DeCoDeR Debt Counselling for Depression Randomised Controlled Trial
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Debt Counselling For Depression in Primary Care: An Adaptive Randomised Controlled Trial
IRAS ID
149137
Contact name
Mark Gabbay
Contact email
Research summary
Our randomised controlled trial explores whether debt advice provided by Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) counsellors for patients with debt and depression, accessed through general practices, makes a difference to their recovery. An initial internal pilot trial with 120 patients will look at design factors and collect data for the overall trial using both quantitative & qualitative data collection methods. The trial will be based in three cities and a rural area, with 50% of participants drawn from the most deprived areas. Outcomes measured will be depression - measured by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) scores, cost effectiveness, wellbeing, anxiety and progress with managing debt. Participants will be recruited from GP practices. Patients who consider themselves to have depression and debt problems, who screen positive on the BDI-II (scoring greater than 13), will be randomised to the intervention (CAB advice) or control arm (treatment as usual plus study-specific debt advice leaflet). Patients randomised to CAB advice will also have a shared comprehensive assessment (covering their physical & psychological health & socio-economic factors) from the study GP & their CAB advisor. Participants will be assessed at the time of referral into the study, then 4 and 12 months later. Some participants (30-45 in both internal pilot and full trial groups) will also be invited for qualitative interviews to explore participants’ biographies of their experience of debt, its impact on their lives and the process, acceptability and accessibility of treatment. Interviews will also look at the intervention process and impact of the approach on professional practice. GPs and CAB staff will be interviewed after 6-12 months, to look at the intervention in more detail from the professionals’ perspectives. At the end of the internal pilot trial, recruitment methods, acceptability of the intervention, attendance rates at advice sessions and willingness of commissioners to continue the CAB service will be assessed.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/0230
Date of REC Opinion
1 May 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion