Using Caring Contacts to Reduce Psychiatric Morbidity Following Hospitalization During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
Subjects will be recently discharged patients from Sunnybrook Inpatient Psychiatry Unit. Subjects will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either the Caring Contact intervention or usual care. 75 subjects will be enrolled in each arm. In additional to usual discharge-related care, subjects in the caring contact group will receive brief emails that convey a message of hope and provide resources. These emails will be sent on days 4, 21, and 56 post-discharge. The specific content of these emails will be pre-determined varying slightly by time point. In contrast, the control group will only receive usual discharge-related care, including discharge planning and also a sheet of resources normally provided to patients. A widely used and validated measure will be employed to assess depression and anxiety symptoms. The 25-item self-report Hopkins Symptom Checklist will be emailed to all subjects at baseline, day 4, 21, and 56 post-discharge, along with the Caring Contact communication. It is hypothesized that there will be a significantly greater reduction in mental health symptoms among patients receiving Caring Contacts compared to those who receive usual care.
| Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
| Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| Experimental: Caring Contacts Group
|
Other: Caring Contacts
Caring Contacts are brief email communications sent to the patient post-discharge. They convey messages of hope, support, promote a sense of belonging, and provide information on resources for care. They are not written uniquely for each patient but are purposefully crafted to intervene on those specific vulnerabilities that form the core of many patients' experiences with intense emotional distress and suicidal thoughts.
|
| No Intervention: Standard Treatment Group
|
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) [Baseline, day 4, day 21, day 56 post-discharge]
The HSCL-25 is a widely-used and validated self-report questionnaire using a Likert scale to measure symptoms of anxiety and depression. Change scores in anxiety and depression will be used to assess effectiveness of intervention.
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
-
Provision of written informed consent
-
Inpatient status in Sunnybrook Inpatient Psychiatry Unit at time of recruitment
-
Have an email or mailing address
-
Ability to read and understand English
-
The ability to understand and comply with the requirements of the study and capable of providing informed consent
Exclusion Criteria:
- A primary Major Neurocognitive Disorder diagnosis
Contacts and Locations
Locations
| Site | City | State | Country | Postal Code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | M4N 3M5 |
Sponsors and Collaborators
- Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Ayal Schaffer, MD, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Principal Investigator: Rosalie Steinberg, MD, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
None provided.- 1804