Extract

Background and study aims Being the victim of common crime can affect people deeply, with many going on to develop mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. The social and physical problems associated with old age increase vulnerability, meaning that older victims are twice as likely to die or require residential care, than people of the same age who have not been a victim of crime. Since 85% of depressed older people do not receive any specific treatment, this lack of care is also likely to apply to older victims of crime. Metropolitan Police reports suggest that over 26,000 common crimes were committed against older people in seven London boroughs between 2009 and 2010. In a previous study (Helping Aged Victims of Crime (HAVoC) study), older victims of crime were surveyed and it was found that a high proportion were suffering from anxiety and/or depression, which continued long after the crime took place. This led to the development of a Victim Improvement Package (VIP) for treating this type of distress. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the VIP. This involves identifying older victims within a month of a crime who have significant psychological distress and direct them to sources of help, then to see if they have accessed any help and those who still have significant distress at 3 months after the crime are offered the opportunity to take part in a trial to see if we can prevent ongoing symptoms using a victim improvement package. Who can participate? Victims of reported common serious crime aged 65 years or more, living in selected London boroughs, with depression and/or anxiety. What does the study involve? Participants are randomly allocated to one of two groups. Those in the first group continue to receive treatment as usual for the duration of the study. Those in the second group receive treatment as usual, but also take part in the victim improvement package (VIP). The VIP package consists of up to 10 sessions of CBT which will involve talking about the crime that participant experienced, being asked to keep a mood diary to identify unhelpful thoughts and behaviour related to the crime and then tackling them so that they no longer cause distress. All participants complete a number of questionnaires three months after the crime (baseline) and then six and nine months after the crime to measure anxiety/depression levels. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? Not provided at time of registration. Where is the study run from? University College London (UK) When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? April 2014 to January 2020 Who is funding the study? National Institute for Health Research (UK) Who is the main contact? Dr Marc Sertaty

Inclusion criteria

• 1. Depression 2. Anxiety

Links

• ictrp
• isrctn