Lower suicide rates associated with a Tele-Help/Tele-Check service for the elderly at home
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to determine the impact on suicidal behavior of Tele-Help/Tele-Check, a telephone service designed to provide elderly people with home assistance. Tele-Help is an alarm system that the client can activate to call for help; in Tele-Check the client is contacted about twice a week for assessment of needs and for emotional support. METHOD: The authors determined the number of suicides among 12,135 elderly subjects who were connected to the Tele- Help/Tele-Check service in the Veneto region of Italy from Jan. 1, 1988, to Dec. 31, 1991, and compared it with the suicide rate for the general population in the Veneto region. RESULTS: Only one death by suicide was found in the elderly subjects connected to Tele-Help/Tele- Check, compared with the expected number of 7.44 for the general population (standardized mortality ratio = 13.44%). CONCLUSIONS: Since many of the traditional risk factors for suicide were concentrated in the elderly subjects studied, the Tele-Help/Tele-Check service appears to provide support of great interest for the prevention of suicide in the elderly.
Access content
To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access.- Personal login
- Institutional Login
- Sign in via OpenAthens
- Register for access
-
Please login/register if you wish to pair your device and check access availability.
Not a subscriber?
PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.
Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).