TEAM APPROACH STUDIED IN TREATING DEPRESSED TEENS.Byline: Eric Leach Staff Writer Ventura County doctors, nurses and therapists participated in a new study which looked at the benefits of a team approach in treating depressed teens. Ventura County Medical Center Ventura County Medical Center is a hospital in the city of Ventura, California, USA. It is a 208 bed acute care hospital. The county also operates a 49 bed campus in Santa Paula. and Ventura County Behavioral Health Behavioral health was first used in the 1980's to name the combination of the fields mental health and substance abuse. As an example, an organization serving both mental health and substance abuse clients might refer to its practice as behavioral health or participated in the UCLA-led study, which also includes the Rand Corp. and Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care organization, based in Oakland, California, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney R. Garfield. Medical Center Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . ``Most teens visit a primary-care doctor or nurse each year and these visits provide important opportunities to identify teens suffering from depression and provide them with optimal care,'' said Joan Asarnow, principal investigator Noun 1. principal investigator - the scientist in charge of an experiment or research project PI scientist - a person with advanced knowledge of one or more sciences of the study. ``Given the risks of untreated depression, the study results should encourage adolescents and parents to speak to their doctors and nurses about depressive symptoms and seek effective care,'' she said. Asarnow is a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX Neuropsychiatric neu·ro·psy·chi·a·try n. The medical study of disorders with both neurological and psychiatric features. neu Institute, and director of the UCLA Youth Stress and Mood Clinic. The study was reported in the Jan. 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. . Depression, which can lead to suicide, is the third-leading cause of death among adolescents. By age 18, authorities said, 15 to 20 percent of youths suffer from clinical depression. Researchers conducted the study between 1999 and 2003, enrolling 418 patients, ages 13-21, suffering symptoms of clinical depression. At Ventura County Medical Center, the study included children who had backgrounds of poverty and exposure to gang violence. The adolescents were asked to fill out questionnaires, which helped doctors detect depression. Some of the participants received standard care (including referral out to mental health specialists and medication) while others received collaborative care at the primary-care clinics. ``What was really different in the collaborative was that the primary care doctors and nurses had additional support to provide effective treatment in their clinics,'' Asarnow said. ``They could also offer cognitive behavior therapy behavior therapy or behavior modification, in psychology, treatment of human behavioral disorders through the reinforcement of acceptable behavior and suppression of undesirable behavior. , a kind of talk therapy which has been shown to be helpful for adolescent depression.'' The study found that 42 percent of the teens who received standard treatment reported severe depression, compared with 31 percent in the model program. The patients in the model program also reported fewer depressive symptoms, an improved quality of life, and greater satisfaction with their mental health care. This team-based approach strengthened partnerships between primary and specialty care, trained practice clinicians in depression evaluation and treatment, and used nurses and therapists in the clinics to provide depression care. ``The study showed what we need to do is integrate mental health into our regular medical practice. Children need access to pediatricians, nurses and psychologists who cooperate and share information,'' said Dr. Chris Landon, director of pediatrics at the Ventura County Medical Center. ``Parents, physicians, nurses and teachers need to be aware of depression. We need to spend more time talking to our children as skilled health professionals.'' Families and patients chose with their clinicians among possible treatment options, including cognitive-behavior therapy Cognitive-behavior therapy A form of psychotherapy that seeks to modify behavior by manipulating the environment to change the patient's response. Mentioned in: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and medication. When offered a choice of treatments, there was a tendency to choose psychotherapy over medication, highlighting the value of increasing the availability of effective talk therapies. Eric Leach, (805) 583-7602 eric.leach(at)dailynews.com |
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