Department of Nursing, Tzu Chi College of Technology, Hualien, Taiwan.
J Clin Nurs. 2013 Jun;22(11-12):1663-71. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2012.04276.x. Epub 2012 Sep 18.
To describe healthcare providers' views on depression and its prevention in older people.
There is an urgent need to develop public health approaches to depression prevention in older adults because of the growing older population and the high rate of depression among community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan. Prior studies have focused on the prevalence of and risk factors for depression in Taiwanese community-dwelling older adults. Research from the viewpoints of prevention and healthcare providers is needed to guide these approaches.
A qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews.
A purposive sample of 25 healthcare providers was recruited from a city in northern Taiwan. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews and analysed using thematic analysis.
Results were embedded within four major themes: lack of children's support, maladaptation to distressing life circumstances in late life, innate vulnerability in the individuals and being unaware of or reluctant to accept an illness.
Participants' accounts of depression and its prevention were conceptualised within the family and socio-cultural contexts older adults lived in. Lack of children's support was reported as a main contributor to depression in older adults. Society was reported as the main context in which depression prevention intervention should take place. Communal activities were described as important for mental wellness and depression prevention.
Study findings show how family, Chinese culture and socio-economic circumstances influence accounts of depression and its prevention in older adults. Attention to the cultural construction of meanings may help extend our vision beyond a focus on the biomedical discourse and promote innovative ways of tackling depression that match the policy goals with the needs of older adults and community.
描述医疗保健提供者对老年人抑郁及其预防的看法。
由于人口老龄化和台湾社区老年人中抑郁率高，迫切需要制定针对老年人预防抑郁的公共卫生方法。先前的研究侧重于台湾社区老年人中抑郁的患病率和危险因素。需要从预防和医疗保健提供者的角度进行研究，为这些方法提供指导。
一项涉及半结构化访谈的定性研究。
从台湾北部一个城市中招募了 25 名医疗保健提供者的目的样本。通过深入的个人访谈收集数据，并使用主题分析进行分析。
结果嵌入在四个主要主题中：缺乏子女的支持、晚年适应痛苦生活环境不良、个体内在脆弱性以及对疾病缺乏认识或不愿意接受。
参与者对抑郁及其预防的描述是在老年人生活的家庭和社会文化背景下进行的。缺乏子女的支持被认为是老年人抑郁的主要原因。社会被认为是预防抑郁干预应该发生的主要环境。社区活动被描述为心理健康和预防抑郁的重要因素。
研究结果表明家庭、中国文化和社会经济环境如何影响老年人对抑郁及其预防的看法。关注文化意义的构建可能有助于我们超越对生物医学话语的关注，并促进与老年人和社区的需求相匹配的创新方式来解决抑郁问题，以实现政策目标。
