Telehealth Intervention Program for Older Adults

NCT04523610 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: TIP-OA
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 112
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

COVID-19 is having profound effects on older adults' due to social isolation measures which may negatively impact individuals' mental and physical health. Recently, a telephone program, the Telehealth Intervention Program for Older Adults (TIP-OA), was created. In this program, a volunteer is calling older adults (age≥60) every week to have a friendly conversation. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of this telephone program (TIP-OA) in reducing stress, improving the mental health of program users, and understand their experiences.

Conditions

Depression, Anxiety; Cognitive Impairment; Stress

Keywords

Mental Health; Teleheath; Volunteer; COVID-19; Older Adults

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)

  Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a 14-item scale used to measure the degree to which life events are experienced and appraised as stressful. It asks respondents about how often they have felt certain ways in the past month, with responses ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (very often).

  Change from Baseline to 4- and 8-weeks (15 minute assessment)

• Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)

  Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a 9-item self-report questionnaire used to diagnose depression and assess symptom severity. The questionnaire asks individuals how often in the last two weeks they have been bothered by problems like "feeling down, depressed, and hopeless" and "poor appetite or overeating." Scores for each question include 0 (not at all), 1 (several days), 2 (more than half of the days), and 3 (nearly every day).

  Change from Baseline to 4- and 8-weeks (15 minute assessment)

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)

  Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) is a 7-item scale that measures symptoms of anxiety present in the previous 2 weeks. Respondents can choose from a score of 0 (not at all sure), 1 (several days), 2 (over half the days), or 3 (nearly every day). Items include "Not being able to stop or control worrying" and "Being so restless that it's hard to sit still".

  Change from Baseline to 4- and 8-weeks (15 minute assessment)

• Fear of COVID-19 Scale

  Fear of COVID-19 Scale is an 18-item scale measuring individuals' anxiety, fear and concern surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Items include: "Fear that I will be infected" and "Worry if I will be assigned to COVID wards if hospitalized" (34).

  Change from Baseline to 4- and 8-weeks (15 minute assessment)

• Mental Healthcare Utilization

  Mental healthcare utilization will be assessed using medical records, including the number of ER visits, hospitalizations, and outpatient visits

  Assessed in the 8 weeks prior to baseline and during the 8-week follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Interviews and Focus Groups with Volunteers

  8-weeks (2 hours)

• Interviews and Focus Groups with Stakeholders

  8-weeks (2 hours)

• Interviews with Program Users

  8-weeks (2 hours)

Study Arms (4)

Program Users - Quantitative

EXPERIMENTAL

The Telehealth Intervention Program (TIP-OA) for older adults was created during the COVID-19 pandemic to support the health of older adults who are isolated or have mental health/cognitive issues. Within the TIP-OA program, trained volunteers provide friendly phone calls once a week to older adults (age 60+). 200 participants will be recruited for the quantitative component of the study.

Behavioral: Telehealth phone calls

Program Users - Qualitative

OTHER

Interviews will be conducted with 25 participants regarding their perceptions and experiences in the TIP-OA program.

Behavioral: Telehealth phone calls

Volunteers - Qualitative

OTHER

15 volunteers taking part in the semi-structured interviews and 16 volunteers participating in the focus groups. The interviews and focus groups will evaluate their roles, experiences, and challenges volunteering with the TIP-OA program.

Other: Volunteer of TIP-OA Program

Stakeholders - Qualitative

OTHER

18 stakeholders (clinicians, community partners, TIP-OA team members) will participate in focus groups and interviews. Specifically, 10 clinicians will participate in one focus group and 8 community partners/team members will participate in interviews. The interviews and focus groups will evaluate their roles, experiences, and challenges volunteering with the TIP-OA program.

Other: Stakeholder of TIP-OA Program

Interventions

Telehealth phone calls BEHAVIORAL

The volunteer-based weekly Telehealth support primarily provides program users with friendly listening/conversation. Volunteers will also inquire about their general wellbeing, provide information about COVID-19, and ask if the older adult needs any help or support (e.g. food delivery, medication from their pharmacy).

Program Users - Qualitative; Program Users - Quantitative

Volunteer of TIP-OA Program OTHER

Participant is a volunteer of the TIP-OA Program

Volunteers - Qualitative

Stakeholder of TIP-OA Program OTHER

Participant is a stakeholder of the TIP-OA Program

Stakeholders - Qualitative

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• TIP-OA Program User
• Aged ≥60 years
• Residing in Montreal
• Speak English or French
• Capable of giving consent (judged by a member of the research team to adequately understand information relevant in making a decision about research participation, and to reasonably appreciate foreseeable consequences of a decision or lack of decision)

You may not qualify if:

• Not capable of giving consent (vetted for this by the clinician team)
• TIP-OA program volunteer
• Able to speak English or French
• None
• TIP-OA program stakeholder (community partners, program organizers, and clinicians)
• Able to speak English or French
• None

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Lady Davis Institute: lead

Study Sites (1)

Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry

Montreal, Quebec, H3T 1E4, Canada

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Dikaios E, Sekhon H, Allard A, Vacaflor B, Goodman A, Dwyer E, Lavin-Gonzalez P, Mahdanian A, Park H, Walsh C, Sasi N, Nazar R, Gruber J, Su CL, Hanganu C, Royal I, Schiavetto A, Cinalioglu K, Rigas C, Launay C, Beauchet O, McDonald E, Seitz D, Kumar S, Nair V, Miresco M, Bruneau MA, Alexopoulos G, Looper K, Vahia I, Rej S, Bukhari SN. Connecting During COVID-19: A Protocol of a Volunteer-Based Telehealth Program for Supporting Older Adults' Health. Front Psychiatry. 2020 Dec 2;11:598356. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.598356. eCollection 2020.

  PMID: 33343425 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Depression; Anxiety Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction; Psychological Well-Being; COVID-19

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Mental Disorders; Cognition Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Personal Satisfaction; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Respiratory Tract Infections; Infections; Virus Diseases; Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases

Study Officials

• Soham Rej, MD/MSc

  Lady Davis Institute

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: This is a mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) model

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 16, 2020
• First Posted: August 21, 2020
• Study Start: October 2, 2020
• Primary Completion: October 1, 2021
• Study Completion: October 1, 2022
• Last Updated: May 25, 2025

Record last verified: 2020-09

Locations

CA (1)