Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 1 of 1
Risk factors and intervention programs for depression in nursing home residents: nursing home staff interview findings
- Authors:
- CHOI Namkee G., WYLLIE Richard J., RANSOM Sandy
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 52(7), October 2009, pp.668-685.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
In-depth qualitative interviews with 25 nursing home staff members were done to examine their perceptions and experiences of risk factors for residents' depression, current depression intervention programmes and specific needs for staff training. The interviewees identified residents' sense of loss and grief and feelings of isolation and loneliness as the causes of their depression. In-house activities and contract mental health services were identified as current services aimed at reducing depression. Barriers to providing effective depression interventions were: an overdependence on antidepressant medication, low Medicaid reimbursement rate, staff shortages, residents' attitudes and nursing home culture. The types of training that the staff members wanted were: skills to monitor nonverbal signs and changes and to systematically screen for different types of depression; education about antidepressants and their effects, side effects and interactions with other medication; and systematic training in different types of psychosocial and behavioural interventions for late-life depression in residents with various levels of physical disabilities and cognitive impairments.