Improving Adolescent Depression in Primary Care: A Quality Improvement Initiative

J Nurse Pract. 2023 Mar;19(3):104503. doi: 10.1016/j.nurpra.2022.11.013. Epub 2023 Jan 27.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has exacerbated and increased the prevalence of depression in adolescents. There is significant evidence supporting best practices for treating adolescent depression; yet, many adolescents remain unidentified or untreated by their primary care provider. For this quality improvement initiative, the Guidelines for Adolescent Depression in Primary Care (GLAD-PC) were implemented in a primary care setting. After GLAD-PC implementation, 90% of participants identified as having depression received an intervention compared with 60% of patients in the baseline group. The results showed that implementing GLAD-PC led to a significant increase in the treatment of adolescent depression in primary care.

Keywords: adolescent; depression; primary care; screening; treatment.