BMJ  2006;332 (4 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7536.0

Collaborative care improves late life depression

Tailored collaborative care management benefits depressed older patients in primary care not just in the short term but also in the longer term. Hunkeler and colleagues (p 259) randomised 1801 primary care patients aged over 60 who had major depression to a programme that included a depression care manager, a primary care doctor, and a psychiatrist or to usual care for depression. They found that collaborative care actively engaged these patients in their treatment and delivered benefits—like less depression and better physical functioning—and that these benefits persist at least a year after the intervention has ended.

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Long term outcomes from the IMPACT randomised trial for depressed elderly patients in primary care

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BMJ 2006 332: 259-263. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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dull or stern, dejected or unreasonably torpid……{Arateus }

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