Connecting During COVID-19: A Protocol of a Volunteer-Based Telehealth Program for Supporting Older Adults' Health

Elena Dikaios; Harmehr Sekhon; Alexandre Allard; Blanca Vacaflor; Allana Goodman; Emmett Dwyer; Paola Lavin-Gonzalez; Artin Mahdanian; Haley Park; Chesley Walsh; Neeti Sasi; Rim Nazar; Johanna Gruber; Chien-Lin Su; Cezara Hanganu; Isabelle Royal; Alessandra Schiavetto; Karin Cinalioglu; Christina Rigas; Cyrille Launay; Olivier Beauchet; Emily McDonald; Dallas Seitz; Sanjeev Kumar; Vasavan Nair; Marc Miresco; Marie-Andrée Bruneau; George Alexopoulos; Karl Looper; Ipsit Vahia; Soham Rej; Syeda Nayab Bukhari

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.598356

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.

Authors

Elena Dikaios¹, Harmehr Sekhon^{1

2}, Alexandre Allard³, Blanca Vacaflor³, Allana Goodman⁴, Emmett Dwyer^{4

5}, Paola Lavin-Gonzalez^{1

3

6}, Artin Mahdanian³, Haley Park^{1

3}, Chesley Walsh⁴, Neeti Sasi¹, Rim Nazar¹, Johanna Gruber⁶, Chien-Lin Su⁷, Cezara Hanganu⁴, Isabelle Royal⁴, Alessandra Schiavetto⁴, Karin Cinalioglu¹, Christina Rigas¹, Cyrille Launay⁸, Olivier Beauchet⁸, Emily McDonald^{9

10}, Dallas Seitz¹¹, Sanjeev Kumar^{12

13}, Vasavan Nair⁶, Marc Miresco⁴, Marie-Andrée Bruneau^{14

15}, George Alexopoulos¹⁶, Karl Looper^{3

4}, Ipsit Vahia¹⁷, Soham Rej^{1

3}, Syeda Nayab Bukhari^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ McGill Meditation and Mind-Body Medicine Research Clinic and GeriPARTy Research Group, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada.
² Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
³ Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁴ Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁵ School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁶ Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁷ Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁸ Division of Geriatric Medicine, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada.
⁹ McGill University Health Center Research Institute (RI-MUHC), Montreal, QC, Canada.
¹⁰ Division of General Internal Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
¹² Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹³ Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁴ Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
¹⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
¹⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, United States.
¹⁷ Department of Psychiatry and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.

Abstract

Introduction: Social-distancing due to COVID-19 has led to social isolation, stress, and mental health issues in older adults, while overwhelming healthcare systems worldwide. Telehealth involving phone calls by trained volunteers is understudied and may be a low-cost, scalable, and valuable preventive tool for mental health. In this context, from patient participatory volunteer initiatives, we have adapted and developed an innovative volunteer-based telehealth intervention program for older adults (TIP-OA). Methods and analysis: To evaluate TIP-OA, we are conducting a mixed-methods longitudinal observational study. Participants: TIP-OA clients are older adults (age ≥ 60) recruited in Montreal, Quebec. Intervention: TIP-OA volunteers make weekly friendly phone calls to seniors to check in, form connections, provide information about COVID-19, and connect clients to community resources as needed. Measurements: Perceived stress, fear surrounding COVID-19, depression, and anxiety will be assessed at baseline, and at 4- and 8-weeks. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups will be conducted to assess the experiences of clients, volunteers, and stakeholders. Results: As of October 15th, 2020, 150 volunteers have been trained to provide TIP-OA to 305 older clients. We will consecutively select 200 clients receiving TIP-OA for quantitative data collection, plus 16 volunteers and 8 clinicians for focus groups, and 15 volunteers, 10 stakeholders, and 25 clients for semi-structured interviews. Discussion: During COVID-19, healthcare professionals' decreased availability and increased needs related to geriatric mental health are expected. If successful and scalable, volunteer-based TIP-OA may help prevent and improve mental health concerns, improve community participation, and decrease healthcare utilization. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04523610; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04523610?term=NCT04523610&draw=2&rank=1.

Keywords: COVID-19; anxiety; depression; geriatrics; older adults; telehealth.

Copyright © 2020 Dikaios, Sekhon, Allard, Vacaflor, Goodman, Dwyer, Lavin-Gonzalez, Mahdanian, Park, Walsh, Sasi, Nazar, Gruber, Su, Hanganu, Royal, Schiavetto, Cinalioglu, Rigas, Launay, Beauchet, McDonald, Seitz, Kumar, Nair, Miresco, Bruneau, Alexopoulos, Looper, Vahia, Rej and Bukhari.

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04523610