Evaluating the Ability of a Senior Companion Program to Improve Senior Health

This proposal is for a planning grant for a randomized controlled trial that evaluates the effect on health of senior companion services. This study will be a collaboration between researchers at the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame and a partnering social service agency. The project development team will vet providers interested in conducting a rigorous evaluation and form a research
partnership with the organization best fit for such an evaluation. The search for potential organizations will be conducted by LEO with the assistance of our partner organizations. LEO coordinates with local social service agencies to conduct random assignment experiments of their innovative programs designed to assist those in poverty. LEO has partnered with three national networks (Catholic Charities USA, Lutheran Services of America and Goodwill Industries) and we plan to work with these organization to help vet potential partners. Organizations will be considered fit to participate in research if they meet the following three criteria. First, the partner must currently operate a large and active SCP geared toward low-SES individuals. Second, the organization’s SCP must exhibit an excess demand for services. This can be gauged by the length of the program’s current waitlist.
Finally, the organization must be willing to use a lottery to allocate SCP services in place of a waitlist. In our experience, partnering with an organization that meets these three criteria will ensure a successful rigorous study. During this planning stage, our research team will also design and program two surveys that will be used during the full evaluation. The first is the intake survey that will be used during the enrollment process and the
second is the follow-up survey that will accompany the evaluation.
The ultimate objective of this project is to provide precise estimates of the impact of SCP programs on seniors’ health status and independent living. For the purposes of this study, independent living and health status will be measured using both self-reported surveys and administrative data on emergency department and in-patient admissions. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) that will provide senior companions to a sample of around 200 predominantly low-SES homebound seniors. An additional 200 seniors will comprise the control group. This study pool will be recruited from the partnering organization’s current waitlist. Following informed consent protocols appropriate to the study, clients choosing to participate will enter a lottery to determine their placement in the treatment versus control group. which will determine if they will receive a study senior companion. Ideally,
the partnering organization would currently operate a lengthy wait list (e.g., a two-year wait to enter the program); this way, clients selected to the control group can expect a waiting period as long as clients who choose not to participate in the study. LEO has extensive experience working with social service providers. They have 30 active/completed projects in 25 different locations across the country. Their service partners have included social service organizations, county and city governments, and juvenile justice centers.