HEALTH chiefs have carried a project aimed at reducing depression among residents in elderly care homes.

North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (PCT) teamed up with City of York Council and the University of York to research ways to help older people in residential care have a better quality of life.

About 40 per cent of older care home residents are rated as depressed, compared with 25 per cent of older people who receive home care.

The project, funded by NHS Research and Development, involved 14 registered homes for older people in North Yorkshire, focusing on people aged 80 or over.

The 12-week project began with care workers having intensive training about depression and its treatment.

Each care worker was assigned one or two care home residents with whom they already worked, and had access to a community psychiatric nurse or an occupational therapist for advice.

The PCT's director of psychological services for York, Jake Lyne, led the study.

He said: "The care workers identified reasons why a resident may be depressed by looking at their life history, leisure interests and physical health, as well as their relationships within the home.

"This enabled the carer to help the care home resident to identify three or four specific life improvements and a plan for achieving them."

The care plans included re-establishing contact with friends or relatives, resuming a hobby, supportive listening or arranging physical health treatments.

According to Dr Lyne, the results from the research showed that the intervention was effective at reducing depression, and the findings and training methods are now being disseminated across the UK.

"The PCT will continue to engage with our local authority partners to improve services for older people," said Dr Lyne.

Surveys carried out by the PCT have shown that depression is very common among older people in residential care, and can be caused by the loss of relationships through bereavement, loss of a perceived role, or isolation as a result of physical disabilities.

City of York Council's head of adult services, Keith Martin, said: "The council had a number of residential homes involved in the programme, and it has proven very useful in training front-line staff, as well as significantly helping residents."