Talk2gether Program for Social Connection in Older Adults

August 19, 2026 updated by: Jason Burnett, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Talk2gether Program

The purpose of this study is to see if it is feasible to recruit and retain older adults in a, weekly phone call program delivered through the Harris County Precinct 2 Healthcare and Social Services Team and to see how participation in the program affect older adults' loneliness, social isolation, psychological well-being, and satisfaction, and what barriers or challenges arise during implementation

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • able to provide informed consent
  • able to speaks English or Spanish
  • able to hear sufficiently using the telephone

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Need for another person to consent on the participant's behalf
  • suspected or confirmed decision-making capacity impairments
  • uncontrolled psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, paranoia, delusion, or delirium

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Talk2gether program
Behavioral: Talk2gether program
Participants will be paired with a trained team member. The team member will then initiate contact with the older adult(s) to begin 90 days of weekly social calls. These weekly social calls will be mostly unstructured, but supported by resource and conversation guides. At the end of 90 days, if the older adult wishes to continue to receive calls, that request will be accommodated

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Program Feasibility as assessed by number of participants recruited
Time Frame: end of intervention (90 days after baseline)
end of intervention (90 days after baseline)
Program Feasibility as assessed by number of participants that adhered to the weekly calls
Time Frame: end of intervention (90 days after baseline)
end of intervention (90 days after baseline)
Feasibility as assessed by number of participants that completed the program
Time Frame: end of intervention (90 days after baseline)
end of intervention (90 days after baseline)
Feasibility as assessed by number of participants that encountered barriers or challenges as assessed by the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8)
Time Frame: end of intervention (90 days after baseline)
This is an 8 item questionnaire and Items 2, 4, 5, and 8 are reverse scored. Total scores range from 8 to 32, with the higher number indicating greater satisfaction
end of intervention (90 days after baseline)
Feasibility as assessed by number of participants that encountered barriers or challenges as reported on the Caller and Older Adult feedback form
Time Frame: end of intervention (90 days after baseline)
end of intervention (90 days after baseline)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in social connectedness as assessed by the Lubben Social Network Scale-6
Time Frame: baseline, post-intervention (Day 90)
This is a 6-item self-report measure assessing perceived social support and social network size from family and friends. Each item is scored from 0 to 5, and total scores range from 0 to 30. Higher scores indicate greater social connectedness and lower risk of social isolation
baseline, post-intervention (Day 90)
Change in loneliness as assessed by the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Social Isolation scale
Time Frame: Baseline, end of intervention (90 days)
This is an 8 item scale. Each item is rated on a 5-point scale from 1(never) to 5 ( always). Raw scores range from 8 to 40 and are converted to PROMIS T-scores, with a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10 in the reference population. Higher scores indicate greater perceived social isolation/loneliness.
Baseline, end of intervention (90 days)
Change in depressive symptoms as assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire-2
Time Frame: Baseline, end of intervention (90 days)
This is a 2-item self-report measure . Each item is scored from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). Total scores range from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating greater depressive symptom burden.
Baseline, end of intervention (90 days)
Change in signs of elder mistreatment as assessed by the Elder Mistreatment Screening and Response Tool (EM-SART).
Time Frame: Baseline, end of intervention (90 days)
This is a 3 item questionnaire and each will be scored as either 1(yes) or 0(no) for a maximum score of 3. Higher scores or more endorsed concerns indicate a greater number of signs suggestive of elder mistreatment
Baseline, end of intervention (90 days)
Change in sense of purpose using the 7-item Ryff Purpose in Life Scale.
Time Frame: Baseline, end of intervention (90 days)
This is a 7 item questionnaire and each item is rated on a Likert-type scale, commonly from 1(strongly disagree) to 6( strongly agree). Negatively worded items are reverse scored, and item scores are summed to generate a total score. Total scores range from 7 to 42, with higher scores indicating a greater sense of purpose in life.
Baseline, end of intervention (90 days)
Client satisfaction as assessed by the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire
Time Frame: end of intervention (90 days)
This is an 8 item questionnaire. Scores are summed across items once. Items 2, 4, 5, and 8 are reverse scored. Total scores range from 8 to 32, with the higher number indicating greater satisfaction
end of intervention (90 days)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jason Burnett, PhD, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

August 3, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 3, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 3, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 19, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 19, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 24, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 19, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HSC-MS-26-0434

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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