Depression Treatment by Non-Mental-Health Providers: Incremental Evidence for the Effectiveness of Listening Visits

Rebecca L. Brock, Michael W. O'Hara, Lisa S. Segre

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Maternal depression is a prevalent public health problem, particularly for low-income mothers of young children. Intervention development efforts, which often focus on surmounting instrumental barriers to care, have not successfully engaged and retained women in treatment. Task-sharing approaches like Listening Visits (LV) could overcome key instrumental and psychological barriers by leveraging the access of trusted, community caregivers to deliver treatment. A recent randomized controlled trial (RCT) demonstrated the efficacy of LV delivered by non-mental-health providers as compared to usual care. The present report presents results from a follow-up phase of that RCT during which participants who had completed LV were followed for an additional 8 weeks and completed measures of depression and quality of life. In addition, participants who were initially randomized to the wait-list control group received LV and were assessed. Treatment gains previously observed in participants completing LV were enhanced during the 8-week follow-up period. Participants receiving LV during the follow-up period experienced significant improvement in depressive symptoms. Results demonstrate the sustainability of LV delivered by non-mental-health providers, and provide preliminary evidence for the replicability of this approach in a sample of predominately low-income pregnant women and mothers of young children.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)172-183
Number of pages12
JournalAmerican Journal of Community Psychology
Volume59
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2017

Keywords

  • Depression
  • Listening visits
  • Low income
  • Mothers of young children
  • Non-mental-health providers
  • Pregnant women
  • Sustainability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health(social science)
  • Applied Psychology
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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