A critical need exists for an effective, valid, and reliable method for detecting late-life depression in home care recipients. There is good scientific evidence that training home care nurses to detect depression symptoms will increase appropriate mental health referrals for further evaluation. Depression screening and appropriate referral by the home care therapist (ie, physical, speech, and occupational) and social worker are additional untapped opportunities. Increasing physician awareness about options for depression evaluation in this setting will also help in better addressing this need. This article provides an overview of the issues and challenges in detecting late-life depression and offers strategies to improve detection of this prevalent and treatable medical condition.
