Supportive telephone outreach as an interventional strategy for elderly patients in a period of crisis

During the Gulf War in 1991 a telephone-based support system was establishe d for elderly patients living at home in Israel. The study population invol ved 93 elderly patients (mean age 74), who had recently been discharged fro m hospital and were chosen for supervision by the Home-Care Unit of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel. Two different teams were involved wi th the telephone support calls: secretarial staff (nonprofessional team) an d social workers (professional team). The research examined the characteris tics of the study population and also included a comparison between the two groups of patients receiving the psyche-social support. The latter indicat ed that better results of outcome indices were achieved by the professional team. Further, this study demonstrated the feasibility of telephone-suppor t outreach as an interventional strategy for psyche-social support for elde rly patients at a time of crisis.