PEERS Plus mHealth Enhanced Peer Support (Peers plus)

Mass General Brigham

Status: Completed

Conditions: Depression in Old Age

Treatments: Behavioral: Peers plus

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT05611996

2022P001984

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this intervention study is to design and learn whether peer support that is delivered through video chats and texts can decrease depression among older adults. Participants will be assigned to a peer support program where they will receive 8 video chats with a peer mentor who provide social support and supportive texts over 8 weeks.

Full description

PEERS plus is a psychosocial intervention being developed to reduce depression among older adults. In this intervention peer mentors who are also 50 years of age and older and who have experiential knowledge of depression provide depression care. Older adults with depression will be recruited and assigned to the peer support program. This will consist of 8 weekly peer mentor - older adult video chats that provide emotional support and sharing of self-care skills for depression. Supportive texts will be sent on a weekly basis to older adults by peer mentors. These texts will provide encouragement, affirmations and information about mental health resources. Peer mentors are trained and supervised by a mental health professional during the 8 week period. We will assess at baseline, post study and 3 months after the intervention.

Enrollment: 34 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 50+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. 50 years and older
2. PHQ-9 score > 5,
3. on the same antidepressant dose for at least 3 months
4. if receiving psychotherapy, frequency is at most once a month
5. able to communicate in English
6. able to give informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

1. meet diagnostic criteria for mania or hypomania
2. active suicidal ideation
3. meet diagnostic criteria for psychotic syndrome
4. meet diagnostic criteria for substance abuse or dependence
5. cognitive impairment, with a score on the Short Blessed Test > 9.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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34 participants in 1 patient group

Peer support

Other group

Description:

Peer mentors who have experienced depression provide social support through video chats and texts for 8 weeks.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Peers plus