New research suggests that a telephone could improve mental health in older adults.

Researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine found that therapy provided via telephone for older adults in rural areas is effective in treating anxiety disorder and may help people in parts of the country that are underserved by mental health providers.

As older adults age, meeting their health needs -- including mental health care -- will become more and more challenging, and relying heavily on sedative medications isn't the answer.

"The drugs that many older adults receive, particularly benzodiazepines for anxiety, can cause cognitive impairments and motor problems," geriatric psychiatrist Eric Lenze wrote in an editorial accompanying the study. "But seniors who are anxious or have insomnia are receiving a skyrocketing number of prescriptions for these drugs, particularly in rural America. That's a recipe for disaster because giving seniors benzodiazepines can contribute to serious and expensive consequences, such as broken hips, an acceleration in dementia and a general decline in an older person's ability to function."

For the study, researchers tested the delivery of cognitive behavior therapy over the phone as a potential alternative to drugs. They found that older adults who participated in the study did at least as well as others had in prior, in-person studies of cognitive behavior therapy.

Lenze, who works at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, assesses talk therapies, medication, exercise, and mindfulness training, such as yoga and meditation, in trying to identify strategies to help meet the mental health needs of the rapidly aging population.

"Delivering therapy over the phone seems to be a good first step in helping older people who can't easily travel to see a psychiatrist, psychologist or clinical social worker," said Lenze, who directs the Healthy Mind Lab at Washington University and studies potential therapies for older adults with anxiety and depression. "But as the population continues to age, I expect we'll need to move toward computerized interventions to fill gaps between the mental health needs of this population and the availability of mental health providers to treat them."

The findings are detailed in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.