Using WhatsApp to manage depression in older adults

Audio messages were used, rather than text messages, as many low-income older Brazilians are semi-literate or illiterate. — Filepic

The messaging app WhatsApp can be a highly effective tool to help older people overcome loneliness and depression, according to the findings of a study conducted in Guarulhos, the second-largest city in São Paulo state, Brazil.

Published in the journal Nature Medicine, the study was a randomised controlled trial involving 603 participants aged more than 60, who were registered with 24 primary care clinics belonging to Brazil’s national public health network Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS).