Current Studies
Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure Therapy for Geriatric Hoarding
UC San Diego Health
Abstract
Hoarding disorder (HD) is a chronic, progressive, and debilitating psychiatric condition that leads to devastating personal and community consequences, particularly for older adults. HD is defined by persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions due to distress associated with discarding, urges to save, and/or difficulty making decisions about what to keep and what to discard. As a result, clutter accumulates and fills active living areas, preventing the normal use of space and resulting in distress and disability. Community epidemiological reports estimate the prevalence of clinically significant hoarding symptoms at 7% in individuals over age 60 and even higher rates in those over age 70. HD is the only neuropsychiatric condition that progresses in severity and population prevalence with age apart from dementia. The specific aims include confirmatory efficacy of CREST, mechanisms of CREST effects, and moderators of CREST. If successful, this project would lead to an effectiveness trial in a real world setting.
Interested in this study for yourself or a client?
If you or your client is NOT a Veteran but lives in San Diego County, please call the community number at 619-543-6904 and leave their name, phone number, age, part of town they live in, and request to be put on the non-veteran interest list. We do have a waitlist, but we are going to work diligently to ensure community members get the support they need as quickly as possible. This research study will consist of two conditions: manualized cognitive rehabilitation/exposure therapy to sorting and discarding items vs. case management. This will likely involve a combination of in-home visits and telehealth visits and the treatment will be 26 sessions (1x/week for 1 hour).
Contact this team at:
619-543-6904
Functional and Cognitive Rehabilitation of Hoarding Disorder (Veterans Only)
VA San Diego Healthcare System
Abstract
Hoarding Disorder (HD) is serious and disabling in Veterans. Present in up to 7% of Veterans and even higher symptom rates in older Veterans; HD contributes to functional impairment and poor quality of life. Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure/Sorting Therapy (CREST) has shown promising functional improvement and symptom reduction. To reduce burdens and barriers to implementation of CREST, the proposed project will individualize CREST based on cognitive testing and participant preferences, provide all care in the participant’s home through telemedicine and home visits, and shorten the timeframe of treatment. A randomized controlled trial comparing 24 sessions of Personalized-CREST to case management for 130 adult Veterans with HD is proposed. Multifaceted functional and recovery outcomes including quality of life, HD severity, and sustained recovery outcomes will be examined throughout treatment and follow-up. By advancing our knowledge of the rehabilitative care of HD, we can interrupt the trajectory of this chronic and debilitating condition.
Interested in this study for yourself or a client?
If you or your client is a Veteran in California, they can participate in our current research study at the VA. If interested, they can call the main number 858-552-8585 ext. 1251 and say they are a Veteran and leave their name and number. This research study consists of two conditions- personalized cognitive rehabilitation/exposure therapy to sorting and discarding items vs. case management. This will involve a combination of in-home visits and telehealth visits and the treatment will be 3-6 months (24 sessions, 2x/week for 1 hour for CREST condition, and 12 sessions, 1x a week for 1 hour for case management condition).
Contact this team at:
858-552-8585 ext. 1251