Commentary on Heller et al.'s (1991) peer telephone intervention for elderly women addresses three issues: (a) the sources and kinds of information needed to inform decisions about the choice of intervention; (b) the criteria used to evaluate the process and outcomes of support interventions; (c) the social psychological dynamics stimulated by the intervention protocol and by the particular form of the intervention. The latter two issues complicate interpretation of the study's findings and raise additional questions about whether and why the intervention was unsuccessful.