Mental health in residential homes: a role for care staff

Two linked studies assess the feasibility of involving care staff in reduci ng the prevalence of depression in homes for older people. Mental health tr aining was provided for care staff, delivered by members of a Community Men tal Health Team for the Elderly. The research programme used quantitative a nd qualitative methods to evaluate the effects of a theoretical training fo r care staff, a sl;stem of mentoring care staff to reinforce the training; and a care-planning intervention for the management of depression which com bined psychosocial and medical approaches. The training programme was posit ively evaluated by the recipients, the trainers and the researcher who obse rved it. The ability of care staff to detect depression improved significan tly over time, and depression was reduced to below case-level in seven of t he eight depressed residents who participated in the care-planning interven tion. This research suggests that psychosocial interventions that involve c ollaboration between carers and residents, supported by a Community Mental Health Team, may have an important part to play in supplementing medical ma nagement of depression in residential care homes.