366 Patient Preferences for Social Interventions to Reduce Social Isolation in Older Adults Discharged from the Emergency Department

Older adults who use the emergency department (ED) have a higher risk of social isolation and loneliness (SIL) making the ED a novel setting to initiate screening and interventions for SIL. Patient preferences for different social interventions have not been studied. 1) To assess patient preferences for ED based SIL interventions; 2) To report a novel method using waitlist controls to assess feasibility of subsequent trials in a program of research. We included the waitlist control group of an ongoing RCT who were ≥70 years old discharged from the Mount Sinai ED in Toronto. We excluded those with cognitive impairment, no telephone, living at a nursing home, or unable to communicate in English. Following the 12-week waiting period, participants chose either an arts-based intervention (MAMC) or a volunteer support program (HOW R U?). The HOW R U? group was also offered: 1) video vs telephone, and 2) similar-aged peer support vs younger intergenerational volunteers. Patient preferences were reported as proportions with 95% confidence intervals. Of 53 control participants, 3 withdrew, 8 were lost to follow-up and 5 were yet to be reached. Of the remaining 37 participants, 25 were offered both MAMC and HOW R U? – 7 chose MAMC (28%), 12 (48%) chose HOW R U? and 6 (24%) chose none. The remaining 12 participants were only offered HOW R U? due to limited space in the MAMC program. Thus, there were a total of 24 participants in the HOW R U? intervention. 15/24 (95% CI: 40.6-81.2%) chose the telephone version, 7/24 (95% CI: 12.6-51.1%) chose the video version, and 2/24 (95% CI: 1.0%-27.0%) had no preference. Intergenerational volunteers were preferred by 7/24 (95% CI: 12.6-51.1%) participants, 9/24 (95% CI: 18.8-59.4%) preferred peers and 8/24 (95% CI: 15.6-55.3%) had no preference. More than half of participants preferred the HOW R U? support program. There was no strong preference for peer versus intergenerational volunteers. There was a preference for the telephone format. Further research should investigate whether preference-matching can optimize outcomes for complex behavioral interventions targeting SIL.