Social Prescription for Loneliness in Community-based Group Exercise Classes for People With Parkinson Disease

Status: Recruiting
Location: See location...
Intervention Type: Behavioral
Study Type: Interventional
Study Phase: Not Applicable
SUMMARY

Loneliness is an epidemic that the U.S. Surgeon General implored must be addressed by society as a whole. Increased loneliness (i.e., distressing feelings of isolation) in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) has a pervasive impact and is associated with worsened motor and non-motor symptoms, and quality of life. The investigators expect that individuals participating socially in the community would experience less loneliness. However, for individuals with PD participating in community-based group exercise programs, the investigators have found that over one third still report being lonely. Therefore, an evidence-based program needs to be added to address a significant problem of loneliness for people with PD-and occupational therapy is the leading discipline to add the intervention because social participation is one of eight occupations that an occupational therapist is focused on optimizing. The chief executive officer at the Parkinson Association of the Rockies (PAR), members of the Colorado State University Occupational Therapy Department, and members of the University of Colorado's Parkinson's Exercise Research Consortium have teamed up to address pervasive loneliness. Social prescription is a prime evidence-based intervention to add to existing PD community-based exercise classes because it has been shown to reduce loneliness. For this project, the investigators detect participants in the 'lonely' range through a standardized assessment. The investigators will work with PAR staff who will refer individuals identifying as 'lonely' to an occupational therapist, who will complete an individualized occupational profile and write the appropriate social prescription from 11 different interventions (examples include: intergenerational intervention, animal companions, physical activity, occupational therapy) from established community resources recommended for social prescription. The proposed project is designed with three primary goals: (1) determine the reach of the social prescription program, (2) evaluate the effectiveness of the program at one site, and (3) determine implementation strategies for scalability.

Eligibility
Participation Requirements
Sex: All
Minimum Age: 18
Healthy Volunteers: f
View:

• At least 18 years old

• Have a diagnosis of Parkinson Disease

• Have participated in at least one exercise class or support group in the last year

• Scored ≥5/9 on the UCLA 3-item Loneliness Scale during pre-screening

• Agree to participate in a 6-month program including a social prescription and six visits with an occupational therapist or occupational therapy doctoral student

Locations
United States
Colorado
Colorado State University
RECRUITING
Fort Collins
Contact Information
Primary
Laura A Swink, PhD
laura.swink@colostate.edu
9704917915
Time Frame
Start Date: 2024-08-13
Estimated Completion Date: 2026-06-30
Participants
Target number of participants: 40
Treatments
Experimental: Occupational Therapy Led Social Prescription
(1) A baseline occupational therapy assessment including a social prescription, (2) Six monthly occupational therapy follow-up sessions focused on behavior-change techniques to encourage participation in the social prescription, and include: review of the social prescription, self-monitoring strategies, facilitators review, barriers review, problem-solving, provision of feedback, action planning, and rating confidence with the action plan, and (3) Post Occupational Therapy Assessment
Related Therapeutic Areas
Sponsors
Collaborators: American Occupational Therapy Foundation
Leads: Colorado State University

This content was sourced from clinicaltrials.gov