Can randomized controlled trials be conducted in community social service settings?

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2015.01.019

Public Health

Volume 129, Issue 5, May 2015, Pages 601-603

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2015.01.019 Get rights and content

Highlights

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Results of five community-academic randomized trials have been shared.
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Challenges included the need for controls, briefness of sessions, and participant recruitment.
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The partnership built community capacity and generalized new evidence.

Section snippets

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge their community and government collaborators (in alphabetical order), Caritas – Hong Kong; Hong Kong Christian Service; Hong Kong Family Welfare Society; Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui; and Maternal and Child Health Centers, Department of Health, as well as the participants who contributed to the development of their programs.

Ethical approval

None sought.

Funding

The study was a part of the project ‘FAMILY: a Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society,’ funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club

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References (7)

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B.A. Israel et al.
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There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (3)

The More the Better, Only in the Longer Term: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate a Compound Intervention Among Mainland Chinese Immigrants in Hong Kong
2022, Behavior Therapy
Citation Excerpt :
The exclusion criteria were new immigrants with (a) currently ongoing psychiatric consultation, suicidal ideation, emotional problems (e.g., depressive or anxiety disorder diagnosed by a psychiatrist or psychologist), or mental retardation, or (b) a child with developmental problems (e.g., autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or mental retardation diagnosed by a psychiatrist or psychologist). As a subproject under the Hong Kong Jockey Club FAMILY Project (Fabrizio et al., 2012; Lam et al., 2015; Leung et al., 2017), this project was conducted by academics in collaboration with the International Social Service Hong Kong Branch from April 2012 to July 2013. This study obtained ethical review approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Hong Kong/Hospital Authority Hong Kong West Cluster (UW 11-284).
Barriers to adaptation faced by mainland Chinese immigrants to Hong Kong can be reduced by improving two targets of adaptation: information about negotiating their new environment and psychological well-being. We developed and evaluated a Compound intervention to address these two domains simultaneously and compared its effects to two separate interventions exclusively targeting either information about Hong Kong or psychological well-being. This cluster randomized controlled trial assigned 251 immigrants to an information provision arm (IP, n = 84) targeting knowledge and adaptation difficulties, a psychological well-being enhancement arm (WBE, n = 80) targeting resilience and mental health, or a Compound arm (i.e., IP + WBE, n = 87). The Compound arm showed stronger effects from baseline to postintervention on knowledge than the WBE arm. From postintervention to 6-month follow-up, the Compound arm showed better sustained effects on knowledge and adaptation difficulties than the IP arm and on resilience and mental health than the WBE arm. Additionally, participants in the Compound arm with more baseline depressive symptoms showed greater improvements in adaptation difficulties and general mental health than those with fewer symptoms. The study demonstrated the longer-term effectiveness of the Compound intervention and its greater benefits for immigrants with more depressive symptoms.
Enhancing resilience in cross-boundary families: A parent–child parallel group intervention
2021, Journal of Social Work
A cluster randomized controlled trial of more appreciation and less criticism in hong kong parents
2020, Journal of Family Psychology

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Short CommunicationCan randomized controlled trials be conducted in community social service settings?

Highlights

Section snippets

Acknowledgments

Ethical approval

Funding

First page preview

Am J Prev Med

Developing community-based preventive interventions in Hong Kong: a description of the first phase of the family project

BMC Public Health

Review of community-based research: assessing partnership approaches to improve public health

Annu Rev Public Health

Short Communication
Can randomized controlled trials be conducted in community social service settings?