Improving the Mental Health of Home Health Aides

Description

The goal of this study is to improve the mental health of home health aides, a workforce that provides care for adults at home but whose own health has been historically poor. The main questions the study aims to answer are: * Will a health program called Living Healthy, which provides health education and support with positive thinking, be used by home health aides and do they like it? * Does Living Healthy actually improve home health aides' mood compared to what they usually do to take care of themselves? Participants in the study will get an 8-week health program called Living Healthy over 3 months. Some of the participants will also have a 'peer coach' who is another home health aide who's been trained to help them with the program and learn some ways to feel better. The study will compare the experiences of home health aides who get Living Healthy plus a peer coach with those who only get the Living Healthy program.

Conditions

Mental Health Issue

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

The goal of this study is to improve the mental health of home health aides, a workforce that provides care for adults at home but whose own health has been historically poor. The main questions the study aims to answer are: * Will a health program called Living Healthy, which provides health education and support with positive thinking, be used by home health aides and do they like it? * Does Living Healthy actually improve home health aides' mood compared to what they usually do to take care of themselves? Participants in the study will get an 8-week health program called Living Healthy over 3 months. Some of the participants will also have a 'peer coach' who is another home health aide who's been trained to help them with the program and learn some ways to feel better. The study will compare the experiences of home health aides who get Living Healthy plus a peer coach with those who only get the Living Healthy program.

Improving the Mental Health of Home Health Aides: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Improving the Mental Health of Home Health Aides

Condition
Mental Health Issue
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

New York

1199 SEIU Home Care Industry Education Fund, New York, New York, United States, 10018

New York

Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, United States, 10021

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * Currently working as a home health aide
  • * Speak English or Spanish
  • * ≥ 18 years of age
  • * Have mild depressive symptoms (Personal Health Questionnaire 8-item \[PHQ8\] scale ≥ 5 points), and/or other risk factors for poor mental health as assessed by the following domains including stress (Cohen's Perceived Stress 4-item scale \[PSS4\] ≥5) or loneliness (≥6 on the 3-item UCLA Loneliness scale).
  • * Speak a language other than English or Spanish
  • * Less than 1 year of job experience as a home health aide

Ages Eligible for Study

18 Years to

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Collaborators and Investigators

Weill Medical College of Cornell University,

Madeline R Sterling, MD, MPH, MS, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Study Record Dates

2025-12