Online Single-Session Intervention to Foster Connection in Older Adults: Pilot Trial

Stephen Cheong Yu Chan; Qi Lu HUANG; Alex Pak Lik Tsang; Wing Shan Ho; Rachel Chan; Crystal Yeung; Serena Wong; Mavis Tsai

doi:10.1177/10497315251404932

Online Single-Session Intervention to Foster Connection in Older Adults: Pilot Trial

Stephen Cheong Yu Chan^*, Qi Lu HUANG, Alex Pak Lik Tsang, Wing Shan Ho, Rachel Chan, Crystal Yeung, Serena Wong, Mavis Tsai

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

5 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Purpose: Social disconnection in later life significantly impacts emotional and psychological well-being, yet scalable, evidence-based interventions remain limited. This pilot randomised controlled trial evaluated the preliminary efficacy of a single-session online Awareness, Courage, and Love (ACL) intervention in enhancing interpersonal closeness and well-being among older adults. Method: Sixty-four community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥60) were randomly assigned to the ACL intervention group (n = 32) or a waitlist control (n = 32). Primary and secondary outcomes, including interpersonal closeness and mental health outcomes, were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up. Results: Interpersonal closeness significantly increased from baseline to post-intervention in both groups, with a non-significant trend favouring the ACL group. The ACL group displayed significant improvements in depressive symptoms from baseline to post-intervention, and from post-intervention to one-month follow-up. Conclusion: This pilot trial shows preliminary efficacy of a single-session ACL intervention, motivating multi-session testing to assess durability. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov—NCT06524206(date of registration: July 29, 2024) © The Author(s) 2025

Original language	English
Number of pages	12
Journal	Research on Social Work Practice
Online published	11 Dec 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/10497315251404932
Publication status	Online published - 11 Dec 2025

Funding

This work was supported by the internal fund at Saint Francis University with a grant number IDG230103.

Research Keywords

awareness
older adults
social connectedness
loneliness
online group intervention
randomized controlled trial
courage, and love model

Publisher's Copyright Statement

COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED POSTPRINT FILE: The article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. Users may also download and save a local copy of an article accessed in an institutional repository for the user's personal reference. For permission to reuse an article, please follow our Process for Requesting Permission. Chan, S. C. Y., HUANG, Q. L., Tsang, A. P. L., Ho, W. S., Chan, R., Yeung, C., Wong, S., & Tsai, M., Online Single-Session Intervention to Foster Connection in Older Adults: Pilot Trial, Research on Social Work Practice. Advance online publication. Copyright © The Author(s) 2025. DOI: 10.1177/10497315251404932

Access Output

10.1177/10497315251404932

301911690.pdfPost-print, 552 KB

Other Access Options

Check CityUHK Library

Permanent Link

Right click to copy link

Cite this

@article{2e25ded0dba14ff68524882d2f55c10e,

title = "Online Single-Session Intervention to Foster Connection in Older Adults: Pilot Trial",

abstract = "Purpose: Social disconnection in later life significantly impacts emotional and psychological well-being, yet scalable, evidence-based interventions remain limited. This pilot randomised controlled trial evaluated the preliminary efficacy of a single-session online Awareness, Courage, and Love (ACL) intervention in enhancing interpersonal closeness and well-being among older adults. Method: Sixty-four community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥60) were randomly assigned to the ACL intervention group (n = 32) or a waitlist control (n = 32). Primary and secondary outcomes, including interpersonal closeness and mental health outcomes, were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up. Results: Interpersonal closeness significantly increased from baseline to post-intervention in both groups, with a non-significant trend favouring the ACL group. The ACL group displayed significant improvements in depressive symptoms from baseline to post-intervention, and from post-intervention to one-month follow-up. Conclusion: This pilot trial shows preliminary efficacy of a single-session ACL intervention, motivating multi-session testing to assess durability. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov—NCT06524206(date of registration: July 29, 2024) {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025",

keywords = "awareness, older adults, social connectedness, loneliness, online group intervention, randomized controlled trial, courage, and love model",

author = "Chan, {Stephen Cheong Yu} and HUANG, {Qi Lu} and Tsang, {Alex Pak Lik} and Ho, {Wing Shan} and Rachel Chan and Crystal Yeung and Serena Wong and Mavis Tsai",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

day = "11",

doi = "10.1177/10497315251404932",

language = "English",

journal = "Research on Social Work Practice",

issn = "1049-7315",

publisher = "Sage Publications",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Online Single-Session Intervention to Foster Connection in Older Adults

T2 - Pilot Trial

AU - Chan, Stephen Cheong Yu

AU - HUANG, Qi Lu

AU - Tsang, Alex Pak Lik

AU - Ho, Wing Shan

AU - Chan, Rachel

AU - Yeung, Crystal

AU - Wong, Serena

AU - Tsai, Mavis

PY - 2025/12/11

Y1 - 2025/12/11

N2 - Purpose: Social disconnection in later life significantly impacts emotional and psychological well-being, yet scalable, evidence-based interventions remain limited. This pilot randomised controlled trial evaluated the preliminary efficacy of a single-session online Awareness, Courage, and Love (ACL) intervention in enhancing interpersonal closeness and well-being among older adults. Method: Sixty-four community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥60) were randomly assigned to the ACL intervention group (n = 32) or a waitlist control (n = 32). Primary and secondary outcomes, including interpersonal closeness and mental health outcomes, were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up. Results: Interpersonal closeness significantly increased from baseline to post-intervention in both groups, with a non-significant trend favouring the ACL group. The ACL group displayed significant improvements in depressive symptoms from baseline to post-intervention, and from post-intervention to one-month follow-up. Conclusion: This pilot trial shows preliminary efficacy of a single-session ACL intervention, motivating multi-session testing to assess durability. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov—NCT06524206(date of registration: July 29, 2024) © The Author(s) 2025

AB - Purpose: Social disconnection in later life significantly impacts emotional and psychological well-being, yet scalable, evidence-based interventions remain limited. This pilot randomised controlled trial evaluated the preliminary efficacy of a single-session online Awareness, Courage, and Love (ACL) intervention in enhancing interpersonal closeness and well-being among older adults. Method: Sixty-four community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥60) were randomly assigned to the ACL intervention group (n = 32) or a waitlist control (n = 32). Primary and secondary outcomes, including interpersonal closeness and mental health outcomes, were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up. Results: Interpersonal closeness significantly increased from baseline to post-intervention in both groups, with a non-significant trend favouring the ACL group. The ACL group displayed significant improvements in depressive symptoms from baseline to post-intervention, and from post-intervention to one-month follow-up. Conclusion: This pilot trial shows preliminary efficacy of a single-session ACL intervention, motivating multi-session testing to assess durability. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov—NCT06524206(date of registration: July 29, 2024) © The Author(s) 2025

KW - awareness

KW - older adults

KW - social connectedness

KW - loneliness

KW - online group intervention

KW - randomized controlled trial

KW - courage, and love model

U2 - 10.1177/10497315251404932

DO - 10.1177/10497315251404932

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 1049-7315

JO - Research on Social Work Practice

JF - Research on Social Work Practice

ER -

Online Single-Session Intervention to Foster Connection in Older Adults: Pilot Trial

Abstract

Funding

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Fingerprint

Cite this