Social activities effective in preventing depression
Social activities are effective in improving the mental health of older adults, says Anna Forsman, who has researched the effectiveness of different forms of psychosocial interventions.
Compared to the effect shown for social activities, no significant effect could be found for interventions focused on physical exercise, skill training, support groups, reminiscence, or interventions with combined content, she noted.
Her systematic review and meta-analysis is based on systematic searches in 11 electronic databases up until October 2009. The aim was to collect and evaluate evidence-based knowledge and good examples on how to prevent the onset of depression and promote the mental health among older people.
The research was conducted within the European Union financed project, DataPrev, the aim of which is to evaluate evidence-based interventions for mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention across the lifespan.
Telemedicine to improve geriatric depression in US
Studies have shown a high rate of depression among elderly homebound individuals in the United States, and few patients receive adequate treatment, if any.
To address this issue, researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and other organizations have developed a telemedicine-based depression care protocol in home health care.
The early findings from their pilot study were presented at the 29th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the National Association for Home Care and Hospice late last year.
Dr Thomas Sheeran, clinical psychologist in the department of psychiatry at Rhode Island Hospital, who led the study said, “Using telemedicine in home care to provide disease management for geriatric depression is timely for several reasons.
“The home care industry is already using telemedicine to provide chronic disease management for many medical illnesses, such as heart disease. However, guideline-based depression care often is not included in these monitoring programs.
“Also, research suggests that telemedicine can be successfully used to address mental health needs of the elderly in community settings.”
Through the pilot study, Sheeran reported that overall, feasibility and patient satisfaction ratings were very high. A majority of the elderly participants reported they were satisfied or very satisfied with the protocol, that they quickly became comfortable using the telehealth equipment and there were few technical problems.
More importantly, they felt it improved their care and that they would be willing to use it again. The researchers also found that telehealth nurses reported that with the majority of their patients, the Depression TeleCare Protocol was easy to implement, there were few technical problems, that it improved care and improved depression outcomes. Both patients and nurses believed that confidentiality was maintained.
