The purpose of this study is to design a program to prevent suicide in elderly patients by
educating patients, their families, and physicians on depression and suicidal thoughts.
A program to prevent suicide in elderly patients needs to be developed. Since elderly
patients frequently have doctor's visits, it may be best to have a suicide prevention program
based in the patient's doctor's office.
When an older person visits a primary care physician, he/she will check for signs of
depression, including thoughts of suicide. The doctor will speak to the patient about
depression and how to recognize it. If the individual is diagnosed with depression, the
doctor will offer treatment. During this study, the information the doctor collects will be
used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. The study will last for 2 years.
Eligibility for this study is age of at least 60 years and diagnosis of depression.
(Depression required for 920 of the 1200 patients; 280 patients should have no symptoms of
depression.)