BackgroundA pressing challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond is to provide accessible and scalable mental health support to isolated older adults in the community. The Telehealth Intervention Program for Older Adults (TIP-OA) is a large-scale, volunteer-based, friendly telephone support program designed to address this unmet need.MethodsA prospective cohort study of 112 TIP-OA participants aged ≥60 years old was conducted in Quebec, Canada (October 2020–June 2021). The intervention consisted of weekly friendly phone calls from trained volunteers. The primary outcome measures included changes in scores of stress, depression, anxiety, and fear surrounding COVID-19, assessed at baseline, 4 and 8-weeks. Additional subgroup analyses were performed with participants with higher baseline scores.ResultsThe subgroup of participants with higher baseline depression scores (PHQ9 ≥10) had significant improvements in depression scores over the 8-week period measured [mean change score = −2.27 (±4.76), 95%CI (−3.719, −0.827), p = 0.003]. Similarly, participants with higher baseline anxiety scores (GAD7 ≥10) had an improvement over the same period, which, approached significance (p = 0.06). Moreover, despite peaks in the pandemic and related stressors, our study found no significant (p ≥ 0.09) increase in stress, depression, anxiety or fear of COVID-19 scores.DiscussionThis scalable, volunteer-based, friendly telephone intervention program was associated with decreased scores of depression and anxiety in older adults who reported higher scores at baseline (PHQ 9 ≥10 and GAD7 ≥10).

BackgroundLate-life depression (LLD) affects up to 18% of older adults and has been linked to elevated dementia risk. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) holds promise for treating symptoms of depression and ameliorating cognitive deficits in older adults. While preliminary findings are promising, a definitive RCT investigating its effects on late life depression and cognition have not yet been conducted. We present a protocol describing a multi-site blinded randomized controlled trial, comparing the effects of MBCT and of an active control, a Health Enhancement Program (HEP), on depressive symptoms, executive functioning, and brain biomarkers of LLD, among several other exploratory outcomes.MethodsTwo-hundred and thirteen (n = 213) patients with LLD will be recruited at various centers in Montreal, QC, Canada. Participants will undergo stratified randomization to either MBCT or HEP intervention groups. We will assess changes in (1) depression severity using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D17), (2) processing speed and executive functioning, (3) brain biomarkers of LLD (hippocampal volume, default network resting-state functional connectivity and executive network resting-state functional connectivity), and (4) other exploratory physiological and mood-based measures, at baseline (0 weeks), post intervention (8 weeks), and 26 weeks after baseline.DiscussionThe proposed study will assess the clinical potential of MBCT to improve symptoms of depression, as well as examine its impact on cognitive impairments and neurobiological markers, and thus inform its use as a promising adjunct in the treatment of LLD.Clinical trial registrationwww.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT05366088.