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

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

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.598356

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2020.598356

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Introduction:</bold> 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).</p><p><bold>Methods and analysis:</bold> To evaluate TIP-OA, we are conducting a mixed-methods longitudinal observational study.</p><p><bold>Participants:</bold> TIP-OA clients are older adults (age ≥ 60) recruited in Montreal, Quebec.</p><p><bold>Intervention:</bold> 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.</p><p><bold>Measurements:</bold> 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.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> 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.</p><p><bold>Discussion:</bold> 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.</p><p><bold>Clinical Trial Registration</bold>: <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://ClinicalTrials.gov" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ClinicalTrials.gov</ext-link> NCT04523610; <ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04523610?term=NCT04523610&amp;draw=2&amp;rank=1" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04523610?term=NCT04523610&amp;draw=2&amp;rank=1</ext-link></p>