A simple phone call could improve mental health during COVID

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-02-24 03:00

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During lonely COVID times, a simple empathetic phone call could help reduce loneliness, depression and anxiety, according to international researchers. The sweet group of researchers trained 16 people in empathetic conversation techniques, and asked them to call Meals on Wheels recipients every day for four weeks, and then a minimum for two calls a week thereafter. They found these calls reduced loneliness, depression and anxiety compared with a control group who did not receive any calls, and also improved general mental health of participants within four weeks. Further research is needed to see if initiatives like this could be implemented on a larger scale as a simple approach to improve mental health, the researchers say.