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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Concepts and causation of depression
— a cross-cultural study of the beliefs of older adults | | Author(s) | Vanessa Lawrence, Joanna Murray, Sube Banerjee |
| Journal title | The Gerontologist, vol 46, no 1, February 2006 |
| Pages | pp 23-32 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Ethnic groups ; Attitude ; Depression ; Mental disorder ; Qualitative Studies ; Cross cultural surveys. |
| Annotation | In-depth interviews were conducted with 45 White British, 33 South Asian, and 22 Black Caribbean individuals in this UK multicultural study, which sought to explore and compare beliefs about the nature and causes of depression, and to suggest ways in which beliefs act to facilitate or deter older people from accessing treatment. Depression was often viewed as an illness arising from adverse personal and social circumstances that accrue in old age. Whereas depression was defined by White British and Black Caribbean participants in terms of low mood and hopelessness, South Asian and Black Caribbean participants frequently defined depression in terms of worry. Those receiving antidepressants were more likely to acknowledge psychological symptoms of depression. Differences in attribution were found between the ethnic groups. A social model of depression is closer to the beliefs of older people than the traditional medical model. Culturally appropriate inquiries about recent life events could be used to facilitate discussion about depression. Data for this study suggests that many older people would respond to probing by general practitioners (GPs) about their mood. Health and social care professionals need to be sensitive to the language of depression used by different ethnic groups. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-070109224 A |
| Classmark | TK: DP: ENR: E: 3DP: 3KA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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