West Memphis

Researchers are evaluating whether providing healthy food during pregnancy can reduce the number of women who experience excessive weight gain compared to enhanced standard care. This large, multi-site randomized controlled trial plans to enroll 1,440 pregnant women aged 16 to 44 years to study this question. The study focuses on prevention of excessive gestational weight gain and related pregnancy complications such as gestational hypertension and diabetes. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. The Enhanced Standard of Care ESoC group receives nutritional and gestational weight gain counseling, assistance enrolling in WIC and SNAP programs, and referrals to food assistance organizations. The Delivering HOPE group receives the same services plus funds during pregnancy to purchase healthy foods, with amounts ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 based on household size. Women will be involved throughout their pregnancy, with data collected from birth records to measure weight before pregnancy and at delivery. The main outcome is the proportion of women with excessive gestational weight gain over approximately 40 weeks. This study includes participants who speak English, Spanish, or Marshallese and have valid email addresses. The research is led by the University of Arkansas and is expected to be completed by the end of 2029.

Researchers are evaluating the impact of trauma-focused group therapy CPT-CJ adapted for prisons on reducing post-incarceration drug and alcohol use, mental health issues, and drug-related crime among incarcerated adults. This clinical trial also examines the effectiveness of a self-help workbook for trauma recovery, compares implementation strategies, and assesses costs to support future therapy expansion in prisons. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the CPT-CJ group therapy or the trauma-focused self-help workbook. The CPT-CJ group therapy involves up to 12 sessions held one to two times per week, each lasting 90 minutes, with groups of no more than 10 participants. The self-help group will independently complete trauma recovery exercises using a workbook. Therapy will be delivered during incarceration, with treatment periods lasting between six weeks and three months. Participants will complete surveys before treatment, after treatment, before release, and at three and six months post-release. They will also provide urine samples three and six months after release. Researchers will measure drug use frequency, posttraumatic stress symptoms, treatment adherence, and drug-related crime. Prison staff and officials involved in implementing the therapy will also participate in surveys. The study aims to enroll 640 participants across approximately 10 prisons in five states.