Depression training program for eye health and rehabilitation professionals

Abstract

Purpose. Depression often remains undetected in people with vision impairment. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of a depression training program on practitioners' confidence, perceived barriers, and their likelihood of responding to depression in patients with vision impairment. Methods. This study was a pre and post single group evaluation involving 36 eye health and rehabilitation practitioners. Three 1.5-h group training sessions were held once a week for 3 consecutive weeks. The modules covered (1) understanding depression, (2) detecting depressive symptoms, and (3) developing and implementing referral pathways. Three main outcome measures were assessed: confidence in work..