Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among Veterans. Clinical trials are essential for developing better treatments, but Veterans remain underrepresented in these studies due to barriers including limited health literacy, lack of awareness, and mistrust. Current outreach approaches rely on either in-person physician conversations, which are limited by workforce constraints, or mailed letter invitations, which often fail to engage Veterans with limited health literacy. This study tests whether AI-generated video avatars can improve Veteran engagement in cardiovascular clinical trials.
Inclusion Criteria (Aim 2):
Exclusion Criteria (Aim 2):
Inclusion Criteria (Aim 1 Qualitative Interviews):
Exclusion Criteria (Aim 1 Qualitative Interviews):
Inclusion Criteria (Aim 1 Beta-Testing and Aim 3):
Exclusion Criteria (Aim 1 Beta-Testing and Aim 3):
- Inability to communicate in English at a level sufficient for survey completion
Inclusion Criteria (Focus Groups):
nvesom@pavir.org(650) 493-5000
Participants in the control arm receive a standard mailed letter and are not aware of the avatar video intervention being received by the intervention arm. Study coordinators and investigators are aware of group assignment for operational purposes. Full blinding is not possible given the nature of the communication intervention.
Veterans randomized to the control arm receive the standard mailed letter invitation to the parent VA Cooperative Studies cardiovascular trial, which represents current standard of care for large-scale VA cardiovascular trial outreach.
Veterans randomized to the intervention arm receive the standard mailed letter invitation enhanced with a QR code and URL linking to a website hosting AI-generated avatar videos. Veterans may select their preferred Veteran avatar speaker from a diverse set of options and self-select content topics of interest. QR codes are deployed for both the screening and treatment components of the parent cardiovascular trial.
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