App-based Psychosocial Intervention to Enhance Quality of Life in Arabic-speaking Refugees Residing in Switzerland

NCT ID: NCT05651737

Last Updated: 2024-05-08

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 170 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-10-21
• Study Completion Date: 2024-03-27

Brief Summary

The ongoing warfare and economic instability in the Middle East and in North Africa causes many people to leave their home countries. Arrived in a host countries, in this example, in Switzerland, they face a lot of structural and psychosocial hurdles. Particularly in the first years, building up a certain quality of life is complicated and challenging. To support this process, the Swiss Red Cross and the University of Bern have developed the Sui app. It contains structural and social information as well as low-intensity psychological tools to provide support to the everyday life of Arabic-speaking people in Switzerland.

Conditions

Quality of Life; Stigma, Social; Depression; PTSD; Anxiety

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Sui App+ (peer guided)

The active phase of the study is eight weeks per participant with a follow-up online assessment after another eight weeks.

One of the active study groups, the Sui App+ condition, receives the Sui app plus a peer who will guide them online. They receive weekly individual messages from their peer within the chat of the app.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Sui App (SRK)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The Sui app contains the following chapters:

6 well-being chapters on: stress, sleep, resources throughout the day, chronic pain, emotion regulation, audio exercises 9 Swiss-specific information chapters on: housing, health (two sub-chapters), finances, asylum process, residence status, social integration, occupational integration, family reunification

Sui App (unguided)

The active phase of the study is eight weeks per participant with a follow-up online assessment after another eight weeks.

The second active study group receives the app as a standalone intervention. They use whatever content they are interested in and receive weekly push-notifications in case they were not active.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Sui App (SRK)

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The Sui app contains the following chapters:

6 well-being chapters on: stress, sleep, resources throughout the day, chronic pain, emotion regulation, audio exercises 9 Swiss-specific information chapters on: housing, health (two sub-chapters), finances, asylum process, residence status, social integration, occupational integration, family reunification

Waitlist control group

The control arm is a waitlist control group that receives access to the app after eight weeks.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Sui App (SRK)

The Sui app contains the following chapters:

6 well-being chapters on: stress, sleep, resources throughout the day, chronic pain, emotion regulation, audio exercises 9 Swiss-specific information chapters on: housing, health (two sub-chapters), finances, asylum process, residence status, social integration, occupational integration, family reunification

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• At least 18 years old
• Arabic as native or second language
• Good knowledge of reading, writing and speaking Arabic
• Have lived in Switzerland for no longer than 5 years
• Give written consent
• Have access to a smartphone and an internet connection
• Indicate an emergency contact whom they could contact in event of a crisis

Exclusion Criteria

• Indicate an increased risk of self-harm or suicide at baseline
• Indicate having been diagnosed with psychosis or bipolar disorder
• Be participating in a similar study at baseline
• Have a lack of written and spoken Arabic skills

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Swiss Transfusion SRC

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Freie Universität Berlin

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Bern

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Thomas Berger, Prof. Dr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Bern

Locations

University of Bern

Bern, Canton of Bern, Switzerland

Countries

Switzerland

Other Identifiers

2022-00607

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id