Empathetic Phone Calls Shown to Reduce Loneliness in Older Adults

When COVID-19 closed the world, many people felt the impact of isolation, particularly homebound older adults. Feelings of isolation and loneliness have been found to lead not only to depression and anxiety but to negative health outcomes, including stroke and heart disease.

A recent study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, reveals that empathy-focused telephone calls helped older adults overcome loneliness during the pandemic lockdown. Entitled "Effects of Layperson-Delivered Empathy-Focused Program of Telephone Calls on Loneliness, Depression, and Anxiety Among Adults During the COVID-1`9 Pandemic, the study was a randomized clinical trial involving 240 homebound adults with an average age of 69 who were Meals on Wheels Central Texas clients. Some were assigned to receive calls (intervention group) while the control group did not receive calls.

Sixteen callers between the ages of 17 and 23 were briefly trained on empathetic conversational techniques. Each caller was given six to nine participants to call over the course of four weeks. They called daily for the first five days, after which the recipients were given the option of reducing the number of calls to a minimum of two per week. The results showed that within four weeks, loneliness, depression, and anxiety were reduced in the intervention group as compared to the control group.  

The study was led by Maninder K. Kahlon, PhD, associate professor in population health and vice dean of the health ecosystem at Dell Medical School at University of Texas-Austin. Kahlon said that before the pandemic, she and her team were ready to launch a clinical trial to study the impact of medically tailored meals and social connection on an older population. Once quarantine forced isolation, they changed their approach while using their initial ideas on empathetic connection.

Research determined that the crucial element in the calls was to listen as much as possible. The callers were instructed to stay focused on the purpose of the call, which was to learn about the other person and to prioritize whatever it was that person wanted to talk about. By asking simple, direct questions, they listened for clues in order to direct the conversation. For example, if the recipient of the call spoke about a neighbor, the caller was instructed to ask questions about the neighbor. The trial not only provided valuable information but helped the older adults cope with a difficult time using the power of human connection.