Evaluating an intervention for the elderly at increased risk of suicide

This article presents an evaluation of Link-Plus, a social work service provided over the telephone under the auspices of a suicide prevention hot line agency. The program targets the elderly at increased risk of suicide by virtue of depression, social isolation, and unmet needs. A two-group pretest-posttest design with randomization was used to test its effectiveness. After receiving standard crisis intervention, 31 participants provided a wait-list control group, whereas 30 participants received immediate treatment. At 4 months, the amount of social contact was improved, and there was a trend toward the reduction of depressive symptomatology. At an 8-month observation, the difference between the clients' pretest scores and posttest scores on unmet needs was marginally significant, with clients having fewer unmet needs after receiving services. This outreach strategy and telephone intervention is moderately effective in treating older adults with depressive symptomatology, social isolation, and unmet needs.