Psychosocial Effects of Remote Reading with Telephone Support versus In-Person Health Education for Diverse, Older Adults

Abstract

This study evaluated initial information about psychosocial differences of 130 diverse, older adults ( M age: 70.8 ± 9.2 years) who received a “low-tech” remote (independent reading with telephone support) or in-person education through DREAMS ( Developing a Research Participation Enhancement and Advocacy Training Program for Diverse Seniors ) health seminar series. Outcomes on measures of depression, quality of life, and spatial extent of lifestyle of 115 completers were analyzed at baseline, immediately post-intervention, and 8-week follow-up. Adjusted at baseline, psychosocial outcomes were compared between groups at post-test and 8-week follow-up using adjusted mean differences. Post-participation, compared to remote participants, in-person participants had significantly lower depression on Beck Depression Inventory-II, Geriatric Depression Scale, and significantly higher mental quality of life on Short Form-12. This study links knowledge acquisition via in-person learning with decreased stress, depression, and increased quality of life among seniors. Identifying effective educational delivery methods may increase clinical research involvement for aging communities.

Interpretive Qualitative Evaluation Informs Research Participation and Advocacy Training Program for Seniors: A Pilot Study

“…The DREAMS project is an educational intervention developed to increase participation opportunities in all phases of the research process for older adults. DREAMS was inspired by the previous work of the authors, who had coordinated interactive lectures given by university faculty for older adults over several years [28,[30][31][32][33][34][35]. Adults aged 55 years and older from across Metro Atlanta were recruited via several methods.…”

Shared Components of Worldwide Successful Sexuality Education Interventions for Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials

“…This study included interventions that targeted strictly sex behavior (and not those that addressed exclusively related topics as partner violence or sexual abuse). Only in-person SEI interventions were included in this review because of the differences in emphasis and methodologies between in-person and remote health education interventions (e.g., physical activity attention to educational material; group interaction versus one-to-one accountability) [84][85][86]. For this review, we established two categories to define the type of intervention: (a) level of intervention (individual or group), and (b) sex of the participants (single-sex or mixed-sex groups).…”