Financial Incentives for Veteran Therapy Completion

Part of paid clinical trials in Dallas, Texas.

Sponsor
Christopher Cronin
Study ID
NCT06234371
Status
Enrolling By Invitation

Conditions

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - N/A
Healthy Volunteers
Not accepted

Interventions

  • Financial Incentive — BEHAVIORAL
    The intervention is offering a $500 gift card as an incentive for completing 6 counseling sessions to eligible individuals randomized into the treatment group. Another $500 gift card will be given after completing 12 counseling sessions, and another $500 gift card will be given after completing 18 counseling sessions.

Study Details

Recovery Resource Council (RRC) is one of the largest and most comprehensive non-profit mental and behavioral healthcare providers in North Texas. Accredited by the Joint Commission in Behavioral Health and licensed by the State of Texas as an Outpatient Treatment Center, RRC strives to promote wellness and recovery through a variety of services and programming. An important component of RRC programming is providing free counseling services to hundreds of U.S. veterans annually. While RRC observes great success for veterans who complete counseling, attendance can be a major obstacle. Veterans who approach RRC for individual counseling services and consent to participate will be randomly assigned to the treatment or control group. The control group will receive counseling as usual. The treatment group will receive $500 gift card payments upon completing their 6th, 12th, and 18th counseling sessions, i.e., $1,500 in gift cards for completing all 18 sessions, the usual prescribed length of therapy. Our primary focus is to examine the impact of the financial incentives on therapy attendance and attrition. In addition, the investigators will estimate the impact on mental health using mental health inventories collected over the course of therapy sessions.

Key Dates

Start date
Jan 2, 2024
Status verified
Jun 2025
Primary completion
Jan 2, 2027
Completion
Jan 2, 2028

Study Design

Enrollment
600 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • Experimental: Treatment
    The treatment group will be offered a $500 gift card for completing 6, 12, and 18 counseling sessions; up to $1,500 in total. Because RRC's typical practice involves prescribing and scheduling counseling in 6-session blocks, the financial awards are revealed to veterans in the treatment group in stages. After intake, treatment group individuals are told that they will receive a $500 gift card for completing the first 6 sessions; later sessions and awards are not mentioned. If the counselor decides that another 6-session block should be prescribed, then at the completion of the 5th session (i) the next 6 sessions are scheduled (i.e., sessions 7 through 12) and (ii) the counselor reveals that the participant can earn another $500 for completing the 12th session. The same process takes place during session 11. As part of RRC's typical practice, no veterans are offered more than 18 sessions.
  • No Intervention: Control
    The control group will have access to the normal counseling services provided by RRC staff. Those in the control group will receive "business as usual" services offered by the RRC, which includes the same counseling services and evaluation of how many sessions an individual is recommended to receive.

Primary Outcome Measure

Number of counseling sessions attended [ Time Frame: 1 year following randomization ]

Locations (3)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Recovery Resource Council East CampusDallasTexas75247-
Recovery Resource Council North CampusDentonTexas76209-
Recovery Resource Council West CampusFort WorthTexas76111-

Find similar trials in Dallas, TX

By condition
DepressionPTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
By specialty
PsychiatryMental healthBehavioral health
By research site
Recovery Resource Council East Campus· Dallas, TXRecovery Resource Council North Campus· Denton, TXRecovery Resource Council West Campus· Fort Worth, TX

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