Millions of senior-aged Americans suffer from depression, and some estimates show that up to 90 percent of those with late-in-life depression don't receive proper care. Telemedicine may be a solution to this issue, offering a viable alternative to in-person visits and enabling seniors to have access to services that otherwise wouldn't be available to them.
Telemedicine-delivered psychotherapy for older adults with major depression is not inferior to in-person treatment, according to a study published in The Lancet Psychiatry. Study participants included 204 veterans over age 58 diagnosed with major depressive disorder.
Participants were divided into two groups, one receiving telemedicine psychotherapy visits and the other receiving traditional in-person sessions. After about one year of treatment, surveys reflected nearly equal responses to effectiveness of treatment between the two groups. Thirty-nine percent of telemedicine patients and 46 percent of in-person patients reported no longer being depressed, a statistically insignificant difference, according to researchers.