A completed audit cycle and integrated care pathway for the management of depression following brain injury in a rehabilitation setting

Abstract

This ICP raised staff awareness of depression, leading to improved documentation and possibly also standards of care.

Managing depression in brain injury rehabilitation: the use of an integrated care pathway and preliminary report of response to sertraline

“…By this second assessment, no patients remained in the severe category (BDI-II 29-63) and only two were in the moderate category (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). Three fell in the mild (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19) and six in the minimal category (9)(10)(11)(12)(13). Five who previously had mild or moderate depression no longer rated as depressed.…”

“…10 Patients are screened on admission and enrolled on the ICP if any of the following criteria are met:…”

“…The ICP acts both to guide clinical practice and to facilitate audit against predetermined standards. 10 However, an ICP has a possible further use. The protocol prompts systematic assessment and review at speci ed time intervals, using standardized tests.…”

The Depression Intensity Scale Circles (DISCs): a first evaluation of a simple assessment tool for depression in the context of brain injury

“…This patient group by definition has physical, cognitive, and communication deficits to some degree, and we have recorded a high incidence of depression. 24 The unit routinely applies standardised functional assessment using the functional assessment measure (UK FIM+FAM) for the assessment of physical, cognitive, and communicative function. 27 In this cohort analysis of data from 114 patients with acquired brain injury, admitted between April 2002 and June 2004, ''cases'' of depression were defined using the DSM-IV criteria as the gold standard.…”

Primary Care Physicians’ Attitudes Regarding Collaborating With Home-Based Depression Care Managers

“…Moreover, structured documents can be very valuable for sharing feedback and information with primary care providers, because information can be presented in a clear, concise, and organized manner that is easily digestible. 25,26 In summary, important collaboration components to offer physicians appear to be (a) written documents to share relevant information in a concise manner (client treatment goals, client depression status, each provider's treatment plan and requests for other providers, ongoing updates regarding client's depression status); (b) availability of a consulting psychiatrist; and (c) establishing specific communication procedures. Therefore, the mail survey inquired about physicians' ratings of (a) usefulness of these types of information and services; (b) likelihood of using the information and services offered; and (c) likelihood of collaborating with the case manager delivering DCM.…”