Improving Care for Late-Life Depression Through Partnerships With Community-Based Organizations: Results From the...

Area of Science:

• Geriatric Psychiatry
• Primary Care Medicine
• Community Health

Background:

• Collaborative care (CC) is effective for late-life depression in primary care.
• Unmet social needs often contribute to depression in older adults.
• Integrating community-based organizations (CBOs) may enhance CC by addressing social determinants of health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of integrating a CBO into standard CC for late-life depression.
• To assess the impact of this partnered care model on depression symptom severity in older adults.

Main Methods:

• A multisite, pre-post evaluation design was employed.
• Eight partnerships between primary care clinics and CBOs in California were established.
• 707 depressed older adults (aged 60+) were enrolled, with depression identified via PHQ-9 scores (≥10).

Main Results:

• Baseline average PHQ-9 score was 15 (moderate depression).
• Patients experienced an average 7-point reduction in PHQ-9 scores.
• Nearly half (48.4%) achieved a ≥50% improvement in depression symptoms.

Conclusions:

• Partnering primary care with CBOs is a feasible approach to enhance CC for late-life depression.
• This integrated model effectively addresses both depression and unmet social needs in older adults.
• The findings support the expansion of CBO-integrated CC models in primary care settings.