Friendly phone calls may ease loneliness and suicide risk in seniors

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria for older adult participants: 1. Provision of verbal informed consent, 2. Classify as an Older Adult (55+), 3. Stated willingness and ability to comply with all study procedures, 4. Receive nutrition services through the Aging Services Network (i.e. either HDM (home delivered meals services) or CM (congregate meals)), and 5. Be affiliated with one of the 25 senior centers we will contract with through a Memorandum of Understanding. Inclusion Criteria for trained providers: 1. Provision of written informed consent, 2. State willingness to comply with all study procedures, 3. Be a staff or volunteer within the ASN (Aging Services Network), specifically within the 25 senior centers we are working with, 4. Meet criteria identified by Wymann and colleagues (2009) for being a "natural helpers" (i.e. be warm, empathic, and having ongoing interaction with participants through one's job role), and 5. Be recommended by the senior center leadership as meeting these qualifications. Exclusion Criteria for older adult participants: 1. Had a dementia diagnosis, or another form of cognitive impairment, and/or hearing impairment that would preclude phone conversation, and 2. Participation in another warm calling behavioral treatment or intervention study simultaneously occurring in this state. The reasons given to exclude participants with dementia/cognitive impairment diagnoses from large-scale clinical research are partially related to the concern of a potential risk of abuse and exploitation. Further, those with cognitive impairment are not able to give informed consent, and there are measurement challenges with behavioral health data. Exclusion Criteria for trained helpers: 1. Does not have ongoing interactions with potential old adult participants (i.e. is a part of an optimized nutrition service provider in which they do not serve the same older adults consistently over time), and 2. Participation in another warm calling behavioral treatment or intervention study simultaneously occurring in this state.