Nursing Homes Can Be Depressing

Elderly people in a long-term care facility are more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant and to report feeling depressed than their counterparts living in a home health care setting, according to a study done by social work students at Indiana State University.

The study, which involved 272 seniors with an average age of 81, examined how often they reported feeling depressed and were prescribed antidepressants, either through a long-term care facility or a home-care agency.

At the long-term care facility, 30% of the elderly patients reported feeling depressed and half of them had been prescribed an antidepressant at some point after admission.

Of the elderly patients who received home-care, 11% reported feeling depressed and only a quarter of them had been prescribed an antidepressant.

Jodi Shapuras and Lindsay Egan, the students at ISU who conducted the study, were not surprised by their results. "We actually hypothesized that the long-term care patients would utilize antidepressants more and would self-report depression more," said Egan. "When an individual moves to a long-term care facility, they undergo a tremendous amount of changes. They are no longer able to live independently and are relying on others for care, and this greatly affects how they feel about themselves and the world around them."

According to a press release, Shapuras and Egan presented the findings of their study at ISU's 12th annual Undergraduate and Graduate Research Showcase, and received first place in the undergraduate oral presentation division.