‘My life is not over’: an evaluation of a standardized and manualized eight week warm calling phone intervention for community dwelling older adults

Older adults receiving home and community based services have been found more vulnerable to mental health distress and suicidal ideation due to loneliness and social isolation. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an eight-week standardized, manualized warm calling phone intervention intended to combat loneliness and social isolation by fostering reciprocally caring relationships. Natural helpers from the Aging Services Network, home-delivered meals (HDM) volunteers who had ongoing interactions with individuals at risk for suicide, were trained to provide supportive phone outreach. Using descriptive statistics and consensual qualitative research (CQR) methodology, results from 78 older adult experiences were explored based on data collected at one-month follow-up to assess what they may have liked, what could be improved, and any takeaways from the program. Five domains and nineteen categories emerged revealing older adults had lasting positive impacts from program participation. Particularly trained helper qualities contributed to these improvements; further, older adults reported key takeaways from the program, increased help-seeking behavior, as well as potential program improvements. Implications for practice and future research are provided.