Using Caring Contacts to Reduce Psychiatric Morbidity Following Hospitalization During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Psychiatric Hospitalization Clinical Trial

Official title: Using Caring Contacts to Reduce Psychiatric Morbidity Following Hospitalization During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

Subjects will be recently discharged patients from Sunnybrook Inpatient Psychiatry Unit. Subjects will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either the Caring Contact intervention or usual care. 75 subjects will be enrolled in each arm. In additional to usual discharge-related care, subjects in the caring contact group will receive brief emails that convey a message of hope and provide resources. These emails will be sent on days 4, 21, and 56 post-discharge. The specific content of these emails will be pre-determined varying slightly by time point. In contrast, the control group will only receive usual discharge-related care, including discharge planning and also a sheet of resources normally provided to patients. A widely used and validated measure will be employed to assess depression and anxiety symptoms. The 25-item self-report Hopkins Symptom Checklist will be emailed to all subjects at baseline, day 4, 21, and 56 post-discharge, along with the Caring Contact communication. It is hypothesized that there will be a significantly greater reduction in mental health symptoms among patients receiving Caring Contacts compared to those who receive usual care.

Clinical Trial Description

n/a

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• COVID-19
• Psychiatric Hospitalization

• NCT number: NCT04456062
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 4, 2020
• Completion date: July 31, 2021