Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Grant Status

Completed

Project Title

Addressing Depression in Older Home Health Patients

Award Amount

$149,783

Location

Manhattan

Website

http://www.med.cornell.edu/

Date Awarded

November 16, 2006

Recent evidence indicates that 25% of older adult patients are clinically diagnosed with significant depression. At the same time, 80% of those individuals who are diagnosed with depression do not receive treatment.

NYSHealth's grant to the Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University addressed this issue by supporting a project to improve outcomes of elderly home care patients who are suffering from depression. The project took place in four home care agencies across New York State.

Major project activities included: (1) training non-mental health nurses to identify depression in elderly home health patients; and (2) implementing the Depression Management Carepath (CAREPATH) model, which further trains nurses in how to best manage depressed patients and to know when to refer these patients for further treatment. CAREPATH is a collaborative model designed to guide non-mental health nurses in evidence-based care of patients with depression in the home care setting. A careful evaluation accompanied this project to determine whether CAREPATH was an effective model that should be replicated in other settings.

Please click here to read the grant results.