Benchmarks for effective primary care-based nursing services for adults with depression: a Delphi study

Area of Science:

• Mental Health Nursing
• Primary Care Services
• Depression Management

Background:

• Depression affects 5-16% of the global population, with primary care as the main treatment setting.
• Primary care nurses are increasingly involved in depression identification and management.
• Lack of established benchmarks hinders the development and support of primary care nursing practice for depression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and achieve consensus on appropriate benchmarks for effective primary care-based nursing services for adults with depression.
• To establish a foundation for improving depression care initiatives within primary care settings.

Main Methods:

• A three-round electronic Delphi survey was conducted with a United Kingdom multi-professional expert panel (n=67) in 2006.
• Initial statements were generated and subsequently collapsed into benchmarks through content analysis.
• Consensus on benchmarks was determined across the survey rounds.

Main Results:

• 1216 initial statements were refined into 140 benchmarks.
• 73 benchmarks achieved consensus among the expert panel.
• The majority of consensus benchmarks focused on structures (61%), followed by processes (25%), and outcomes (14%).

Conclusions:

• Multi-professional primary care staff share similar perspectives on appropriate benchmarks for adult depression care.
• The identified benchmarks can form the basis for depression improvement initiatives in primary care.
• These benchmarks will support ongoing research into nursing's role in depression management.