Depression in the Elderly

Your instructor for this course is Benjamin Pearce, he is the author of Management Curriculum, Assisted Living Training System. Accounting Systems and Risk Management for Assisted Living published by Assisted Living University Press, 1998, and a book entitled Senior Living Communities: Operations Management and Marketing for Assisted Living, Congregate, and Continuing-Care Retirement Communities, a definitive work which summarizes two decades of senior housing operational expertise encompassing over 100 communities in 23 states, currently in its second printing published by The Johns Hopkins University Press. Mr. Pearce teaches graduate level classes on senior housing and is a faculty member of the Real Estate Institute at New York University and Johns Hopkins University. He also serves on the editorial advisory boards of Resident Life/Assisted Living Success magazine, Briefings on Assisted Living, and Assisted Living Executive Report. He is also the President and Chief Executive Officer of Potomac Homes, the residential alternative to institutional care for Alzheimer's disease and related dementia enabling residents to enjoy the benefits of full-time, professional care in a familiar home setting.

This course covers the following topics:

• Depression in the Elderly
• What is Depression?
• Clinical Depression
• What Causes Depression?
• Causes – Psychological Factors
• Causes – Environmental Factors
• Causes – Physical Factors
• Causes – Personality Factors
• Causes - Medications
• Can anxiety lead to depression?
• Delirium
• Depression
• Differentiating Dementia, Depression, and Delirium in the Elderly
• Signs and Symptoms of Depression
• Difficult to Diagnose
• Why it is important to treat
• Proper treatment can prevent suicide
• Passive Suicide
• Treatments for Depression
• Treatment Methods
• Counseling and Psychotherapy
• Antidepressant Medications
• Antidepressant Medications – How they work
• Factors which can delay results
• Evaluate First
• Self-help Activities
• How can I help?
• Can Depression be prevented?
• Cornell Scale of Depression in Dementia
• Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

In this course you will learn:

• What depression is and what causes it
• How to differentiate between dementia, depression, and delirium in the elderly
• Signs and symptoms of depression
• Different treatments and treatment methods for depression in the elderly

• NAB: This educational offering has been reviewed by the National Continuing Education Review Service (NCERS) of the National Association of Boards of Examiners of Long Term Care Administrators (NAB) and approved for 2 clock hours.
• California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS): PCE # 3291
• California RCFE and ARF: Approval pursuant to NAB and BBS approval
• Oregon Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators: 2007-040: General 2 Ethics:0
• Kansas Department of Health and Environment: Approval #: LTS -A1138