The Impact of Depression on Treating Older Adults
We read two more articles of note from the January 2008 issue of the CDC's Preventing Chronic Disease journal, which address the impact of depression on the health of seniors. The first gives an overall view of the public health issues.
The second looks more specifically at the challenges of treating depression in seniors.
"Although public health is often conceptualized only as the prevention of physical illness, recent data suggest that mental illnesses are increasingly relevant to the mission of disease prevention and health promotion. Projections are that by 2020, depression will be second only to heart disease in its contribution to the global burden of disease as measured by disability-adjusted life years. Also, as the population ages, successive cohorts of older adults will account for increasingly larger segments of the U.S. population. We present the diagnostic criteria for, prevalence of, and risk factors for depressive disorders among older adults; the challenges of recognizing and treating depression in this population; the cost-effectiveness of relevant public health interventions; and the public health implications of these disorders."
The second looks more specifically at the challenges of treating depression in seniors.
"Depression is increasingly recognized as a significant public health problem among older adults. Because the condition is highly treatable and currently undertreated among community-based older adults, late-life depression is an appropriate focus for disease prevention programs. We report findings from a recent project to review the scientific literature for published reports about treatment for depression among community-dwelling older adults and to recommend the interventions with proven effectiveness. We also summarize the research findings related to each recommended intervention and describe the elements of each. To show the difficulties involved in translating research into practice, we describe real-world experiences in implementing these evidence-based interventions in various community settings. Because depression among older people is viewed more and more as a public health problem, we suggest that partnerships of providers, patients, and policy makers be forged to overcome challenges related to funding, training, and implementing treatments for this condition."
Labels: aging, disease and disability
Posted by: HFA permalink
1 Comments:
Thank you for you blog.
Depression in caregivers--and in the elderly, particularly with those who suffer from certain illnesses/disease such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, may not "look" like depression.
I know that as a caregiver, I still functioned even though I'm sure at times, I suffered from depression.
I still cared for my mother, I still fed her, cut up her pills, changed her clothes and sheets, and yet I would also suffer from insomnia, bouts of tears and/or numbness. I would either eat anything and everything or nothing at all.
Nothing seemed to bring me joy or purpose.
And yet, most people would say that was normal for my situation--I was funcitoning.
My mother, who had Parkinson's, and later, Alzheimer's, was hard to read. Only if you knew her before the "Parkinson's Mask" would you know how animated and funny she was--and how far she had declined.
We have to speak up, ask for help, remember who we were, who our loved ones were--in order to get some help and get a handle on depression.
I fought for both of us.
I refused to fall down the depression vortex. And yet so many people can't speak up for themselves. They need our help.
Caregiving is tough, I know, but it need not be so very, very dark.
~Carol D. O'Dell
Author of Mothering Mother: A Daughter's Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir,
available on Amazon and in most bookstores.
www.mothering-mother.com
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