Lifting the dark clouds of depression in old age

Late-life depression refers to a depressive syndrome occurring in people older than age 65 years. The cut-off age is arbitrary and the condition is heterogeneous in terms of clinical features and coexisting medical disorders. As the population ages, the number of older people with depression is expected to increase and depression is predicted to become the leading cause of disease burden in middle and higher income countries by year 2030. In Australia, 10-15% of community dwelling older people experience depression and the prevalence can be as high as 35% in nursing home residents. Prevalence of late-life depression is higher in hospital settings compared to primary care. Older women are affected by depression twice as many as men. The prevalence and incidence of major depressive disorder will double by the age of 70-85 years.

Validation of the Competency Assessment Tool (CAT)

With the population ageing, the number of seniors with cognitive impairments is growing, as is the number of requests for competency assessments. The Competency Assessment Tool (CAT) was designed to assist health and social service professionals to clinically assess competency. A qualitative study was held to validate de CAT. Five focus group (including elders, caregivers and professionals from organizations protecting elders’ rights) were held, along with ten telephone interviews (with legal practitioners). All participants were asked for their overall opinion of the CAT and its relevance in improving assessments and protecting people’s rights. According to the results, the CAT is an innovative, comprehensive and relevant tool that provides a fair and nuanced assessment of competency. Implementing this tool will help to protect the rights and freedoms of the individuals evaluated by producing an assessment that will make it easier to identify the most appropriate protective measures.

Impact of psychosocial support on well being of HIV infected older adults in Ibadan

Older adults in sub-Sahara African societies are vulnerable group of people due to life experience of hardship, malnutrition, poverty and high susceptibility to chronic diseases like HIV epidemic. Hence, there are very few strategies that currently address the hidden psychosocial problem of HIV among the older adult’s ages 50 years and above. The study investigates the perceived impact of psychosocial supports on the general well-being of older adults in Ibadan.

The study was conducted among older adults attending the General Out-Patient clinic (GOP) and Geriatric Centre of University College Hospital, Ibadan. The study purposively selected 120 older adults ages 50 years and above at the GOP clinic and Geriatric Centre. Ethical consent was received from UCH research ethical committee. The study used a self-constructed instrument tagged Psychosocial Support of HIV/AIDS Older Adults Questionnaire (PSHOAQ). The reliability of the instrument yielded r=0.84 Crobanch Alpha. Four research hypotheses were tested with ANOVA.