Regular Research ArticlesHome-Delivered Problem Adaptation Therapy (PATH) for Depressed, Cognitively Impaired, Disabled Elders: A Preliminary Study
Section snippets
Participants
Elderly participants (age ≥65 years) were recruited through the Community Network Unit of Weill-Cornell Advanced Center for Interventions and Services Research (ACISR) located at a University Hospital in Westchester County, NY. Participants were community elders responding to an advertisement for geriatric depression or receiving home-delivered meals through the Home-Delivered Meals Program of the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services, a collaborating agency of the
RESULTS
A total of 37 potential participants were referred to the study; 30 agreed to participate and were randomized to PATH (N = 15) or ST (N = 15) (Fig. 1). The participants were of advanced age, and most had high-school or higher education (Table 1). Participants suffered from major depression of mild to moderate severity. Their cognitive impairment ranged from mild cognitive deficits to mild dementia. The participants' executive functioning was significantly impaired as indicated by their DRS IP
CONCLUSIONS
The principal finding of this study is that home-delivered PATH is more efficacious than home-delivered ST in reducing depression and disability in elders with major depression, cognitive impairment, and disability. Moreover, the comparable rates of treatment satisfaction between PATH and ST participants suggest that these effects were not a byproduct of patient enjoyment. Although the study is preliminary and results need to be confirmed with a large sample, this finding is encouraging because
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This work was supported by NIMH grant K23 MH074659 and P30 MH085943, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), and MINT Health Foundation.