Depression care for the elderly: reducing barriers to evidence-based practice.
This paper provides an overview of five key bodies of evidence identifying: (1) Characteristics of depression among older adults -- its prevalence, risk factors and illness course, and impact on functional status, mortality, use of health services, and health care costs; (2) Effective Interventions, including pharmacologic, psychotherapies, care management, and combined intervention models; (3) Known Barriers to depression care including patient, provider and service system barriers; (4) Effective Organizational and Educational Strategies to reduce barriers to depression care; and (5) Key Factors in Translating Research into Practice. There is strong empirical support for implementing strategies to improve depression care for older adults.
Ell
Kathleen
K
School of Social Work, University of Southern Califonia, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0411, USA. ell@usc.edu
D000368:Aged; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D014481:United States