Research on Supportive Psychosocial, Drug Treatment, and Health Education Intervention and Health Management Model of Community-Residing Elderly Adults With Late Life Depression in Liaoning Province: A Protocol

Abstract

Background: Late life depression (LLD), a common mental disorder, has become an increasingly acute public health concern with a quickly expanding geriatric population worldwide. To our knowledge, however, the incidence of LLD in northern cities in China has not been empirically investigated, and many elderly people with depressive moods and mild depressive symptoms have not been given sufficient attention. Methods/Design: This is a multi-stage and prospective study. The first stage is a crosssectional study, investigating the epidemiological characteristics of LLD in northern China and exploring the biological, psychological, and social risk factors for developing LLD based on a set of questionnaires from 6,800 community-residing elderly adults. The second stage involves statistical analysis, by constructing a risk factor model for LLD and analyzing their direct and indirect functional routes on the basis of structural equation modeling. The third stage is an experimental study a total of 60 elderly patients with LLD and their principle caregivers will be randomly assigned to control and trial groups. The trial group patients and caregivers will undergo supportive psychosocial, drug treatment, and health education (PDH) intervention, whereas the control group patients and caregivers will be treated routinely (treatment as routine, TAR, which includes drug treatment and health education). At the end of the intervention, depressive symptoms, quality of life, and the social and cognitive functioning of the patients in the two groups will be respectively assessed at a baseline and after 6, 9, and 12 months post-intervention by employing scales and questionnaires to analyze the effectiveness of the supportive PDH intervention measures in comparison with TAR. Ultimately, a supportive PDH intervention and health management model will be obtained by combining PDH intervention with mental health institutions, community health services, and aging families as the main line.

Impact of lifestyle and psychological resilience on survival among the oldest-old in China: a cohort study

“…A nationwide longitudinal study showed that higher levels of psychological resilience were significantly associated with reduced risk of becoming activities of daily living disabled in the oldest-old (10). Additionally, previous studies also showed that psychological resilience played crucial roles in addressing problems related to basic self-care, self-health management, and seeking social support among the oldest-old (11)(12)(13). However, there is a lack of research on the relationship between psychological resilience and survival status in the oldest-old.…”