Background Depression is a serious public health concern across the lifespan especially in the elderly. Depression is a chronic condition, often with poor outcomes and high costs. Older people are at great risk of being depressed due to their predisposition to chronic health problems (CDC, 2015). Collaboration between primary care physicians (PCP) and psychiatrists in detecting elder depression is crucial. The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Patients With Major Depressive Disorder; 3rd edition (2010), provide information for PCP’s regarding screening for depression among the elderly that present to the medical clinic. Five to ten percent of the elderly adults over sixty-five years in primary care suffer from depression (CDC, 2015). This figure includes between 10 to 20 percent of those who already have chronic medical conditions. The purpose of this project is to provide useful information about the Geriatric Depression Scale (Sheik & Yesavage, 1986) and educate medical practitioners at a medical clinic, so that they will adopt the scale in their assessment and diagnosis of elderly patients with depression. In 2011 alone, there was an increase from 51% to 64% of depressed patients seen in primary care. Elder suicide carries with it multiple risks such as physical illness, inability to function in daily life, fear of becoming burden, and social isolation. These risks underscore the importance of medical providers making early diagnosis of elder depression with an effective tool. Rosswurm and Larrabee’s (1999) Model of Evidence-Based Practice was used as the theoretical guide for this project. Methods included identifying the need for accurate and timely depression assessment of elderly patients in a clinical setting. Outcomes included the incorporation of the GDS tool in the overall assessment of elder patients in the clinic where the project was conducted. Findings indicated that of the fifty elderly assessed with the GDS during this project, 12 (24%) met requirements for a diagnosis of depression, which had been previously overlooked. In other words, these patients’ depression was not originally detected in their original general assessment. With early assessment for depression, the elderly can achieve a better quality of life and avoid the overall worsening of any comorbid illness due to an undetected and therefore untreated depression. This author concluded that all three objective of the study were met; namely, a) education and increased knowledge of participants about elder depression and its consequences; b) use of the General Depression Scale (GDS) to assess a sample of 50 elders for depression in the project clinic; and, c) adoption of the GDS by the project medical director as the elder depression assessment going forward.
