Satisfaction with general practitioner treatment of depression among residents of aged care facilities

David Mellor, Tanya Davison, Marita McCabe, George Kuruvilla, Kathleen Moore, Chantal Ski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This article investigates consumer perspectives on the treatment for depression among older people in residential facilities.

METHOD: Aged care residents who were aware of being treated for depression in the past 6 months (24 women and 7 men, mean age = 83 years) participated in an interview that assessed their perspective on treatments.

RESULTS: Although more than half of the participants in the sample reported overall satisfaction with the medical treatments received for depression, qualitative data provided indications of unsatisfactory service delivery, including perceptions of low treatment efficacy, short consultation times, the failure to assess affective symptomatology, and negative responses to residents' disclosure of symptoms.

DISCUSSION: The findings are discussed in relation to previous research on consumer satisfaction with health services and issues that may be pertinent to the elderly depressed. Training for general practitioners providing treatment in aged care is indicated.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)435-57
Number of pages23
JournalJOURNAL OF AGING AND HEALTH
Volume18
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2006

Keywords

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Australia
  • Depression
  • Family Practice
  • Female
  • Homes for the Aged
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Patient Satisfaction
  • Physician-Patient Relations
  • Residential Facilities
  • Journal Article
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Satisfaction with general practitioner treatment of depression among residents of aged care facilities'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this