My watch knows when I’m anhedonic: wearable technology and social functioning in older adults with depression

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Dave Steele explores a recent literature review about the impact and measurement of social dysfunction in late life depression, which focuses on how wearable technology can be used to measure and support social functioning in older adults.

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Life’s good under one roof: can co-residing with our adult children prevent depression in later life?

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Farhana Mann and Gemma Lewis pore over an instrumental variable study, which looks at the effect of co-residing with adult children on depression in later life.

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Depression in later life: who benefits most from antidepressants plus exercise?

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Linda Gask explores an RCT of physical exercise for depression in later life, which considers the best way to customise the intervention for primary care.

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Two-question screening for depression in older adults

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Andrew Sommerlad reviews a new systematic review and meta-analysis and asks: Can two questions identify depression in older people?

This is the second in a new series of Mental Elf blogs produced in partnership with the British Journal of Psychiatry.

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Third wave psychotherapies for depression and anxiety in older people

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Sarah McDonald is left feeling frustrated by this meta-analysis of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy for depression and anxiety in older people.

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Collaborative care may help older adults with subthreshold depression: CASPER trial

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Ben Hannigan summarises the new CASPER trial of collaborative care versus usual care for older adults with subthreshold depression.

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Is there still a digital divide in mental health?

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Lisa Marzano writes her debut elf blog on a recent cross-sectional survey of Internet use in people with psychosis and depression, which explores the extent of the digital divide in mental health.

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The apples and oranges of social relationships: what are we measuring and how?

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Farhana Mann presents a helpful summary of a number of different tools that have been used in the study of social relationships, as they relate to health and social service use and cardiovascular outcomes.

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Rape of older people: challenging the ‘Real Rape’ stereotype

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Jill Manthorpe welcomes a recent paper by Bows & Westmarland, which provides a very useful summary of research about the rape and sexual violence committed against older women in the UK.

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Independent living: what matters most to very old people?

Older people with learning disabilities need opportunities to speak for themselves

Jill Manthorpe reports on an Australian qualitative study on what independent living means to very old people.

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