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Management of Adolescent Depression in the Primary Care Setting: An Educational Program for Providers

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Abstract
Background: The prevalence of adolescent depression is estimated at 15-20% in the general population and often under-treated. The primary care provider is in a prime position to identify and treat depression in this age group. However, many providers feel uncomfortable with treating and managing depression in adolescents, due to a lack of education or experience. Purpose: The focus of this quality improvement project was to educate primary care providers on the current recommendations for the management of adolescent depression and provide an education sheet for both the medical and non-medical treatment of adolescent depression. An educational intervention was presented to providers at a physician-owned private practice family clinic in Massachusetts. Pre-test and post-test scores were compared to determine the change in knowledge and confidence levels. Results: Eight providers attended the education presentation and completed the pre-test and seven of these providers also completed the post-test. The results indicated an improvement in provider’s level of confidence of understanding ways to manage adolescent depression (p=.030) and in being familiar with evidenced based management options (p=.045). There was no change in the provider’s confidence in ability to manage adolescent depression or discuss a variety of treatment options or in the provider’s understanding of the CBT model following the education intervention. Discussion: Due to limited education regarding mental health issues in primary care programs, offering supplemental education may help to meet this need as specialized providers are limited. The findings suggest that a longer term education intervention may be useful in increasing knowledge and confidence level of providers related to the management of adolescent depression in the primary care setting.
Type
Capstone Project
Date
2016-05
Publisher
License
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/