Tele-PROTECT Therapy: Effectiveness, Empowerment, and Implementation

Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age60+
SponsorWeill Medical College of Cornell University

About this trial

The purpose of this randomized trial is to conduct a fully powered effectiveness trial of video-delivered PROTECT (Tele-PROTECT) compared to a video-delivered depression education (DepEd) control condition to be delivered to 140 English- and Spanish-speaking NYC elder abuse victims. Investigators hypothesize three main aims:

1. Effectiveness Aim: Tele-PROTECT participants will have significantly greater and clinically meaningful reductions in depression when compared to the DepEd control; 2. Abuse Impact Aim: Tele-PROTECT participants will demonstrate greater safety related empowerment compared to DepEd control, which can help participants take steps to reduce risk; 3. Implementation Aim: Stakeholders' views of the factors impacting the implementation of Tele-PROTECT based on characteristics of the intervention, agency setting, and population served will contribute to a national dissemination of Tele-PROTECT

Participants will

* Receive 9 weeks of tele health psychotherapy delivered by a Master's level mental health clinician from the Weill Cornell Medicine research team. Participants will be assigned to "Tele-PROTECT" or "DepEd" psychotherapy randomly. * Participate in one baseline assessment and four follow-up assessments at weeks 3, 6, 9, and 12 administered by a trained member of the research team.

Eligibility criteria

Qualifiers

≥60 years of age

Capacity to consent (per elder abuse staff)

Depression, i.e., PHQ-9≥10 (by elder abuse staff), represents mild to moderate severity of depression and has a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 88% for major depression

Need for elder abuse services as verified by the elder abuse case worker.

Disqualifiers

Active suicidal ideation (MADRS item 10 ≥4)

Inability to speak English or Spanish

Axis 1 DSM-5 diagnoses other than unipolar depression or comorbid generalized anxiety disorder (by SCID)

Mini-MOCA less than 11

Trial design

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Tele PROTECT
  • Depression Education

Treatment groups

140 Participants
are divided into 3 treatment groups

Sponsors and collaborators

Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Lead sponsor

New York City Department for the Aging

Collaborator

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Collaborator

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Collaborator