Assessment and treatment of depressed older adults in primary care

The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss both assessment and psychotherapeutic techniques that can be applied in primary-care medicine for older adults seeking mental health services in these settings. Assessment techniques that are amenable to primary-care settings include the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Revised; the Geriatric Depression Scale-15; two and nine-symptom Patient Health Questionnaire; the General Health Questionnaire; the Beck Depression Inventory-II; and the Beck Depression Inventory for Primary Care. Psychotherapeutic interventions that have been created and/or modified for primary-care settings are Problem solving therapy (PST-PC) and interpersonal therapy (IPT-PC). These detection tools and treatments are discussed in the context of primary-care medicine.