Effect of a social intervention of choice vs. control on depressive symptoms, melancholy, feeling of loneliness, and perceived togetherness in older Finnish people: a randomized controlled trial.
This study examined effects of a social intervention on depressive symptoms, melancholy, loneliness, and perceived togetherness in community-dwelling Finnish older people.
Promotion of mental well-being in older people (GoodMood; ISRCTN78426775) was a single-blinded randomized control trial lasting 1.5 years. Two hundred and twenty-three persons aged 75-79 years reporting symptoms of loneliness or melancholy were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention group was allowed to choose among supervised exercise, social activity, or personal counseling. Follow-up measurements were conducted at the end of 6-month intervention, and at 3, 6, and 12 months post intervention.
Number of depressive symptoms remained unchanged, while loneliness and melancholy decreased in both the intervention and control groups during the study (p