Live Webcast Educates Primary Care Physicians about Depression
| Through a partnership with the New York State Office of Mental Health, AFSP has produced a one-hour live webcast for primary care physicians and their staff on recognizing and treating depression in their patients, and suicide assessment. The webcast initally targeted over 12,000 primary care physicians in the state of New York, and is now available through the AFSP website for a full year, offering a wide-range of supplemental materials and six types of CME certification through CME Outfitters for PCPs nationwide. |
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Titled “Evaluating and Managing Major Depression: Linking Assessment Measures and Outcomes in Light of the Black Box Warning,” the program helps PCPs to recognize somatic symptoms that may underlie, but mask, a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder, a leading cause of suicide, particularly in middle-aged and older adult men. Studies have shown that patients who are eventually diagnosed with MDD at first present to their PCP with somatic complaints such as chronic pain, fatigue, sleep-related problems, sexual dysfunction and weight gain or loss.
The program highlights the contribution of PCP education on reducing suicide rates by increasing levels of depression treatment, and emphasizes the use of the PHQ-9 (depression) and CAGE (alcohol intake) questionnaires throughout the treatment course to achieve depression remission.
The program is designed to educate physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, psychologists, social workers, certified case managers, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals interested in the management and treatment of depression.
Studies that have followed PCP education programs on depression recognition and treatment have revealed that in the years when intervention programs were delivered, antidepressant prescriptions increased and suicide rates decreased.
Funding for the webcast was made possible by the New York State Office of Mental Health and the Out of the Darkness walks.
