What are your thoughts about using the Geriatric Depression Scale to screen clients who are already on antidepressants or are receiving therapy?
Answer
Great question! Let me just start by saying that assessment tools should never replace the clinical judgement of a therapist. If you see in the chart that they are already being treated for depression, are well managed and everything that you observe backs this up, then there probably would not be a reason for you to screen them. You want to be efficient with your treatment and you are not going to be able to screen everyone.
Screening is most useful when you have some clinical suspicions and there does not seem to be any record of past mental health problems or use of antidepressant medications in the chart. If you have a suspicion, going and talking to the client briefly and asking, "How is your mood today?", is a great way to begin. It is really important to listen to their answer and make sure they are not saying, "fine", just to make conversation. You may want to ask a few more questions to fully assess their mood. On the basis of this brief conversation, you may decide to screen with the Geriatric Depression Scale. It is nice to use this as it is a great communication tool, it helps you to chart consistently and the rest of the rehab team is familiar with the scoring.
Cathy Lysack, Ph.D., OT(C)
Dr. Lysack, Ph.D., OT(C) is the Deputy Director of the Institute of Gerontology and a Professor of Occupational Therapy and Gerontology at Wayne State University in Detroit. She joined the University in 1997. Dr. Lysack’s major research interest is in the social and environmental influences on health and understanding how older adults and people with disability redevelop active and meaningful lives in the community after injury. She has studied aging and depression, the independence and safety of older adults who live alone, the impact of spinal cord injury on community participation, and the reasons for and outcomes of residential moves in later life. Dr. Lysack’s research has been funded by the NIH, NIDRR, and the Retirement Research Foundation. She has served for many years on the editorial boards of AJOT, and the Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy. In 2007 Dr. Lysack was inducted into the American Occupational Therapy Foundation's Academy of Research.
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