Clinics try new approach to depression
Sherry Claude recalls the first time she saw a doctor for depression. She had been in a "down mood" for three weeks when she worked up the courage to make an appointment.
Her doctor, a general practitioner, brushed aside her concerns.
"He told me I really just had the blues and I should go home and practice some affirmations," she recalled.
For Claude, it took years before she finally got a diagnosis -- bipolar disorder, once known as manic-depression -- and the treatment she needed.
Now 51 and an executive assistant at a Shoreview technology company, Claude knows from personal experience how tough it can be to cope with mental illness. But she hopes that's about to change.
Minnesota clinics are starting to overhaul how depression is managed. It's part of a growing movement to control skyrocketing costs of chronic illness in a whole new way: by helping patients choose and stick to healthier lifestyles.
In March, 10 Minnesota clinics joined the first wave of the project, known as DIAMOND (Depression Improvement Across Minnesota, Offering a New Direction). If all goes as planned, it's expected to spread statewide by 2010.
The key is for clinics to hire depression "care managers" -- nurses, social workers or even medical assistants with scant training in mental health. Their job: to call patients routinely and ask if they are taking their medicine, having side effects, getting better or need a treatment change.
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