$720,000 to fight depression associated with chronic diseases
Researchers at St-Mary's Hospital Center are launching a project to tackle depression in patients suffering from a chronic disease.
On the International Day for Mental Health, St. Mary's Hospital Centre (SMHC) is launching an ambitious project to develop new tools to fight depression associated with chronic diseases. The multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Jane McCusker, of SMHC, received a $720,000 grant over four years from the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) to study and design an innovative therapeutic approach based on self-management. This study will involve many clinical sites throughout the greater Montreal area in order to sample a diversified population.
Many patients with a chronic medical condition suffer from symptoms of depression. Since depression is a major world-wide cause of loss of healthy years of life, when it is added to patient's clinical portrait, it makes an already complex chronic treatment even more complicated to manage. Hence, mood disorders can have important negative effects on the outcome of chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, or others.
"In my family practice I see individuals struggling with the combined symptoms of depression and chronic illness. This is challenging for both doctor and patient to successfully address," explains Dr Mark Yaffe, of SMHC. "The goal of this research project is to explore how newly evolving tools may be promoted by family physicians to their patients and how patients accommodate their use-optimally with improvement in both physical and mental health"
It is difficult to evaluate the number of people suffering from depression as a consequence of their chronic disease because family physicians are often not well equipped to diagnose and treat this type of pathology. This study will evaluate in detail the pertinence of existing tools for family physicians, and provide suggestions on how to improve their efficiency and to best oversee their utilization.
"This is an ambitious project because it aims at helping both the patients and the physicians. By informing the physicians, and providing tools of self-management to empower the patients to play an active role in controlling their negative mood, we want to promote a pro-active and positive approach for both sides," explains Dr McCusker.
Researchers want to use a complete range of self-management tools (including work-books and internet courses) to help patients to monitor depression and to tackle it through involvement in activities that might include increased physical exercise, social contact, and other pleasant activities. This project fulfills the goals for the reorganization of mental health services as described by the Ministry for health and social services in the Plan d'action en santé mentale for 2005-2010.
Dr Jane McCusker is the Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Communityl Studies at St-Mary's Hospital Center. She is the Principal Investigator for this research project.
Dr Mark Yaffe is a family physician at St-Mary's Hospital Center and an associate professor of Family Medicine at McGill University. He is the family doctor associated with the research team conducting this project.
St. Mary's Hospital Center (SMHC) is a university-affiliated, community hospital which serves a multicultural population. It seeks to provide the highest level of safe patient and family focused care. St. Mary's is an integral part of the Réseau universitaire intégré de santé (RUIS) McGill.