Leveraging Community Health Workers to Combat COVID-19 and Mental Health Misinformation in Haiti, Malawi, and Rwanda

NCT ID: NCT05997511

Last Updated: 2024-06-24

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

5109 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-11-27

Study Completion Date

2025-01-31

Brief Summary

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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.

Detailed Description

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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.

Conditions

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Mental Health COVID-19 Misinformation

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Our study will use a cluster- randomized design with two active arms - one arm targeting COVID-19-related misinformation and a second arm targeting misinformation related to mental health.
Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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COVID-19

Behavioral (SMS) Intervention

Group Type OTHER

Card-Sorting Activity (Pre-intervention design)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

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.

SMS Crafting (Pre-intervention design)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

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.

SMS Messaging

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

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.

Mental Health

Behavorial (SMS) Intervention

Group Type OTHER

Card-Sorting Activity (Pre-intervention design)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

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.

SMS Crafting (Pre-intervention design)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

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.

SMS Messaging

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

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.

Interventions

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Card-Sorting Activity (Pre-intervention design)

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.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

SMS Crafting (Pre-intervention design)

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.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

SMS Messaging

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.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

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text messaging

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* CHWs affiliated with PIH Rwanda, Malawi, or Haiti
* 18+ years of age.

Exclusion Criteria

\- Less than 18 years old.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Partners in Health

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM)

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Bethany Hedt-Gauthier

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Zanmi Lasante

Cangé, , Haiti

Site Status

Partners in Health- Malawi

Neno, , Malawi

Site Status

Partners in Health- Rwanda

Kigali, , Rwanda

Site Status

Countries

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Haiti Malawi Rwanda

Other Identifiers

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IRB22-1339

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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