Improving Money Management Skills for Veterans With Psychiatric Disabilities

Summary

Veterans with psychiatric disabilities face unique challenges concerning money management. Financial strain, money mismanagement, and homelessness have been well documented among veterans with psychiatric disabilities and linked to poor outcomes. The investigators' long-term goal is to promote recovery among veterans with psychiatric disabilities by addressing an 'unmet need' of developing basic money skills necessary for independent functioning in living, working, and social environments. The investigators' objective in the current application is to rigorously evaluate a pilot-tested, stakeholder-informed intervention grounded in principles of psychiatric rehabilitation designed to help develop money management skills and informed financial judgment among veterans with psychiatric disabilities. $teps for Achieving Financial Empowerment ($AFE) is an individualized, psycho-educational intervention that aims to teach veterans with psychiatric disabilities how to save money, create a viable budget, avoid money scams and financial exploitation, and access vocational and mental health resources. To evaluate the $AFE, the investigators will randomly assign N=200 veterans with psychiatric disabilities to either (a) the $AFE intervention (n=100); or (b) a "usual care" control (n=100). The investigators will interview veterans with psychiatric disabilities at baseline and six months. The investigators' central hypothesis, based on strong preliminary data, is that by fostering financial skills and judgment, the $AFE will concurrently increase employment, boost work motivation, and reduce disablement. If these outcomes are met, the investigators hypothesize the intervention will also lead to reduced psychiatric symptoms and homelessness among veterans with psychiatric disabilities.

Conditions

• Psychiatric Problem

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

$AFE

$teps for Achieving Financial Empowerment ($AFE) is an individualized, psycho-educational intervention that aims to teach veterans with psychiatric disabilities how to save money, create a viable budget, avoid money scams and financial exploitation, and access vocational and mental health resources.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Duke University

  collaborator OTHER

• Durham VA Medical Center

  collaborator FED

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Eric Elbogen, Ph.D. · UNC-Chapel Hill

• Eric Elbogen, Ph.D. · UNC Chapel Hill

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-04-30

Primary Completion

2014-09-30

Completion

2014-09-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations