PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS FOR ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH RECURRENT MAJORDEPRESSION AND THEIR FAMILIES

Objective: This report details an extension of the use of psychoeducat ional workshops with psychiatric patients and their families of elderl y patients with recurrent unipolar late-life depression. Methods: Subj ects were 132 participants in a study of maintenance therapies for lat e-life depression and their 182 family members and significant others who accepted invitations to single-session family workshops. Participa nts provided feedback on their satisfaction with the content and quali ty of the workshops. Associations between workshop attendance, prework shop demographic and clinical characteristics, treatment adherence, an d outcome were explored through comparisons between 108 patients who a ttended workshops and 24 patients who declined the workshop invitation . Results: Favorable feedback from participants suggested that the ext ension of the workshops to families of elderly patients with depressio n was successful. Workshop attendance was associated with a lower rate of dropout during continuation treatment. Conclusions: Results associ ating workshop refusal and treatment dropout, as well as the overall t reatment compliance and retention rates in this randomized clinical tr ial involving geriatric patients, support the need for further study o f factors relating to elderly patients' willingness to engage in famil y-centered interventions.