Acceptability and fidelity of a psychosocial intervention (PROACTIVE) for older adults with depression in a basic health unit in São Paulo, Brazil: a qualitative study.

Background: Depression is a common condition in older adults, being often detected and treated initially in primary care. Collaborative care models including, for example, task-shifting and stepped-care approaches have been investigated to overcome the current scarcity of strategies and trained mental health professionals to treat depression. The PROACTIVE study developed a psychosocial intervention, which makes extensive use of technology in an intervention delivered mainly by non-specialists to treat older adults with depression.

A collaborative care psychosocial intervention to improve late life depression in socioeconomically deprived areas of Guarulhos, Brazil: the PROACTIVE cluster randomised controlled trial protocol.

Background: The elderly population has been growing in most low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), and depression is a common condition among these populations. The lack of integration between mental health and primary healthcare services and the shortage of mental health specialists in the public health system contribute to underdiagnosis and undertreatment of depression. One of the strategies to reduce this gap is task shifting and collaborative care treatments.

Investigating Software Requirements for Systems Supporting Task-Shifted Interventions: Usability Study.

Background: There is a considerable shortfall in specialized health care professionals worldwide to deliver health services, and this shortfall is especially pronounced in low-middle-income countries. This has led to the implementation of task-shifted interventions, in which specific tasks are moved away from highly qualified health workers to health workers with less training. The World Health Organization (WHO) has published recommendations for such interventions, but guidelines for software and systems supporting such interventions are not included.

Pilot study of a two-arm non-randomized controlled cluster trial of a psychosocial intervention to improve late life depression in socioeconomically deprived areas of São Paulo, Brazil (PROACTIVE): feasibility study of a psychosocial intervention for late life depression in São Paulo.

Background: Depression is a common and recurrent condition among older adults and is associated with poor quality of life and increased health care utilization and costs. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of delivering a psychosocial intervention targeting depression, and to develop the procedures to conduct a cluster randomized controlled trial among older adults registered with primary care clinics in poor neighbourhoods of São Paulo, Brazil.

Methods: We conducted a pilot study of a two-arm cluster, non-randomized controlled trial.