[Detection and treatment of depressive symptoms in nursing home patients. An interdisciplinary challenge for the geriatric physician and nursing personnel].

40% of nursing home patients have depressive symptoms and 20% have a diagnosis of depression according to DSM-IV or ICD-10 classification. Depressive Symptoms in nursing home patients are underdiagnosed and undertreated. We report a triple pharmacological, psychosocial and staff teaching intervention in a nursing home based on the Resident Assessment Protocols (RAP) trigger mechanism of the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) that was able to significantly and persistently reduce the prevalence of depressive symptoms in this population.