Telephone Calls for Health for Homebound Older Adults

Depression Clinical Trial

Official title: Telephone Calls for Health for Homebound Older Adults

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

A randomized controlled trial of the effect of 4 weeks of regular check-in calls, up to 5 per week based on participant's choice and 2 survey collection calls and possible referral of other services, versus no daily check-in calls, on self-reported loneliness measures for current Meals on Wheels participants (MOW).

Clinical Trial Description

The intervention arm will include 125 MOW clients to receive a call of between 5 - 10 minutes in length each by a consistent caller, five times a week, Monday through Friday for 4 consecutive weeks to check in on them. After the first week of calls, subjects in the intervention arm will be asked if the frequency of calls is acceptable or if they would like to reduce the call frequency, potentially to a minimum of twice per week.

Brief guidance and training will be provided for the daily conversation to maximize time spent speaking by the recipient but otherwise, the calls are unscripted other than specific prompts to ask about the recipient's general sense of well-being. "How are you doing today?"

The control Arm will include 125 MOW clients who will be randomized to a control group that will not receive the intervention calls. The control group will receive calls from a member of the research team at the beginning of the study to collect baseline survey data and at the post-4-week period to collect post-study survey data. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Depression
• Loneliness
• Social Isolation

• NCT number: NCT04595708
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of Texas at Austin
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: July 6, 2020
• Completion date: September 26, 2020