New, structured approaches to depression treatment, which combine the most effective evidence-based therapies and integrate new, cutting-edge treatments, have been launched at CAMH as part of efforts to continue improving access and care for both adults and youth.
Depression is the most common mental illness, but at least 30 per cent of patients don’t respond to the initial treatment they receive.
“What we’re offering is a standardized, comprehensive treatment for depression, which we expect will lead to better outcomes for patients,” says Dr. Stefan Kloiber, Psychiatrist and Clinician Scientist in the Mood and Anxiety Division and the Campbell Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at CAMH. This new treatment approach, called an integrated care pathway (ICP), has six stages of care for adults.
What does it mean to “standardize” care? Patients with symptoms of depression will receive evidence-based, state-of-the-art treatment in a timely manner. In addition, symptoms are measured using questionnaires, and treatment decisions are based on these measurements, not only on clinical conversations.
Personalized and comprehensive
Although the ICP is highly structured, care is flexible and personalized, with different treatment options at each stage. To provide comprehensive care, there is a multidisciplinary team of physicians, psychologists, social workers and other health-care providers, and family engagement will also be part of the approach.
In the ICP, patients attend cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), receive medications, or both. If the initial treatments aren’t working, patients will progress to the next stage, where further medication options and brain stimulation treatments, such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), will be offered.
