Valuing and Identifying Elderly Wants for Services (VIEWS)
 

Principal Investigator: Nancy Morrow-Howell, PhD, PI
Funder: No external funding at this time. 
Timeframe: Pilot work 3/07-10/07.
Affiliation: Center for Mental Health Services Research (CMHSR)

Project Staff:   Enola Proctor, PhD, and Martha Shumway, PhD, Co-PIs; Brian Carpenter, PhD, Sue Pfefferle, PhD, Paul Sacco, MSW, NIDA pre-doctoral trainee, Investigators; Erin Leaver, BA, Field Coordinator.

 

Participating Organizations:

St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (AAA)

Project Contact: Erin Leaver, eleaver@wustl.edu, (314) 935-9796

 

Project Update as of 9/27/07:

Stage:  Pilot work in progress.  Planning an R-01 or R-34 grant proposal submission to NIH.
 

Description:

This continuation of work is based on Morrow-Howell and Proctor’s clinical epidemiological study of depression in community long-term care, “Service Use and Outcomes in Community Long Term Care:  Burden of Depression” (NIA funded, 2000-2004, R01 AG17451), based in Division of Senior Services and Regulations (DSSR) service regions of St. Louis area and Southeast Missouri.  This new project simply extends this work to a new agency, the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (AAA) and adds one stakeholder group—the family members of older adults.  It addresses a concern that emerged repeatedly in prior research, specifically in focus groups:  that many clients do not share their case managers’ perspective that depression is a concern and may require some treatment.  The pilot work is the first step in understanding the extent and direction of agreement between older adults, their social service case managers, and their family members about the importance of depression treatment.  The results may be pivotal in determining which clients are identified for depression treatment and how to connect these clients with their preferred depression treatment most effectively. 

 

The study aims include:  1) Characterize the priority of client depression in the context of other problems as viewed by three stakeholder groups (clients, family, and case manager),  2) Identify client factors (i.e., treatment history, depression severity, attitudes, and competing priorities) and provider factors (i.e., knowledge and competing demands) associated with depression as a priority, and 3) Assess the extent of concordance between stakeholders regarding depression as a priority, and 4) Explore the impact of concordance between stakeholders for depression priorities and mental health service use and receptivity.