The Short-term Effects of PRISMA on Mental Health

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Psychological Distress, Anxiety, Depression, Suicidal Ideation

In brief

Given the high prevalence of mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, in pretrial detainees, the Swiss Federal Justice Department (SFJD) approved a model trial ("Modellversuch Untersuchungshaft", MV). The MV will be carried out in 11 pretrial detention facilities in the cantons of Zurich and Bern and aims to improve the wellbeing and social integration of individuals in pretrial detention. As part of the MV the investigators are evaluating the impact of two interventions using a randomized controlled trial (RCT). The first intervention, "Prison Stress Management" (PRISMA), addresses the issue of poor mental health of inmates during pretrial detention and after release. PRISMA is a scalable World Health Organization (WHO)-developed psychological intervention based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program and goes beyond the status-quo mental health support offered in jails. Currently, only inmates with severe mental health problems are referred to the psychiatric ward of the health services provided in jails and no continuation of support is offered after the transition to the outside world. The second intervention (SOCIAL) uses extended social services to address potential disruptions incarceration might cause in detainees' social and economic lives. The isolation from the outside world implies that detainees might lose their jobs and housing, their relationships with their family and friends are strained, all factor hindering re-integration into society and taxing their mental wellbeing. This project will provide much needed insights to criminal justice authorities to design detention facilities and the detention experience in ways that empower incarcerated individuals to cope with the disruptions and psychological stress that come along with their detention.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT06197711

Run by

University of Zurich

People needed

1480

Starts

2024-01-22

Expected to finish

2031-06-30

Last updated by the study team

2024-11-14

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• • Entering pretrial detention inmate in any of the 11 pretrial detention facilities in the Cantons of Zurich and Bern
• aged ≥ 18 years

You may not qualify if…

• Not fluently speaking any of the nine languages in which PRISMA is offered: German, Albanian, Arabic, English, French, Italian, Romanian, Serbian/ Croatian, Spanish
• Acute suicidality
• Not interested in PRISMA and its randomized evaluation

Where it is running

• University Hospital Zurich — Zurich, Canton of Zurich, Switzerland (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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