Conditions: Major Depressive Disorder
Keywords: Major Depressive Disorder Telepsychiatry Chinese American Nursing Home
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 9
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The current use of telepsychiatry, or psychiatric care using videoconferencing, is very limited. The present study investigates the use of this method with a depressed Chinese American population in a nursing home. It is believed that this population can benefit from telepsychiatric treatment when used in collaboration with the primary care they receive in the nursing home.

Detailed description:
Individuals at the South Cove Manor nursing home will be referred to this study if they are experiencing depression. After meeting with the Principal Investigator (a psychiatrist), he will collaborate with the primary care physician and the nursing home staff to establish a treatment plan for the patient. Videoconferencing will be used by the P.I. for regular psychiatric visits with the patient as well as meetings with the nursing home staff to coordinate care for the patient. After collaboration between the two groups, treatment suggestions will be given to the patient's primary care physician (PCP) to implement in the primary care setting. The patient's symptomology, mood, satisfaction of life and side effects of medication will be recorded regularly to measure the effects of treatment for analysis.

Arms:

Interventions: intervention 1: Psychotropic medication (at discretion of psychiatrist) intervention 2: Collaborative psychiatric and primary medical care
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Antidepressant medication, prescribed at discretion of psychiatrist intervention 2: Regular care visits from health workers

Protocol document: