Harnessing Peer Support in an Online Intervention for Older Adults with Depression

Kathryn N. Tomasino; Emily G. Lattie; Joyce Ho; Hannah L. Palac; Susan M. Kaiser; David C. Mohr

doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2017.04.015

Harnessing Peer Support in an Online Intervention for Older Adults with Depression

Kathryn N. Tomasino^*, Emily G. Lattie, Joyce Ho, Hannah L. Palac, Susan M. Kaiser, David C. Mohr

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of two methods of delivering a cognitive behaviorally informed Internet intervention for depression for adults 65 years and older. Methods Forty-seven participants were enrolled and assigned to receive one of two versions of the Internet intervention, either delivered individually (III) or with peer support (II+PS), or to a wait list control group (WLC). Primary outcomes included change in depressive symptoms from baseline to post-intervention (week 8), site use, self-reported usability, and coach time. Secondary outcomes included measures of social support and isolation and anxiety. Results Follow-up data were provided by 85.1% (40 of 47) of enrolled participants. There were significant differences in depression change across groups (F_(2,37) = 3.81, p = 0.03). Greater reductions in depressive symptoms were found for the III (p = 0.02) and II+PS (p = 0.03) compared with WLC, and significantly less coach time was required in the II+PS (p = 0.003). Conclusions These results highlight the potential of cognitive-behaviorally informed Internet interventions for older adults with depression, and indicate that peer-supported programs are both acceptable and equivalent to individually delivered Internet interventions. Including peer support may be a viable and potentially more cost-effective option for disseminating online treatments for depression for older adults.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1109-1119
Number of pages	11
Journal	American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Volume	25
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2017.04.015
State	Published - Oct 2017

Keywords

Depression
internet interventions
online
peer support
technology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geriatrics and Gerontology
Psychiatry and Mental health

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jagp.2017.04.015

Cite this

@article{898add49ac2f43be92f983d4530fee5f,

title = "Harnessing Peer Support in an Online Intervention for Older Adults with Depression",

abstract = "Objective This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of two methods of delivering a cognitive behaviorally informed Internet intervention for depression for adults 65 years and older. Methods Forty-seven participants were enrolled and assigned to receive one of two versions of the Internet intervention, either delivered individually (III) or with peer support (II+PS), or to a wait list control group (WLC). Primary outcomes included change in depressive symptoms from baseline to post-intervention (week 8), site use, self-reported usability, and coach time. Secondary outcomes included measures of social support and isolation and anxiety. Results Follow-up data were provided by 85.1% (40 of 47) of enrolled participants. There were significant differences in depression change across groups (F(2,37) = 3.81, p = 0.03). Greater reductions in depressive symptoms were found for the III (p = 0.02) and II+PS (p = 0.03) compared with WLC, and significantly less coach time was required in the II+PS (p = 0.003). Conclusions These results highlight the potential of cognitive-behaviorally informed Internet interventions for older adults with depression, and indicate that peer-supported programs are both acceptable and equivalent to individually delivered Internet interventions. Including peer support may be a viable and potentially more cost-effective option for disseminating online treatments for depression for older adults.",

keywords = "Depression, internet interventions, online, peer support, technology",

author = "Tomasino, {Kathryn N.} and Lattie, {Emily G.} and Joyce Ho and Palac, {Hannah L.} and Kaiser, {Susan M.} and Mohr, {David C.}",

note = "Funding Information: This project was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants P20 MH090318 and R01MH095753; PI: David C. Mohr.). Recruitment for the study included use of ResearchMatch, a national health volunteer registry that was created by several academic institutions and supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health as part of the Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, and the Aging Research Registry, a database of approximately older people in the Chicagoland area who have expressed a willingness to participate in research studies on the provision of care to aging patients and that was created and is supported by Northwestern University's Buehler Center on Aging, Health, and Society. REDCap electronic data tools hosted at Northwestern University were used in this trial. REDCap is supported at the Feinberg School of Medicine by the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Science (NUCATS) Institute. Research reported in this publication was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, grant UL1TR001422. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry",

year = "2017",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1016/j.jagp.2017.04.015",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "25",

pages = "1109--1119",

journal = "American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry",

issn = "1064-7481",

publisher = "Lippincott Williams and Wilkins",

number = "10",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Harnessing Peer Support in an Online Intervention for Older Adults with Depression

AU - Tomasino, Kathryn N.

AU - Lattie, Emily G.

AU - Ho, Joyce

AU - Palac, Hannah L.

AU - Kaiser, Susan M.

AU - Mohr, David C.

N1 - Funding Information: This project was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants P20 MH090318 and R01MH095753; PI: David C. Mohr.). Recruitment for the study included use of ResearchMatch, a national health volunteer registry that was created by several academic institutions and supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health as part of the Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, and the Aging Research Registry, a database of approximately older people in the Chicagoland area who have expressed a willingness to participate in research studies on the provision of care to aging patients and that was created and is supported by Northwestern University's Buehler Center on Aging, Health, and Society. REDCap electronic data tools hosted at Northwestern University were used in this trial. REDCap is supported at the Feinberg School of Medicine by the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Science (NUCATS) Institute. Research reported in this publication was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, grant UL1TR001422. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry

PY - 2017/10

Y1 - 2017/10

N2 - Objective This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of two methods of delivering a cognitive behaviorally informed Internet intervention for depression for adults 65 years and older. Methods Forty-seven participants were enrolled and assigned to receive one of two versions of the Internet intervention, either delivered individually (III) or with peer support (II+PS), or to a wait list control group (WLC). Primary outcomes included change in depressive symptoms from baseline to post-intervention (week 8), site use, self-reported usability, and coach time. Secondary outcomes included measures of social support and isolation and anxiety. Results Follow-up data were provided by 85.1% (40 of 47) of enrolled participants. There were significant differences in depression change across groups (F(2,37) = 3.81, p = 0.03). Greater reductions in depressive symptoms were found for the III (p = 0.02) and II+PS (p = 0.03) compared with WLC, and significantly less coach time was required in the II+PS (p = 0.003). Conclusions These results highlight the potential of cognitive-behaviorally informed Internet interventions for older adults with depression, and indicate that peer-supported programs are both acceptable and equivalent to individually delivered Internet interventions. Including peer support may be a viable and potentially more cost-effective option for disseminating online treatments for depression for older adults.

AB - Objective This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of two methods of delivering a cognitive behaviorally informed Internet intervention for depression for adults 65 years and older. Methods Forty-seven participants were enrolled and assigned to receive one of two versions of the Internet intervention, either delivered individually (III) or with peer support (II+PS), or to a wait list control group (WLC). Primary outcomes included change in depressive symptoms from baseline to post-intervention (week 8), site use, self-reported usability, and coach time. Secondary outcomes included measures of social support and isolation and anxiety. Results Follow-up data were provided by 85.1% (40 of 47) of enrolled participants. There were significant differences in depression change across groups (F(2,37) = 3.81, p = 0.03). Greater reductions in depressive symptoms were found for the III (p = 0.02) and II+PS (p = 0.03) compared with WLC, and significantly less coach time was required in the II+PS (p = 0.003). Conclusions These results highlight the potential of cognitive-behaviorally informed Internet interventions for older adults with depression, and indicate that peer-supported programs are both acceptable and equivalent to individually delivered Internet interventions. Including peer support may be a viable and potentially more cost-effective option for disseminating online treatments for depression for older adults.

KW - Depression

KW - internet interventions

KW - online

KW - peer support

KW - technology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85019724381&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85019724381&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jagp.2017.04.015

DO - 10.1016/j.jagp.2017.04.015

M3 - Article

C2 - 28571785

AN - SCOPUS:85019724381

VL - 25

SP - 1109

EP - 1119

JO - American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

JF - American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

SN - 1064-7481

IS - 10

ER -

Harnessing Peer Support in an Online Intervention for Older Adults with Depression

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this