Factors associated with depression detection in a New Hampshire mental health outreach program. (2nd November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ghesquiere, Angela R.; Pepin, Renee; Kinsey, Jennifer; Bartels, Stephen J.; Bruce, Martha L.
• Is Part Of: Aging & mental health. Volume 22:Number 11(2018)
• Page Start: 1471
• Page End: 1476
• Publication Date: 2018-11-02
• Subjects: Depression -- detection -- mental health outreach -- rural; Older people -- Mental health -- Periodicals; Geriatric psychiatry -- Periodicals; Older people -- Psychology -- Periodicals; Aging -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; Aged -- psychology -- periodicals; Mental Health -- periodicals; Mental Health Services -- periodicals; Aging -- psychology -- periodicals; Aged, 80 and over -- psychology -- periodicals; 618.97689
• DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2017.1364346
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1360-7863

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Objectives: For mental health outreach programs for older adults, accurately detecting depression is key to quality service provision. Multiple factors, including gender, cognitive impairment, or recent bereavement may affect depression detection, but this is under-studied. Therefore, we sought to both establish rates of depressive symptom detection and to examine factors associated with inaccuracies of detecting depression among participants in a mental health outreach program serving older adults. Method: We conducted a chart review of 1126 cases in an older adult-focused mental health outreach program in New Hampshire, the Referral Education Assistance & Prevention (REAP) program. Accuracy of depression detection was identified by comparing screen-positive scores for depressive symptoms on the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) to depression identification by counselors on a 'presenting concerns' list. Results: Inaccurate depression detection (positive on the GDS but depression not identified by counselors) occurred in 27.6% of cases. Multivariate regression analyses indicated that anxiety, cognitive concerns, and rurality were all associated with detection innaccuracy. Conclusion: This study appears to be the first to examine factors influencing depression detection in a mental health outreach program. Future efforts should help ensure that all older mental health outreach clients have depression detected at optimal rates.