Collaborative Care for the Management of Depression and Depressive Symptoms
Collaborative care aims to increase primary care providers' knowledge and skills, improve client understanding and awareness of depressive disorders, and to reorganize the system of care into an optimal environment for management of depression and depressive disorders that is:
- Systematic
- Multi-component
- Team-based
The intervention creates a ‘collaboration’ of primary care providers (such as physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants), mental health specialists (such as psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric-mental health nurses), and other providers (such as social workers and nurses) to improve the effectiveness of their engagement with clients in the management of depression. Multi-component interventions often include client education, provider feedback, case management, provision of information on treatment guidelines/protocols to providers, and use of information technology.
Task Force Recommendations & Findings
The Task Force on Community Preventive Services recommends collaborative care for adults 18 years of age or older with major depression on the basis of strong evidence of effectiveness in improving short-term depression outcomes.
Results of the Systematic Review
Eleven studies qualified for the review.
- All eight studies that evaluated the severity of depressive symptoms found a significant reduction in this outcome.
- A 50% improvement in severity of symptoms was found in six studies that measured this outcome with a median improvement of 22% (interquartile interval 15%-30%).
- Remission rates showed a median improvement of 15% (interquartile interval 8% to 33%; 6 studies).
These findings were based on a systematic review of all available studies conducted on behalf of the Task Force by a team of specialists in systematic review methods, and in research, practice and policy related to mental health and mental illness.
Publications
More Community Guide publications about Mental Health & Mental Illness
Disclaimer
The findings and conclusions on this page are those of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services and do not necessarily represent those of CDC.
Sample Citation
The content of publications of the Guide to Community Preventive Services is in the public domain. Guide to Community Preventive Services. Collaborative care for the management of depression and depressive disorders. www.thecommunityguide.org/mentalhealth/collab-care.html. Last updated: MM/DD/YYYY.
Review completed: July 2003
- Page last reviewed: October 8, 2009
- Page last updated: October 8, 2009
- Content source: The Guide to Community Preventive Services
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