Year: 1995 Source: American Journal of Psychiatry, v.152, no.4, (April 1995), p.632-634 SIEC No: 19950162

Tele-Help is an alarm system that the client activates to call for help; in Tele-Check the client is contacted about twice a week for assessment of needs & emotional support. Suicides among 12,315 elderly subjects connected to TeleHelp/Tele-Check in Italy (1988-1991) were compared with general population suicide rates. Only one suicide was found in the elderly using these telephone services compared with the expected 7.44 for the general population (standardized mortality ratio=13.44%).(14 Refs)