Using Medical Data to Plan and Evaluate Interventions for Older Adults with Depression

University of South Carolina: Prevention Research Center

Topics:
Aging & Elderly Health | Mental Health

About 80% of adults aged 65 years and older have at least one chronic disease (such as arthritis, diabetes, or heart disease), and are more likely than young adults to experience disability and social isolation. These conditions may contribute to minor depression, characterized by a loss of interest or pleasure in activities, and feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Depression in older adults is often undiagnosed, untreated, or undertreated. Primary care settings, in which older adults seek health care, may not have resources adequate for diagnosing or treating mental health. Interventions offered in community settings may give older adults easy access to programs that address depression for their age group.

By reviewing medical and insurance records, researchers will identify about 350 older adults with depression and conduct a pilot study to evaluate a well-known, evidence-based intervention (the Stanford University School of Medicine Chronic Disease Self-Management Program). During the program's six weekly sessions, participants will learn how to manage symptoms of chronic disease, deal with negative thoughts and emotions, communicate with health care providers, set goals, and solve problems. The sessions will be held in senior centers, churches, libraries, or hospitals.

Eighteen months after the program, researchers will use medical and insurance records to compare participants' and non-participants' health and behavioral outcomes, including health status, number of visits to mental health providers, length of stay in hospitals, and type of prescriptions filled. The researchers hope to make recommendations on how to use medical and insurance reports to identify populations in need of depression-related services, plan and allocate resources for a community intervention, and measure participants' outcomes.

 

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