volunteers. Additionally, people who have lower incomes are less likely to volunteer (14% of people with incomes below $20,000 vs. 35% of people with incomes above $100,000. And minority groups are less likely to volunteer than whites (just 19% of African Americans and 15% of Latinos compared with 26% of Whites).

Thus, the intervention is aimed to increase volunteer participation rates among groups unlikely to volunteer: low-income uninsured persons who are members of racial/ethnic minority groups.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria \* Access to Care patient

Exclusion Criteria

\* None

Primary outcomes:
measure: Total volunteer hours
timeFrame: Baseline to six months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Score
timeFrame: Baseline to six months
measure: Change in Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Global Health Short Form Scale
timeFrame: Baseline to six months
measure: Change in the Arizona Integrative Outcomes Scale
timeFrame: Baseline to six months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Maywood
country: United States
facility: Access to Care Clinic
state: Illinois
Study officials:
affiliation: Loyola University Chicago
name: Julie S Darnell, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: