Journal Article

Addressing mental health problems among persons without stable housing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: study protocol for a randomised trial. RESPOND – France

Barbui, Corrado, Purgato, Marianna, Dubanchet, Alexandre, Melchior, Maria, Bui, Eric, Felez, Mireia, Vadell-Martínez, Julian, Park, A-La, Witteveen, Anke B., Tortelli, Andrea, Sijbrandij, Marit, Underhill, James, Ayuso-Mateos, José Luis, Mediavilla, Roberto, Petri-Romão, Papoula, Bryant, Richard, Pollice, Giulia, Lorant, Vincent, McDaid, David, Kalisch, Raffael, Figueiredo, Natasha, Roversi, Aurélia, Nicaise, Pablo

2023

Overview

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on population-wide mental health and well-being. Although people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage may be especially vulnerable, they experience barriers in accessing mental health care. To overcome these barriers, the World Health Organization (WHO) designed two scalable psychosocial interventions, namely the web-based Doing What Matters in Times of Stress (DWM) and the face-to-face Problem Management Plus (PM+), to help people manage stressful situations. Our study aims to test the effectiveness of a stepped-care program using DWM and PM + among individuals experiencing unstable housing in France – a majority of whom are migrant or have sought asylum. Methods This is a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of a stepped-care program using DWM and PM + among persons with psychological distress and experiencing unstable housing, in comparison to enhanced care as usual (eCAU). Participants (N = 210) will be randomised to two parallel groups: eCAU or eCAU plus the stepped-care program. The main study outcomes are symptoms of depression and anxiety measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS). Discussion This randomised controlled trial will contribute to a better understanding of effective community-based scalable strategies that can help address the mental health needs of persons experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, whose needs are high yet who frequently have limited access to mental health care services. Trial registration this randomised trial has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under the number NCT05033210.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Ambulatory care / Anxiety / Biostatistics / Clinical outcomes / Cost analysis / Cost effectiveness / COVID-19 / Doing what matters in times of stress / Effectiveness / Environmental Health / Epidemics / Epidemiology / Evaluation / First aid / France / Health care / Health needs / Health problems / Health services / Homeless people / Homes and haunts / Housing / Housing conditions / Housing instability / Humanities and Social Sciences / Influence / Intervention / Management / Marginalized groups / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Mental depression / Mental disorders / Mental health / Mental health care / Mental health services / Mentally ill / Migrant / Migrants / Organizational effectiveness / Pandemics / Pilot projects / Political asylum / Psychiatric services / Psychological distress / Psychological stress / Psychosocial factors / Psychosocial intervention / Public Health / Questionnaires / Randomized controlled trial / Registration / Self help / Socioeconomics / Stress / Study Protocol / Trauma / Vaccine / Well being