MIRECC / CoE
SPiRE Awards Fund Two New Studies by CoE Researchers
VA Office of Rehabilitation Research and Development SPiRE Awards Fund Two New Studies by CoE Researchers
Last month, the VA’s Office of Rehabilitation Research & Development (RR&D) awarded Small Projects in Rehabilitation Research (SPiRE) grants to two CoE researchers: Nicholas Allan, Ph.D. and Lisham Ashrafioun, Ph.D. SPiRE awards support small-in-scope investigator-initiated research conducted by VA investigators.
Allan’s new project is titled Brief Enhanced Anxiety Sensitivity Treatment: A Pilot Trial. The goal of the study, Allan says, is to examine the acceptability, feasibility, and usability of a brief intervention targeting anxiety sensitivity.
“Unaddressed, a mental health crisis may follow the COVID-19 pandemic,” explains Allan, Principal Investigator on the project. “Veterans with a pre-existing anxiety disorder are especially at risk. There is an urgent need to develop a brief treatment for Veterans with anxiety.”
Anxiety sensitivity, or fear of anxiety sensations, is an especially potent transdiagnostic risk factor for anxiety and related disorders. Allan’s study builds on existing robust evidence that anxiety sensitivity can be reduced through CBT treatments.
Brief Enhanced Anxiety Sensitivity Treatment (BEAST) is being developed to leverage the existing VA commitment to telehealth and mobile applications to improve clinical care. This study will test the acceptability, feasibility, and usability of BEAST through an iterative process involving meetings with stakeholders and a one-arm trial of BEAST.
“Fear of anxiety and associated symptoms is an important risk factor for many conditions experienced by Veterans,” says Allan. “I hope to provide evidence that a brief treatment my team has developed to treat anxiety sensitivity can be delivered to impacted Veterans, setting the stage for a fully powered randomized control trial.”
Learn more about Allen and his work →
Ashrafioun’s project is titled “Telehealth CBT to address social isolation in Veterans with chronic pain.” The initial pilot study will provide Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Loneliness to a small group of Veterans with chronic pain. Based on their feedback, the investigators will incorporate changes to the treatment and conduct a larger randomized clinical trial of Veterans with chronic pain. The Veterans in the clinical trial will receive either CBT for Chronic Pain or CBT for Loneliness.
“We will track things like our ability to recruit participants, to keep people in the study through the follow-up assessments, and how therapists deliver aspects of the treatment,” explains Ashrafioun, who will serve as Principal Investigator on the project.
Researchers will also measure changes in symptoms and participants’ experiences of chronic pain. This information will be used to inform another grant to fully test how well the intervention works.
“By the end of the study, we hope to have a finalized CBT for Loneliness manual that can help address unique needs of Veterans with chronic pain,” says Ashrafioun.
Another goal, Ashrafioun says, is to take initial steps to see if CBT for Loneliness is better at addressing loneliness and comparable in addressing the impact of chronic pain relative to CBT for Chronic Pain.
Learn more about Ashrafioun and his work →
