BehavioraL ActIvation for the PreVention of Post-strokE Depression in LoW-incomE OLder Stroke Survivors (LIVE-WEL)
- Research team: Principal investigator: Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston Associate Professor Jennifer E.S. Beauchamp, PhD, RN, FAAN. Co-investigators from McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston are Professor Sean I. Savitz, Director of the Stroke Institute; Professor Anjail Z. Sharrief, MD, PhD, Director of Stroke Prevention for the Stroke Institute; Professor Ron Acierno, PhD, Executive Director of the UTHealth Houston Trauma and Resilience Center; and Assistant Professor Robert Suchting, PhD. Also serving as co-investigators are Professor Belinda Reininger, DrPH, Regional Dean of the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health in Brownsville; and Professor Namkee G. Choi, PhD, of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin.
- Overview: Low-income and older age are strongly associated with post-stroke depression (PSD). New and chronic disability, comorbid conditions, polypharmacy, and additional age-related life stressors render first-line pharmacological treatment for PSD prevention more difficult in older stroke survivors. Through the LIVE-WEL study, community health workers who are trained as lay counselors will deliver a behavioral activation intervention via remote, video-enabled sessions with survivors within three months of their first stroke. About 300 low-income patients aged 55 and older will be recruited from among UT Physicians patients to participate in the randomized controlled trial, with half receiving behavioral activation and the other half receiving usual care.
- Budget: $6,483,583
- Project period: June 4, 2025-April 30, 2030
Let’s Talk About Stroke
- Research team: Primary investigator Jennifer Beauchamp, PhD, RN, in collaboration with Universidad Dr. José Matías Delgado. Research coordinator: Ruth Yanes-Bengoa, IMG
- Overview: This grant will support the development and evaluation of an online global health course in Spanish aimed at health care providers and students in El Salvador.
- Funding sponsor: Office of Global Health Initiatives
- Project period: 1, 2024 – Aug. 31, 2025
- Budget: $10,000
