The efficacy of a healthy lifestyle intervention to prevent depression in older spousally-bereaved adults was evaluated through a supplement study. Older adults who had lost their spouses were identified as being at very high risk for major depressive disorder (MDD). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the inability to engage in traditional rituals that support the grieving process made coping with the death of a spouse significantly more challenging.

This Administrative Supplement built upon the funded R01 project, “Efficacy of a Healthy Lifestyle Intervention to Prevent Depression in Older Spousally-bereaved Adults” (WELL), to expand the reach, uptake, and sustainability of an existing behavioral-health intervention. The goal was to accommodate older spouses bereaved by COVID-19 who sought prevention and self-management strategies to address psychiatric symptoms during and after the pandemic.

Digital advertising was employed to optimize reach and access in geographic areas heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To promote adherence to and sustained use of WELL, existing data (K01 MH103467) were used to identify individual- and intervention-level characteristics associated with discontinuation versus sustained use of digital mental health interventions. Additional measurements related to death, dying, and bereavement (e.g., preparedness for death, lack of closure, social isolation, and loss of mourning rituals) were collected from 100 participants recruited over the supplement’s two-year duration.

The data were used to examine the impact of COVID-19-related deaths on depression symptoms and the trajectories of depression symptoms over one year. These symptoms were measured both through the supplement and during the WELL follow-up period.