Magellan Rx Management, a division of Magellan Health, released the results of a six-week pilot program that addressed social isolation and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program, a collaboration with AI platform mPulse Mobile, included 1,800 Magellan members ages 18 to 90 living with chronic health conditions such as HIV and multiple sclerosis, a July 21 news release said.
Participants engaged in an average of 15 to 20 dialogues on various health and lifestyle topics delivered through text messages over a 45-day period. More than 34,000 messages were sent to participants over the course of the pilot, while 8,250 responses were received.
Program participants and results were stratified according to social determinants of health, which were defined as factors that affect health outside of genetics and disease symptoms. Participants experiencing a greater impact from social determinants were more likely to find the program helpful suggesting it could be a viable option in addressing health equity challenges within the Medicaid population, according to the statement.
The program also received a satisfaction score of 90 percent with no significant difference in satisfaction or engagement based on the ages of participants, suggesting that the program could be valuable to the Medicare population as well.