Strengthening Community Mental Health (COPE)

Louisiana State University and A&M College

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Coping; Emotional Wellbeing; Perceived Social Support; Depression; Anxiety; Perceived Stress; Stress; Mental Health

Treatments: Behavioral: COPE: Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06093737

IRBAM-21-139105

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the impact of the Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy (COPE) intervention in adults in communities having recently experienced or at risk of experiencing disaster. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• How does the COPE intervention affect individual mental health?
• How does the COPE intervention affect protective factors like coping and social support?
• How does the COPE intervention affect community resilience?
• How does delivery of the COPE intervention in partnership with a broad-based organization affect participant recruitment and retention, as well as outcomes?

Participants will participate in the three session COPE intervention. Researchers will compare individuals who participate in the COPE intervention to individuals who participate in house meetings to see if the COPE intervention improves mental health, coping, social support and community resilience. Researchers will also examine factors that affect implementation and intervention delivery.

Full description

This Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) study will follow a multiphase mixed-methods design to adapt, deliver, and assess the efficacy of the Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy (COPE) intervention model. We will partner with a broad-based community organization, Together Baton Rouge, to adapt the intervention model to fit the context of East Baton Rouge Parish (EBRP) and deliver it to members of religious and non-profit institutions.

The objectives of the multi-level COPE intervention model are twofold: (1) reduce psychological distress and amplify protective factors among individuals and communities at risk of experiencing disasters; and (2) build individual and community psychological support response capacity. The intervention will be delivered by trained Community Facilitators (CFs) at community institutions (i.e., churches) to their institutional members. We will conduct a stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial (SWCRCT) to examine the impact of the COPE intervention. Measures of mental health, coping, social support and community resilience will be assessed at four timepoints (see timeline for data collection timepoints). We will conduct interviews and group reflections with CFs and participants to gain insight into their experiences with the intervention.

Enrollment: 300 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Individuals 18 years of age or older who are staff or members of an organization that is part of Together Baton Rouge and who participate in the intervention or are/were involved in the adaptation or implementation of the brief intervention in any capacity

Exclusion criteria

• Persons who are not 18 years of age or older and persons who are not staff or members of an organization that is part of Together Baton Rouge and/or not involved with the intervention

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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300 participants in 2 patient groups

COPE Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Is a three session brief group psychoeducational intervention. Session 1 is 4 hours, Session 2 and 3 are 1.5 hours. It is delivered in groups of 8-15 people with sessions spaced 1 month apart.

Treatment:

Behavioral: COPE: Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy

House Meeting Control

Active Comparator group

Description:

Is a 1.5 hour group meeting delivered in groups of 8-15 people spaced 1 month apart.

Treatment:

Behavioral: COPE: Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy