Amid a pandemic characterized by social isolation, Americans are lonelier than ever. And this loneliness epidemic is hitting one group especially hard — seniors.
In an effort to combat this intractable issue, SCAN Health Plan, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit Medicare Advantage plans, has launched a togetherness program that is based on senior-to-senior interactions.
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The program involves a multipronged approach to reduce loneliness among older adults, said Lisbeth Briones-Roberts, chief togetherness officer at SCAN Health, in a phone interview.
The first component, called “friendly phoner,” involves trained SCAN employees making calls to health plan members who self-identify as lonely in the yearly assessment conducted by the payer. The employees — who are in the same age group as the 65 and older plan members — are trained on motivational interviewing techniques, Briones-Roberts said. They are also selected based on life experiences that they may have in common with the members they are calling.
The second component is called “tech buddy,” and this includes a video component. SCAN employees engage in video calls with members who have the technology capabilities needed, she said. If the members are having issues with their technology, SCAN employees refer them to the payer’s technical support line.
The final component includes launching virtual and in-person classes based on the shared interests of members.
“We’re really hoping to reach as many people as possible,” Briones-Roberts said.
Social isolation is not a new issue for the senior population, though there is no doubt that the pandemic worsened it. And research shows that loneliness is not just a mental health issue, it is a physical health issue as well.
“It increases your risk for early death if you are lonely and socially isolated,” Briones-Roberts said. “And then if you are lonely, socially isolated and frail — that is the worst combination to have.”
The payer will measure the success of the togetherness program by assessing reductions in loneliness using the UCLA Three-Item Loneliness Scale. Though it will not initially measure hospitalization or care utilization, these factors will be added in the long term to see if there is any correlation with loneliness.
With the launch of its togetherness program, SCAN Health joins a host of companies working to address senior isolation. These include care.coach, which offers a round-the-clock virtual companion for seniors, and Papa, which connects seniors with companions.
But SCAN drew inspiration for its program from one launched by integrated healthcare delivery company CareMore Health in 2017. Sachin H. Jain, SCAN Health’s CEO previously led CareMore, which helped SCAN gain valuable insights before launching their own program.
One of the key insights Jain shared was the importance of having a clinical social worker on board to help address members’ unmet social needs that the health plan could not, Briones-Roberts said. So, SCAN made sure a social worker was a part of the program from the get-go.
But SCAN’s program differs from CareMore’s in one important way, she said. The program emphasizes peer communication, so all SCAN employees conducting outreach are in the same age group as the members.
“We’re definitely modeling [the program on] CareMore, but we’re adding something that’s powerful, that wasn’t there before with CareMore,” Briones-Roberts said. “That senior-to-senior element.”
That element can not only help reduce the adverse health effects of loneliness but also the stigma surrounding it.
“We want to normalize the fact that there are so many people…that are hiding that they are lonely,” she added.
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