An interventional study of Card-Sorting Activity (Pre-intervention design) and SMS Crafting (Pre-intervention design) in Mental Health, COVID-19 and Misinformation, sponsored by Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM). Active, not recruiting at 3 sites in 3 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-06-24.
Sponsored by Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM) · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
Partners In Health (PIH), in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, aims to develop and evaluate an SMS-based intervention for Community Health Workers (CHWs) to combat COVID-19 and mental health-related misinformation in Haiti, Rwanda, and Malawi. The study involves three aims: identifying locally relevant misinformation through a card-sorting exercise with CHWs, developing targeted messages through cognitive interviewing, and evaluating the effectiveness of SMS-based educational message dissemination via a randomized controlled trial. The evaluation will assess the impact on public health practices, knowledge and attitudes among CHWs, and knowledge and attitudes among community members.
The intervention will involve sending SMS messages to randomized CHWs, addressing either COVID-19 or mental health misinformation. CHWs will have access to a helpline for further support and can provide feedback to refine the messaging. The evaluation will use a time series analysis to measure changes in COVID-19 vaccine administration, mental health service utilization, CHWs' knowledge and attitudes, and community members' knowledge and attitudes. The study aims to empower CHWs with accurate information, improve public health practices, and ultimately contribute to better health outcomes in the communities served by PIH. Rwanda and Haiti CHWs will receive the messages for 12 months, but Malawi CHWs will receive the messages for 6 months due to a CHW transition in country.
7,990 studies on the registry are indexed under COVID-19; 466 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 5,109 is above the median of 102 across 4,364 interventional studies indexed under COVID-19.
Browse COVID-19 studies →Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM) is the lead sponsor of 55 studies on the registry; 14 are open to participants now.
Compared within COVID-19, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Psychological Well-Being. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →
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The intervention will be assigned at the unit of the CHWs. These individuals will also be eligible for the CHW longitudinal cohort.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Behavioral (SMS) Intervention
Behavioral: Card-Sorting Activity (Pre-intervention design) · Behavioral: SMS Crafting (Pre-intervention design) · Behavioral: SMS Messaging
Behavorial (SMS) Intervention
Behavioral: Card-Sorting Activity (Pre-intervention design) · Behavioral: SMS Crafting (Pre-intervention design) · Behavioral: SMS Messaging
Study team members within each country will free list misinformation or misconceptions that they commonly encounter in clinical practice or daily life. Each item will be used to create paired cards - one containing the misinformation and a second containing the corresponding correct information. During qualitative interviews, we will ask CHWs to participate in a series of card sorting activities, which is a participatory research method that can inform the design of health interventions.
A two-person team consisting of one local communication expert and one clinician will draft clinically correct, easy-to-understand SMS messages designed to counter identified misinformation. We will draft messages that use various styles and use cognitive interviewing with CHWs to assess their understanding of and responses to each style. The final messages used in our intervention will be determined by CHW preference.
Final messages will be sent via SMS to all CHWs working in our study area. CHWs will also be provided with contact information for a helpline staffed by a local team member who can answer follow-up questions in the local language.
Also known as: text messaging
Number of Mental Health Visits/ Consultations Completed Monthly at Health Facilities
Mental health service utilization will be measured using routinely collected data measured monthly at the health facility level
Time frame: 24 months
Number of Patients who Sought Care from Mental Health Services Monthly at Health Facilities
Mental health service utilization will be measured using routinely collected data measured monthly at the health facility level
Time frame: 24 months
Number of COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Administered Monthly at Health Facilities (if available)
COVID-19 Vaccine administration will be measured using routinely collected data measured monthly at the health facility level
Time frame: 24 months
Qualitative Interviews
In-depth qualitative interviews will occur before, during, and after the dissemination of messages. Prior to the message dissemination we will contact between 10-15 randomly selected CHWs per country and provide them with draft messages. Although the content of all messages will be determined by the results of the card sorting exercise, the style of the messages will vary. We will use cognitive interviewing techniques to understand how CHWs interpret each message and ask them to provide their preferences on messaging style. During subsequent qualitative sessions at midline and endline, we will ask up to ten CHWs to provide feedback on the messages that they actually received during the intervention.
Time frame: Before, after 6 months of the intervention, and after 12 months of the intervention (only in Rwanda & Haiti)
Longitudinal Cohort Surveys
In each country, we will also select a random sample of 175 CHWs to participate in in a longitudinal cohort consisting of a quantitative questionnaire administered before, during, and after the intervention. During our survey, we will assess both COVID-19 related outcomes (CHWs' knowledge about COVID-19, vaccination status, and intention to vaccinate) and mental health-related outcomes (CHWs' knowledge about and stigmatization of mental illness). After the start of the intervention, we will also ask CHWs to self-report whether they have received our messages or used our helpline, and we will seek to verify this information by direct observation of text messages or outgoing calls on their phone.
Time frame: Before, after 6 months of the intervention, and after 12 months of the intervention (only in Rwanda & Haiti)
Cross-Sectional Survey
a repeated cross-sectional survey of community members
Time frame: Before the intervention and after 12 months of the intervention (only in Rwanda & Haiti)
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Jun 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM)