ONLINE DEPRESSION EDUCATION FOR PRIMARY CARE PROVIDERS

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DESCRIPTION: Nineteen million adults suffer from depression and it is the leading cause of disability in the United States and a leading cause of suicide. Yet there is clear evidence that primary care physicians --those who treat the majority of depression cases are undertreating depression. During Phase I we developed and implemented a successful Internet based CME course on diagnosing depression. During Phase II we will create a complete continuing education program of 6 Internet-based courses on the topic of depression diagnosis and treatment in the primary care setting. Courses will be approved by the University of Pittsburgh for CE credit and/or by the American Academy of Family Physicians. The Principal Investigator, Co-PI, and an esteemed group of depression and education consultants will apply an approach used in the development of other CE projects to expand upon the work done in Phase I. The Web-based courses will emphasize learning via a case-based approach. In addition, courses will be enhanced to include unique features possible with web-based courses including support for user control and feedback, discussion/communication, an accompanying news/resource area, patient education materials, and links to other information resources. A standard rapid-prototyping formative analysis technique will utilize consultation with and review by our consultant experts as well as input from potential end-users to produce successively improved versions of each course. If successful, this project will affect improved knowledge, attitude, depression clinical skills, self-efficacy, and awareness of resources. We will evaluate the benefits of the educational experience offered by the courses by using a two-group, pre-post testing design. Over a six-month period, the study group will be required to view all of the web-based courses. The control group will view courses of the same format that are on other clinical topics and do not include any information on depression. We will also assess overall user satisfaction with the online learning experience in terms of course elements, comparison to other learning experiences, and perceived impact. If the courses are successful, this project will produce a new means to educate physicians in depression diagnosis and treatment techniques. The methodology used in this research will serve as a template to guide other Investigators interested in developing other mental health continuing education materials. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: NOT AVAILABLE