Evaluation of an Adapted Collaborative Care Model for Older Adult Depression Severity Reduction and Quality of Life Improvement

Purpose The purpose of this clinical study was to evaluate the efficacy of a collaborative care model in the reduction of depression severity and the improvement of quality of life (QOL) of older adults. Methods Individual participant encounters were conducted approximately every 2 weeks over 4 months with nineteen participants. Average participant age was 73 years. A pre-experimental single pretest-posttest group was conducted in which the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and Quality of Life Assessment (QOLA) scores respectively measured depression severity and QOL of participants. Results The average PHQ-9 score (0-27; higher indicates worse depression) decreased from 14 pre-intervention to 8.3 post-intervention (p< .001), while the average QOLA score (0-10; higher indicates better QOL) increased from 5.7 pre-intervention to 6.5 post-intervention (p= .342). Conclusion The adapted collaborative care model provided an affordable, effective method of older adult depression management within the contexts of this clinical study.