The assist program

Background: Older adults (OA) disproportionately account for over 80 percent of mortality from the pandemic Public Health safety recommendations for this vulnerable group includes social distancing and staying home, resulting in isolation and loneliness UC Irvine Division of Geriatrics and School of Nursing developed the Assisting and Supporting Socially Isolated Seniors via Telephone or ASSIST Program to provide emotional support, community resources, and COVID-19 information by pairing OA with trained medical and nursing students for regular telephone check-ins during the pandemic Methods: OA participants were recruited through health and community agencies including Meals on Wheels and low-income residential communities Medical and nursing students were trained by UCI faculty/staff on COVID-19 guidelines, program procedures, and support services Students called their paired OA and submitted Call Logs summarizing each conversation for faculty/staff review Call Logs were analyzed to identify recurring themes Staff conducted an OA participant satisfaction survey by phone Students participated in an anonymous web-survey to identify learning experience and program satisfaction Results: For 8 months during the pandemic, 43 OA participated in the program (living status-51% alone, 16% with others, 16% with family;70% female;63% aged 65-84) 45 students were paired to provide calls for about 30-minute weekly, averaging 9 calls per participant An analysis of the combined 332 Call Logs identified frequent OA concerns: 'worries regarding health', 'family support and caregiving,' 'feelings of isolation,' 'COVID-19 education,' and 'needing community resources ' Satisfaction with the program was high with 95 2% of OA stating that ASSIST had been helpful;90 5% said that their student communicated effectively and provided helpful resources;and 95 2% said their student helped them feel less isolated during the pandemic Mean student learning satisfaction was 4 3 of 5 (SD=0 43) with 94 7% reporting improved communication skills Conclusion: The results from the project demonstrated satisfaction with the ASSIST program in vulnerable OA living in the community during the pandemic and positive geriatric education outcomes for healthcare students