Putting Life in Years (PLINY): Telephone Friendship Groups Research Study

Summary

The National Institute for Health Research commissioned this research with the following research question: "What is the relative effectiveness and cost effectiveness of home based support programmes in improving the mental wellbeing of older people living in their own homes?"

The project will evaluate whether telephone friendship groups, delivered by the voluntary sector over the telephone, can improve the mental wellbeing of older people aged 75 or over.

The research will also:

1. Identify the psychosocial and environmental factors, as well as implementation issues that may mediate or modify the effectiveness of the intervention using qualitative methods. This will include examining: 1.1. Assess voluntary sector readiness to take forward new forms of services; 1.2. The best modes of delivery of telephone support/friendship; 1.3. Assess how volunteers (facilitators) can be supported and retained; and, 1.4. The extent to which fidelity of the intervention is maintained within and across the participating organisations.
2. Determine if there is any lasting impact upon mental wellbeing by repeat measurement with all participants 12 months following baseline measurement
3. Examine whether there is any significant improvement on the physical dimension of the SF-36 at 6 months and 12 months, following baseline measure, for the intervention arm compared with usual care.
4. Measure the extent of use of health and social care, and community facilities by participants over time to determine whether the intervention is cost effective compared with usual care.

Conditions

• Self Efficacy
• Loneliness

Interventions

OTHER

Telephone Friendship groups

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Southampton

  collaborator OTHER

• Northumbria University

  collaborator OTHER

• Bangor University

  collaborator OTHER

• Age UK

  collaborator OTHER

• Community Network

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Sheffield

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Gail A Mountain · University of Sheffield

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2012-06-30

Primary Completion

2013-04-30

Completion

2013-04-30

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations