Depression Screening at a Community Health Fair: Descriptives and Treatment Linkage.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Mental Health Services
• Preventive Care

Background:

• Health fairs offer cost-effective preventive service delivery to underserved populations.
• The effectiveness of depression screenings and treatment linkage at community health fairs requires further study.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the effectiveness of depression screening and on-site consultation at a community health fair.
• To assess treatment linkage for men who screened positive for depressive symptoms.

Main Methods:

• A depression screening using the PHQ-9 was administered to 261 adult men at a community health fair.
• On-site psychiatric nurses provided brief consultations for interested participants.
• Follow-up occurred at six months to assess appointment adherence.

Main Results:

• Over 25% of participants screened positive for moderate depressive symptomatology.
• 35.8% of those screening positive consulted with an on-site psychiatric nurse.
• None of the participants referred to a community mental health agency made an appointment by the six-month follow-up.

Conclusions:

• On-site clinician consultations are important for health fair attendees.
• A more coordinated system is needed to schedule future appointments during health fairs.
• Improving mental health treatment linkage requires addressing barriers to care access.