Video calls for reducing social isolation and loneliness in older people (search done in April 2020)
Citation: Noone C, McSharry J, Smalle M, et al. Video calls for reducing social isolation and loneliness in older people: a rapid review. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020;(5):CD013632. Podcast available in EN.
Language: Abstract available in EN / ES / FA / FR / PT / TH / ZH. Plain language summary available in DR / EN / ES / FA / FR / HR / JA / MS / PL / PT / RU / TH / ZH. Full text available in EN. Podcast available in EN / ES / HR / ZH.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: Nothing noted.
What is this? The response to emergencies, such as pandemics, can involve restrictions on people’s movement creating a number of mental health issues caused by the resulting social isolation.
In this Cochrane review, the authors searched for randomized and quasi-randomized studies of the effects of video calls on the mental health and loneliness of older people. They restricted their searches to articles published in English after 1 January 2004 and did the search in April 2020. They included 3 cluster quasi-randomized trials, all done by the same research team in nursing homes in Taiwan.
What works: Nothing noted.
What doesn’t work: Nothing noted.
What is uncertain: Based on the evidence available at the time of this review, the effects of video calls on the mental health or loneliness of older people are uncertain.
Implications: The authors of the review concluded that further research into the effectiveness of video calls for loneliness and isolation in older adults was required. They stated that future studies should target older adults across a range of settings who are demonstrably lonely or socially isolated.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of age.
This summary was prepared by Catherine Haynes, checked by Yasmeen Saeed and Cristián Mansilla, and finalized by Mike Clarke.