By: Steven Atkinson, PA-C, MS, Founder & Partner at Twin Cities Physicians
Clinical depression in the elderly is common, affecting approximately 6 million older adults. Being depressed almost always risks a concomitant anxiety disorder. These diagnoses alone heighten other problems, such as cardiac diseases and doubling the risk of death caused by suicide compared with the general population. The problem is only about 10% of those elderly adults ever receive treatment. Evidence for this suggests that depression and anxiety affects older adults differently than younger people, so it often goes under recognized. What may be thought of as a consequence of a co-morbid disease, may actually be depression. This webinar will demonstrate how to recognize the under recognized and give you the best treatment options available.
This session will cover the following objectives/questions:
- Why ethical treatment of depression and anxiety for seniors is important.
- How Geriatric depression and anxiety is diagnosed accurately.
- What treatment options are available for senior patients.
Steven Atkinson, PA-C, MS, Founder & Partner at Twin Cities Physicians: Steven Atkinson, Board Certified Physician Assistant specializing in Geriatric Internal Medicine, is Founder and Partner of Twin Cities Physicians, a growing on-site primary care practice serving senior living communities throughout the Twin Cities & southern Minnesota. He also serves as a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Utah since 1994 and has been involved in medicine since 1988. Steven is a dynamic speaker and lectures both nationally and internationally. He is also a published author in the area of Geriatric Pharmacology. Steven enjoys working with the elderly and considers it his “passion” in life. His positive personality and energy have earned him several local awards in the arena of Geriatric Adult Medicine.
Research articles:
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/Suicide-DataSheet-a.pdf
Mulsant and Ganguli, J Clin Psychiatry, 1999; Burrows et al. J Am Geriatr Soc, 1995; Kessler et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 2005.
Arroll B, Goodyear-Smith, F. Validation of PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 to Screen for Major Depression in the Primary Care Population. Ann Fam Med. 2010;8(4):348-353
