Centre for Policy on Ageing



Recognising depression in residential facilities — an Australian challenge
Author(s)	John Snowdon, Richard Fleming
Journal title	International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 23, no 3, March 2008
Pages	pp 295-300
Source	http://www.interscience.wiley.com
Keywords	Depression ; Evaluation ; Nursing homes ; Social surveys ; Australia.
Annotation	Screening with the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) and the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale GDS-15 enables staff of aged care facilities to identify residents who may be depressed, and then to alert their general practitioners (GPs) to this possibility. CSDD ratings by staff showed that about 40% of high care (nursing home) residents and 25% of low-care residents scored in the depressed range. These were the main findings of a survey of direct care staff in 168 Australian aged care facilities (AFCs) concerning their care for a sample of every fourth resident. The CSDD and the GDS-15 in those without severe cognitive impairment proved useful in identifying residents who were depressed. Survey questions helped draw attention to factors of importance in the development or persistence of these depressions, and hence to strategies for intervention. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-080430204 A
Classmark	ENR: 4C: LHB: 3F: 7YA
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.