A Collaborative Care Program to Improve Depression Treatment in Cardiac Patients

Depression in cardiac patients is common, persistent, and deadly. However, the vast majority of cardiac patients with depression go unrecognized and untreated, despite the existence of treatments that clearly improve depressive symptoms and may favorably impact survival. Our research group and others have found that depression recognition and treatment appears particularly limited among patients with acute cardiac illness, though this population may be the most vulnerable to the deleterious effects of depression. We propose a project, building on successful collaborative care depression management programs in outpatient settings, to address this important issue.

The specific hypotheses behind the proposed research are that a collaborative care depression management program can be successfully adapted to inpatient cardiac units, and that such a program will lead to greater rates of adequate depression treatment and improvements in secondary outcomes.

The following specific aims capture the stepwise goals of this program:

1. To determine whether a collaborative care depression management program ('Enhanced Care') leads to significantly increased rates of adequate depression treatment compared to usual care (screening and feedback) (Primary Aim).
2. To assess whether this Enhanced Care program has a lasting impact on adequate depression treatment, depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life, and adherence to medical recommendations at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 6 months, compared to usual care.