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Treatment for Depression
in Older Adults Made Available Online by ASA
March
14, 2002 - The American Society on Aging (ASA) has developed a site to
assist people in diagnosing and treating depression in older adults.
It is named, "The Blues: Not A Normal Part of Aging."
The site
can be reached by
Clicking Here.
"The
presence of depression screening sites can raise awareness in the
community about untreated depression in the older population,"
according to the Web site. "Just as life situations change for
younger adults, change also affects older people. Because alterations
in health, functioning and social support can precipitate depression
in elders, a yearly depression screening improves the likelihood of
detecting clinical depression--and possibly saving a life."
"Treatment for depression can, in some cases, improve the symptoms of
the other illnesses. More than 80 percent of people with clinical
depression can be treated successfully with medication, psychotherapy
or a combination of the two. Clinical depression will not go away on
its own," the ASA says.
There
are three educational opportunities in what they call "The Blues
Campaign Kit."
The Blues: Not a Normal Part of Aging,
developed through an educational grant provided by Eli Lilly Co., is a
campaign kit designed for community organizations, housing sites,
nutrition programs, government agencies, churches and other groups. It
includes a short video on depression and its treatment, along with
depression screening tools, a media packet and a manual to assist in
organizing community presentations. To see a segment of this video,
click on The Blues video clip found below.
Due to
the popularity of the resource binder and video, "The Blues: Not
a Normal Part of Aging" has recently been out of stock. ASA
has renewed its grant from Eli Lilly Co. and
the kit
is available again!
According to terms of their grant from Eli Lilly Co., recipients of
the screening kit must agree to do at least one screening per year and
report about the event (a form will be enclosed with the kit). If this
is not possible, you may copy the material for use and return the kit
to ASA.
To
order a copy, click
here or call Heddie Abel at ASA: 415-974-9623.
In
addition, the website was created to provide current information on
depression for older adults and to provide resources for those wishing
to establish a screening program, according to the ASA.
The"Resources
on Depression in Older Adults" section contains informative
articles on depression, downloadable handouts for screening sites to
use, and links to other online resources on depression in later life.
The
section on "Model
Programs" gives examples of outreach, site design and coalition
building efforts, some of which have successfully used The Blues
kit.
The "Screening
Tools" page provides a Geriatric Depression Screening form and
other culturally appropriate means of approaching clients. As more
tools and resources become available, ASA will add them to this site.
Direct
consultation on developing screening sites is available online. By
clicking "Contacting
ASA", you can submit articles electronically, ask questions about
setting-up a screening site.
The
Blues: Not a Normal Part of Aging - Videos Clips from the Bluesv(Requires
"Real Player" plug in - Download it
here).
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