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Phone support group helps older people
with HIV/AIDS develop coping skills, new study finds ,
ATHENS, Ohio – More than 90,000 people in the United
States are over the age of 50 at the time they are diagnosed
with AIDS and at least 25 percent of them suffer from depression.
But a new Ohio University study suggests that a telephone
support group can lessen stress and improve the coping skills
of older adults living with the disease.
In the pilot study, which will be presented this Saturday
at the National Association of HIV Over Fifty Conference in
Scottsdale, Az., 23 older adults who had been diagnosed with
depression participated in a 12-week telephone support group.
The participants, who were recruited through AIDS service
organizations in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Arizona,
discussed life stressors and issues related to aging with
HIV/AIDS. Licensed social workers offered advice about coping
mechanisms and ways to seek support for health problems.
Those involved in the 12-session program reported
greater reductions in stress and suicidal thoughts and an
increase in coping skills, compared to a control group of
21 people who did not participate in the support group, said
Timothy Heckman, an Ohio University health psychologist and
lead author of the study.
The telephone intervention program appealed
to participants who were too geographically remote from or
physically unable to drive to standard support groups or counseling
services, as well as those who were concerned about confidentiality
issues. The telephone is one way to circumvent some or all
of those barriers, Heckman said. "Many of our participants
noted that they don't have to dress up, drive in and try to
present a good image when everything is not well," he
said. "The telephone is financially and psychologically
easier."
The study is funded by a two-year, $435,000
grant from the National Institute on Aging to evaluate the
ability of the telephone-delivered mental health intervention
to improve the quality of life of older persons living with
HIV/AIDS who have been diagnosed with depression.
In a previous study supported by the National
Institute of Mental Health, Heckman found that the phone support
group was successful in reducing depression and increasing
social support for rural Americans living with HIV/AIDS who
don't have access to the range of mental health services available
in urban areas.
Older adults with HIV/AIDS face a unique situation:
They not only must cope with the disease, but grapple with
the mental, physical and social changes that come with aging,
such as retirement and the loss of family and friends, Heckman
noted. "A lot is happening all at once, and it's very
difficult to cope with," he said.
The telephone support group allowed older adults
with HIV/AIDS to connect with people with similar experiences,
said Lori Brown, a licensed social worker who moderated several
of the phone sessions from the project's home base in Athens,
Ohio. Some older women, for example, discussed issues such
as menopause, lack of a romantic partner and relationships
with children with other women. In another support group,
three participants who successfully underwent psychiatric
treatment encouraged a fourth caller to seek professional
counseling. And those who have lived with HIV/AIDS for many
years offer hope to adults recently diagnosed with the disease,
Brown noted. "They often don't have people in their own
communities who have these same problems," she said.
"They find comfort in having someone to talk to."
Participants in the phone intervention also
sought to establish relationships outside of the group –
exchanging cards, letters and e-mails and meeting in person,
Heckman and Brown said. "I was surprised how well they
responded, never having met face to face," Brown said.
"I think it was because of the safety of the telephone."
Heckman and his colleagues plan to continue the project using
a larger, more geographically diverse sample of older adults
with HIV/AIDS.
Collaborators on the study are Monica Silverthorn,
the project coordinator and a licensed social worker, and
Ohio University students Andrea Waltje, Melissa Meyers, David
Cosio and Dana Mitchell.
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