The Senior Connection: Design and rationale of a randomized trial of peer companionship to reduce suicide risk in later life

Abstract

There is a pressing public health need to find interventions that reduce suicide risk in later life. Psychiatric and physical illness, functional decline, and social factors place seniors at risk for suicide. Reflecting this body of evidence, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified the promotion and strengthening of social connectedness, between and within the individual, family, community, and broader societal levels, as a key strategy for suicide prevention. The Senior Connection, a randomized trial of peer companionship for older adults, is described here, with an emphasis on the most novel features of the study design—grounding in a psychological theory of suicide and intervening at an early stage in the suicide risk trajectory by linking primary care patients with the Aging Services Provider Network.

Suicidal behaviour and suicide prevention in later life

“…Further work is also required to examine if enhancement of social connections is beneficial. Currently the Senior Connection, a randomised trial of volunteer peer companionship for older people involving community-based social services agencies and primary care practises, is underway in the United States [59]. Effective suicide prevention in a population, however, is likely to require a multi-layered multi-faceted approach.…”

Suicide in the oldest old: an observational study and cluster analysis

“…A telephone and emergency support intervention for older adults in Northern Italy reduced social isolation and were associated with fewer suicide deaths than predicted in the intervention group (De Leo et al ., ). Similar interventions such as the recently proposed Senior Connection for peer companionship (Van Orden et al ., ) may benefit socially isolated older individuals regardless of a history of psychiatric or medical comorbidity.…”

Pet ownership may attenuate loneliness among older adult primary care patients who live alone

“…Data were collected as part of screening for potential inclusion in an ongoing clinical trial of suicide prevention in older adults (Van Orden et al, 2013). During designated data collection days from March 2011 to August 2012, research staff members approached all patients 60 years or older in the waiting rooms of three primary care offices in the Rochester, NY area.…”