title: Potential for community programs to prevent depression in older people.
abstract: Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders in older people. Sequelae include unnecessary suffering, excess physical and social disability, exacerbation of co-existing illness, earlier death, and overuse of services. There are currently no reported public health approaches to prevent late-life depression. Five risk factors appear susceptible to community-level prevention programs: recurrent depression, commonly undertreated precipitants, vascular disease, functional impairments, and metabolite abnormalities. We propose three broad but interacting prevention methods: increasing literacy about late-life depression, exercise, and dietary supplements.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors