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92 active trials for Health Behavior

Effects of Microbouts of Activity on Metabolic Health

Population studies suggest that time spent in sedentary behaviors is associated with all-cause mortality including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, independent of time spent in exercise. Frequent interruptions to sedentary time are however beneficially associated with metabolic health outcomes, even in individuals who exercise regularly. The goal is to use integrative approach to understand the biological mechanisms that underlie these associations in a longitudinal intervention study in overweight sedentary adults. The investigators believe that the proposed study will provide an initial evidence base for the health benefits of breaking up prolonged sitting with short bursts of activity. This innovative strategy may be more effective at combating the adverse effects of sedentary behaviors than more traditional approaches.

Start: May 2017

Impact of Wearable Health Devices and Wellness Behavior Change Support on Health Outcomes and Healthcare Costs

The purpose of this study is to measure the impact of consumer-grade wearable health devices and behavior change support services, including health coaching, on health behaviors, biometrics, and healthcare costs. The study will be a randomized controlled trial with 700 participants who are employees of UMass Memorial Health Care in which 350 participants (control group) receive standard wellness and medical benefits and services for UMass Memorial Health Care employees and in which 350 participants (intervention group) receive these same standard benefits and services as well as the full Fitbit Care product suite (Fitbit wrist-worn device, Fitbit connected weight scale, and Fitbit Premium + Health Coaching service). Participants in the intervention group will be offered support in improving health behaviors that are important to them, including activity, nutrition, sleep, stress management, and medication adherence. They will also be offered support in tying these behaviors to their health goals, including blood pressure management, blood sugar management, cholesterol management, weight loss, smoking cessation, etc. The hypothesis is that those employees in the intervention group will experience improved results compared to those in the control group. It is believed that they will have improved health behaviors, improved biometrics, and lower total healthcare costs (fewer complications, fewer hospitalizations, etc.).

Start: January 2021

Brain Probiotic and LC-PUFA Intervention for Optimum Early Life

Probiotics is suggested to play several roles in promoting health, including alleviating disease symptoms, protection against atopic disease, and modulating the immune system by improving the beneficial gut microbiota colonization. The discovery of the gut microbiota-brain axis suggested that there is a reciprocal influence between the brain and the gut through a constant communication. This bi-directional axis enables signals to be transferred from brain to influence sensory, motor, and secretory modalities of the GI tract, also permits signal from the gut to influence brain function. The establishment of intestinal microbiota during early neurodevelopmental period suggests the colonization and maturation of gut microbiota may influence brain development. Several studies have shown there is an association between shifts in the gut microbiota composition in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. This study aims to investigate how maternal probiotic + LC-PUFA supported with government program supplements, healthy eating, and psychosocial stimulation could affect fetal brain development and later child brain functions and cognitive development. Intervention would be delivered to pregnant women for 9 months, starting at the end of second trimester of gestational period.

Start: October 2019

Reducing Help-Seeking Stigma in Young Adults at Elevated Suicide Risk

Although there exist interventions that therapeutically impact suicide risk, the connection of individuals at elevated suicide risk to mental health care services remains an ongoing challenge. One persistent barrier to mental health service utilization is help-seeking stigma-that is, having negative beliefs about the implications of seeking help for mental health problems (e.g., "Seeking help means that I am weak"). Thus, to enhance mental health service use among at-risk individuals, efforts are needed to target help-seeking stigma. Preliminary data from our research group indicate that a novel computerized intervention based on cognitive therapy principles can demonstrably reduce help-seeking stigma and increase connection to care among young adults with untreated psychiatric disorders. However, this intervention has not been tested among individuals who are currently experiencing suicidal ideation and are not engaged in mental health treatment. Testing the efficacy of this computerized intervention among young adults at increased risk for suicide is necessary to address the unique challenge of linking at-risk individuals to potentially life-saving treatments. To this end, this study aims to test the efficacy of a brief web-based intervention, cognitive bias modification for help-seeking stigma (CBM-HS), designed to increase mental health help-seeking intentions and behaviors. A total of 78 young adults with current suicidal ideation who are not currently in treatment and who report elevated levels of help-seeking stigma will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) CBM-HS; (2) CBM-Placebo (i.e., a sham CBM condition analogous to a placebo pill in a pharmaceutical trial); or (3) psychoeducation. Participants will complete assessments at baseline, mid-intervention, post-intervention, and 2-month follow-up to determine the efficacy of CBM-HS in: (a) modifying stigma-related cognitions around mental health help-seeking and service use and (b) increasing treatment initiation and engagement. Moreover, we will test if reductions in stigma-related cognitions mediate the relationship between study condition and subsequent help-seeking behaviors. Findings from the proposed pilot randomized controlled trial have the potential to enhance connection to care among young adults at elevated suicide risk. Importantly, the brief, web-based nature of the intervention enhances its acceptability, feasibility, and scalability. Should CBM-HS demonstrate efficacy in reducing help-seeking stigma and enhancing connection to care among at-risk individuals, it has the potential to serve as a useful tool in suicide prevention efforts.

Start: September 2018

Survey on Lifestyle, Perceived Barriers and Development of Change in Patients With Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is among the most widespread in the male population and represents 20% of all cancers diagnosed from the age of fifty, in Italy. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a common strategy of treatment that is used for increase survival. However, ADT is associated with significant side effects, such as fatigue, loss of muscle mass and strength, cognitive decline and reduced quality of life, with an increased the risk for falls and fractures, cardiometabolic syndrome and cardiovascular events. The numerous side effects from ADT could potentially be countered by the regular Physical Exercise (PE), with favorable effects on body composition, physical performance, bone health and cognitive function. However, to maintain the results obtained, PE must be undertaken regularly, becoming a healthy habit of life. The patient motivation is therefore a fundamental element for guaranteeing adherence to the intervention and its integration into people's lifestyle. The study aim is to analyzed patients with PCa at the time of diagnosis regarding their lifestyle, includes regular PE, and motivation to make changes about their habits. In addition, the investigators will describe the perceived barriers by patients about this change. The data collected will allow the development of an experimental intervention of PE, associated with therapeutic education, and assess its impact on the health of patient undergoing ADT, considering the realistic possibilities of application in the daily life of these patients, testing its feasibility and safety, the compliance and the satisfaction of the patients.

Start: September 2019

Wearable Emotion Prosthetics for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Involuntary stress reactions including hyper-reactivity and dissociation are key diagnostic features of many psychiatric disorders, are difficult to treat, and predict poor outcomes in conventional and neurobehavioral interventions. Here, we evaluate the extent to which a novel intervention, Tuned Vibroacoustic Stimulation (TVS), capitalizing on a preserved neurocircuitry for sympathetic and parasympathetic system activity can be used to modify arousal responses, overriding otherwise prepotent negative stress reactions. PTSD has been characterized by dysregulated responses to stress as a result of severe acute or chronic trauma resulting in significantly impaired functioning, quality of life, and morbidity/mortality. Physiologically, PTSD severity has been associated with elevated sympathetic tone and low heart rate variability suggesting that parasympathetic tone is suppressed. Lower heart rate variability specifically, as a measure of parasympathetic tone, is closely associated with impaired performance and resilience. In our first study (in review), we showed that in some individuals, TVS is associated with increased heart rate variability and performance under stress along with reduced subjective stress. These results suggest that TVS could provide some therapeutic benefit in PTSD. N=100 individuals with mild-moderate PTSD (as assessed by PCL-5/CAP5), at least half of which are military Veterans, will be assessed physiologically during active interventions. Mechanisms of attentional focus on cognitive and emotional stimuli will be assessed. Participants will also have a real-world intervention to determine if TVS helps alleviate stress, symptoms, and medication burden in the real world when stress has been identified. Success will suggest a new intervention pathway for a traditionally treatment-resistant dimension of psychopathology.

Start: April 2018

School-Based Intervention Program to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity

The purpose of this research is to develop, apply, and evaluate a school-based intervention program in East Jerusalem schools, designed to increase knowledge and to improve the attitudes and healthy behavior of schoolchildren, their teachers and their mothers' with regard to healthy eating and physical activity habits. The study tested the hypothesis that the impact of the entire school intervention program on students' lifestyles is mediated by their teachers' engagement in health promotion and by their mothers' involvement in school activity.

Start: March 2011

Walking to School Supports

This pilot study will test the feasibility and acceptability of an enhanced individual-level intervention delivered to 4th-6th graders to increase rates of walking to/from school. Up to 8 youth who do not already walk to school will be enrolled into the intervention. The theoretically-based intervention content will be delivered over 6 weeks through family-based telephone coaching sessions, ongoing short message service (SMS) text messaging, and activities and content on the study website.

Start: September 2019

The Impact of Employee Wellness Programs

There is great public and private interest in the use of workplace wellness programs to reduce health care spending, improve health outcomes, and enhance productivity for employees. However, there is little rigorous evidence on the effects of wellness programs. This study partners with a large multi-state U.S. employer (BJ's Wholesale Club) and an experienced wellness vendor (Wellness Workdays) to evaluate a multi-prong workplace wellness program, including components such as nutrition counseling, fitness challenges, and stress management workshops. The wellness program will be delivered by a team of experts including Registered Dieticians, and will include financial rewards for participation. The program will be available to employees in initially 20 of BJ's 200 worksites, and later expanded to 25 worksites. These worksites have been randomly selected, allowing a randomized controlled trial evaluation of the effects of the wellness program. Data will be collected on a wide array of outcomes from multiple sources, including on-site biometric screenings and surveys, employment records, and health insurance claims for employees at both treatment and control worksites.

Start: January 2015

Online Physical Activity and Ergonomics Training in Physiotherapy Students Receiving Distance Education

The pandemic process has caused very important changes and effects in the economy, social life and education practices, especially health at global level. Within the scope of the measures taken, with the closure of educational institutions and interruption of face-to-face education, the education of 1.6 billion students, which corresponds to approximately half of the student population from all educational levels, has been interrupted. The need and approach to open and distance learning has come to the fore with significant changes and effects on education worldwide. Pandemic measures, the transition to distance education and the increase in computer usage caused an increase in ergonomic risks in students. Due to the pandemic process, it has been reported that the physical activity level of students decreases and the sitting period is prolonged. In this study, physiotherapy students who receive distance education will be given online ergonomics and physical activity training and the results will be evaluated.

Start: December 2020

Homeless Care Management App

There is a significant revolving door of incarceration among homeless adults, a population with substantial health disparities. Homeless adults who receive the professional coordination of individualized care (i.e., case management) during the period following their release from jail experience fewer mental health and substance use problems, are more likely to obtain stable housing, and are less likely to be re-incarcerated. The proposed study will use mobile technology to address these barriers and fill gaps in the understanding of the causes of the revolving door of homeless incarceration. This research represents a step toward integrated service connection and healthcare service provision for one of the most underserved, high need, and understudied populations in the United States. Smart phone apps that increase the use of available healthcare services and identify predictors of key outcomes (e.g., homelessness, re-arrest, medication compliance) could be used to reach hard to reach populations with histories of significant and persistent health disparities (e.g., homeless adults).

Start: April 2018

Nature and Well-Being Project

The investigators pilot test two intervention strategies to increase green space use- place-based and person-based, as well as evaluate the dose-response relationship between green space use and health.

Start: April 2021

Family Partner Navigation for Children

Family Navigation (FN), an evidence-based care management strategy which is a promising intervention to help low income and minority families access timely mental health services. Despite significant evidence supporting the effectiveness of FN, concerns exist about the ability to disseminate FN to a broad population due to inefficiency and cost. The proposed study employs an innovative research methodology, the Multiphase Optimization STrategy (MOST), a framework for developing highly efficacious, efficient, scalable, and cost-effective interventions. The investigators will conduct a randomized experiment to assess the individual components of FN and identify which components and component levels have greatest effect on access to, and engagement in, diagnostic and treatment services for children with mental health disorders. This information then guides assembly of an optimized FN model that achieves the primary outcomes with least resource consumption and participant burden

Start: June 2019

Personalized Exercise Oncology

The Goal of the study is to identify trait-homogenous groups of cancer patients in regards to their physical activity associated health literacy. Based on these Groups, individualized exercise protocols and educative strategies can be developed which may increase the efficacy of the exercise therapy and increases the likelihood that patient get involved in physical activity.

Start: November 2018

TWOgether - From Sport Zero to Sport Hero

BACKGROUND: The physiological and psychological benefits of regular physical activity (PA) and reduced sedentary behavior are well documented. Nevertheless, the majority of adolescents in western countries, e.g., Switzerland, do not meet the recommendations for moderate to vigorous PA of at least one hour per day. Planning interventions, defined as the creation of plans when, where and how to engage in a behavior change, have been proposed as an effective way of translating intentions into action. AIM: The project aims at closing the empirical gap of the question whether or not planning interventions of PA in adolescents are successful and which planning intervention is the most effective one. In detail, it is aimed for to examine changes in (daily) moderate to vigorous physical activity in adolescents' friendship dyads following (a) an individual planning intervention, (b) a collaborative planning intervention or (c) one of the two no-planning control conditions. Changes in (daily) physical activity will be examined over a period of 6-months. By investigating the intervention effect systematically by means of daily diaries, long-term follow-ups and objective measurements this project will provide a novel knowledge about individual self-regulating mechanism and social exchange processes as the mediating mechanism of the effectiveness of individual and collaborative planning for health behavior change in adolescents. DESIGN: Single-blind four-arm parallel-group cluster-randomized controlled trial with longitudinal design. The assessment of the main and secondary outcomes is conducted at the baseline, at 1 week after the first intervention session, and at 1-, and 6-month follow-ups. The intervention consists of one planning session and one booster session after 1-month. PARTICIPANTS: The sample will consist of 400 friendship dyads between 14 and 18 years of age. A cluster-randomization will assign participants to one of the two planning groups (collaborative or individual) or one of the two control groups. Both partners of the friendship dyad will complete all questionnaires. OUTCOMES: Physical activity constitutes the main outcome, whereas self-regulatory strategies like planning, self-efficacy, as well as social exchange processes like social support are secondary outcomes.

Start: September 2018

Virtual Technical Assistance for Child and Adult Care Food Program in Family Child Care Home

This study evaluates the effect of a fully virtual nutrition technical assistance training program for family child care home providers on the food they serve young children in their care and the food environment in their home. Half the providers will be randomly assigned to the nutrition program and the other half will receive a comparison on environmental health.

Start: November 2019

Understanding Community Considerations, Opinions, Values, Impacts, and Decisions for COVID-19

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is affecting the way many people live their lives, including seeking medical care and maintaining good self-care to keep healthy. Additionally, in the event many people become critically ill at once, COVID-19 has the possibility of overwhelming hospitals to the point where they have to make decisions about how to determine who receives intensive care and life-support measures. Many hospitals as well as local or state governments have been working on policies to determine how to make these decisions. This study seeks to learn about how COVID-19 has affected the way patients and healthcare providers care for themselves and about their thoughts and concerns about policies that may "ration" life-support resources.

Start: May 2020

Enhanced Care Planning for Patients With Multiple Chronic Conditions

Patients with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) have a range of needs that extend beyond traditional medical care, including behavioral, mental health, and social needs. While primary care does its best to address these needs, few practices can undertake a systematic approach without broader health system and coordinated community support. Fortunately, communities and health systems are investing in new models of care to address these needs. New tools are emerging that allow for enhanced care planning to identify and prioritize patients' needs based on their values, preferences, social, and clinical context. Additionally, support systems to promote partnerships between patients and clinical and community care teams are emerging. Building on work occurring as part of the Richmond Accountable Health Community, the investigators propose to (a) evaluate the implementation of an enhanced care planning approach, paired with community-clinical linkages support to address health behavior, mental health, and social needs; (b) determine within a randomized controlled trial the benefit of this approach compared to usual care; and (c) assess which person, family, community, and system contextual factors that influence MCC.

Start: September 2020

Coordinated Oral Health Promotion (CO-OP) Chicago

This study assesses the impact of oral health promotion delivered by community health workers in medical clinics, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) centers, and family homes. Investigators will assess oral health behaviors in children aged 0 to 3.

Start: January 2018

A Comparison of Computer Vision Based Approach vs. Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry Scan to Measure Body Fat Percentage

This study is being done to test whether a HealthReel computer vision-based software application can estimate body fat percentage with equivalent accuracy to a whole body dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scan.

Start: April 2020