TY - JOUR
T1 - Feasibility, Acceptance, and Initial Evaluation of a Telephone-Based Program Designed to Increase Socialization in Older Veterans
AU - Juang, Christine
AU - Huh, J. W.Terri
AU - Iyer, Sowmya
AU - Beaudreau, Sherry A.
AU - Gould, Christine E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Rural Health Grant (C00949) to J. W. Terri Huh (FY2014-FY2015). Dr. Gould is supported by a Career Development Award (IK2 RX001478) from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Service. Views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Federal Government.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Loneliness is a public health issue, particularly for older Veterans. To increase older Veterans’ access for socialization opportunities, a community-based telephone-delivered activity program was developed, in which Veterans can call in and engage in social activities through telephone. This paper illustrates the feasibility, acceptance, and preliminary outcomes of this program using a mixed-methods design. Thirty-two Veterans enrolled in the program, with 14 attendees who called in to the program at least once. Attendees were more likely to be depressed than those who did not call in at baseline. Program was acceptable with high client satisfaction. Perceived benefits included a structured program with interesting topics to spend time on and the opportunity to socialize, exchange ideas, and connect with other Veterans. Individual challenges (e.g., hearing difficulty) and program-level challenges (e.g., complicated procedures) were reported during qualitative interviews. Among attendees, a significant decrease in loneliness from baseline to 3-months was found but should be interpreted with caution based on the small sample size. While positive findings emerged regarding feasibility, acceptance, preliminary benefits of this program, further refinement is needed to improve future program implementation.
AB - Loneliness is a public health issue, particularly for older Veterans. To increase older Veterans’ access for socialization opportunities, a community-based telephone-delivered activity program was developed, in which Veterans can call in and engage in social activities through telephone. This paper illustrates the feasibility, acceptance, and preliminary outcomes of this program using a mixed-methods design. Thirty-two Veterans enrolled in the program, with 14 attendees who called in to the program at least once. Attendees were more likely to be depressed than those who did not call in at baseline. Program was acceptable with high client satisfaction. Perceived benefits included a structured program with interesting topics to spend time on and the opportunity to socialize, exchange ideas, and connect with other Veterans. Individual challenges (e.g., hearing difficulty) and program-level challenges (e.g., complicated procedures) were reported during qualitative interviews. Among attendees, a significant decrease in loneliness from baseline to 3-months was found but should be interpreted with caution based on the small sample size. While positive findings emerged regarding feasibility, acceptance, preliminary benefits of this program, further refinement is needed to improve future program implementation.
KW - intervention
KW - loneliness
KW - older adults
KW - program evaluation
KW - socialization
KW - telephone-based
KW - veterans
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088943598&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0891988720944242
DO - 10.1177/0891988720944242
M3 - Article
C2 - 32744165
AN - SCOPUS:85088943598
SN - 0891-9887
VL - 34
SP - 594
EP - 605
JO - Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
JF - Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology
IS - 6
ER -