Evaluating the effectiveness of treatment for depression in primary care. Developing, evaluating, and disseminating educational interventions to help primary care physicians better recognize and manage patients with depression. Developing, evaluating, and disseminating methods to enhance office routines and practice patterns that promote high quality care of depression. Several key insights have already emerged from this initiative. However, they differ across specialties in their view of their responsibility for treatment and in their confidence in their ability to treat depression effectively.
Physicians are pragmatic.
They choose how to manage patients with depression according to the severity of dysfunction, rather than traditional diagnostic criteria. Compared to younger patients, older patients with the same level of depressive symptoms have more functional impairment. Older patients also tend to be more concerned about their control of their social relationships than of their physical health. These factors should play a major role in judging the success of treatment. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.