Program Description and Objectives

Depressive disorders are the most common mental health problem and constitute one of the important public health issues and are even perceived as a social problem. The incidence of depression in older people ranges from several to even several dozen percent of the studied population.

Depression in old age has multifactorial determinants, including: morphological and functional changes in the aging brain, multimorbidity, sociodemographic and psychological factors. Studies have shown that chronic illnesses, especially those causing pain or functional limitations, significantly increase the incidence of depression.
 
The main goal of the program is to increase the number of suspected cases of depressive disorders identified among people over 60 years of age living in the Masovian Voivodeship in 2023-2025.

The implementation of the program is also aimed at increasing the availability of services in the field of depressive disorders prevention for people over 60 years of age and increasing the level of knowledge about depressive disorders, as well as improving the mental state of participants who completed the therapeutic process during the period of program implementation.

The program will also include training for doctors and caregivers of older people, aimed at increasing their knowledge of depressive disorders.
 
On the qualification date, applicants must:

• be over 60 years of age;
• live in the Masovian Voivodeship, i.e. be a natural person residing in the Masovian Voivodeship within the meaning of the Civil Code;
• submit a completed informed consent form to participate in the program;
• submit a written declaration that he/she is not currently a participant in another program of a similar nature financed from public funds and is not using any similar benefits financed from public funds at the time of applying to the program (e.g. social security benefits, health insurance benefits, etc.); National Health Fund);
• submit a written declaration that he/she has not been a participant in the program before or has completed participation in the program for at least 6 months
• before,
• obtain a score of at least 6 points on the 15-point Geriatric Depression Rating Scale.

Above content has been machine translated.