Ground-breaking trial prevents loneliness among older people during
Covid pandemic

Date:
October 12, 2021
Source:
University of York
Summary:
A simple form of talking therapy, delivered by trained support
workers over the telephone, reduced loneliness in older people
left isolated during the pandemic, the initial results of a new
study has revealed.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A simple form of talking therapy, delivered by trained support workers
over the telephone, reduced loneliness in older people left isolated
during the pandemic, the initial results of a new study has revealed.


========================================================================== People were contacted weekly and were encouraged to maintain their social contacts and to stick to a daily schedule, which included both routine
and enjoyable activities.

The intervention developed in the BASIL-C19 (Behavioural Activation
in Social Isolation) study lasted for eight weeks and was designed
in partnership with older people who had direct experience of social
isolation, loneliness and depression during the pandemic.

The pandemic, and the restrictions that were imposed, has highlighted
the importance of good mental health and social connection. Research
conducted before the pandemic struck identified 1.4million older adults
in England as experiencing significant loneliness with impacts on their
mental health.

Research since the pandemic shows that rates of loneliness and depression
have increased, particularly for those who were self-isolating.

A team of leading researchers and clinicians anticipated the impacts of
the pandemic on mental health and re-focussed their research expertise
to examine the psychological impact of enforced isolation, disruption
to daily routines, loss of social contact and loneliness.

The team included academics from the universities of York, including
Hull York Medical School, Leeds, Keele and Manchester, and Tees, Esk and
Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS Foundation Trust, in partnership with leading
charity, AgeUK.



==========================================================================
They designed a very brief telephone delivered intervention to combat depression and loneliness. Older people appreciated the offer of telephone contact and they found the intervention to be helpful in maintaining
daily routines and social contact.

The preliminary results have now been published in the leading journal
PLOS Medicine. The research team found that there was evidence of
improved mental health, and a strong indication that rates of loneliness
are reduced substantially in the first three months. Building on these
exciting early results, a much larger trial follow-on trial is currently recruiting at over 12 sites across England and Wales. The study will
include over 600 older people and is the largest study ever undertaken
to tackle loneliness and depression in this way.

The study was led from York by Professor Simon Gilbody, Director of the
Mental Health & Addictions Research Group (MHARG) at the University of
York and Hull York Medical School, and Professor David Ekers, Clinical
Director for research and development at TEWV NHS Foundation Trust and
Honorary Professor at the University of York.

Professor Gilbody said: "Our University-NHS partnership was ideally
placed to respond to societal challenges of COVID-19.

"Older people and those with long term conditions entered enforced
isolation, and this was very disruptive to people's lives.



==========================================================================
"We predicted increased rates of loneliness and depression for this
vulnerable population, and we knew what might work to prevent this. Care
in the NHS must be informed by the highest quality of evidence and we
did not waste any time in deciding to set up a clinical trial to test
this out.

"The research undertaken in the NHS is acknowledged to be world-leading
in terms of its scale, rigour and impact. The NHS has led the way in understanding how best to respond to the pandemic.

"The first results of the pilot trial are now available, and there is
now emerging evidence that it is possible to prevent loneliness and
potentially improve mental health." Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham, a
GP and leading researcher in the mental health of older people, based at
Keele University added: "COVID-19 has unfortunately impacted on the mental health of older people. We know that social isolation can cause people to suffer from loneliness, low mood and anxiety. In this study, we tested
how we can maintain older people's mental health during this difficult
time." Professor David Ekers added: "We have been researching in this
area for the past 10 years, and we are ideally placed to help establish
'what works' in maintaining good mental health during the lockdown.

"This represents a great alliance between the Universities and the NHS
to address the major challenges posed by COVID. Even as restrictions
are lifted, many people remain socially isolated. The results of
our research programme will be useful in the future in tackling the
epidemic of loneliness.'' The research, which is published just days
after World Mental Health Day, was funded by a -L-2.6M grant from the
National Institute for Health Research. The BASIL-C19 trial was the
first trial of its kind to test the effectiveness of a psychological intervention to maintain population mental health during the pandemic.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_York. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Simon Gilbody, Elizabeth Littlewood, Dean McMillan, Carolyn A. Chew-
Graham, Della Bailey, Samantha Gascoyne, Claire Sloan, Lauren Burke,
Peter Coventry, Suzanne Crosland, Caroline Fairhurst, Andrew Henry,
Catherine Hewitt, Kalpita Joshi, Eloise Ryde, Leanne Shearsmith,
Gemma Traviss-Turner, Rebecca Woodhouse, Andrew Clegg, Tom Gentry,
Andrew J.

Hill, Karina Lovell, Sarah Dexter Smith, Judith Webster, David
Ekers.

Behavioural activation to prevent depression and loneliness among
socially isolated older people with long-term conditions: The
BASIL COVID-19 pilot randomised controlled trial. PLOS Medicine,
2021; 18 (10): e1003779 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003779 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211012150031.htm

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