Importance: Among older home health care patients, depression is highly prevalent, is often inadequately treated, and contributes to hospitalization and other poor outcomes. Feasible and effective interventions are needed to reduce this burden of depression.
Objective: To determine whether, among older Medicare Home Health recipients who screen positive for depression, patients of nurses receiving randomization to an intervention have greater improvement in depressive symptoms during 1 year than patients receiving enhanced usual care.
Objective: The objective of this study was to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary clinical outcomes of a method to leverage existing home healthcare telemonitoring technology to deliver depression care management (DCM) to both Spanish- and English-speaking elderly homebound recipients of homecare services.
Materials And Methods: Three stand-alone, nonprofit community homecare agencies located in New York, Vermont, and Miami participated in this study. Evidence-based DCM was adapted to the telemonitor platform by programming questions and educational information on depression symptoms, antidepressant adherence, and side effects.
High levels of depressive symptoms are common and contribute to poorer clinical outcomes even in geriatric patients who are already taking antidepressant medication. The (Depression CAREPATH) intervention was designed for managing depression as part of ongoing care for medical and surgical patients. The intervention provides Home Health Agencies the resources needed to implement depression care management as part of routine clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSince Medicare first implemented the home care Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) in 1999, we have learned a great deal about depression among the homebound elderly. First, we know that major depression is a highly prevalent illness in home care. With depression rates at almost 15%, home care-along with nursing homes-has among the highest rates of any healthcare setting.
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