Psychotherapy, social support essential to treat depression - Evidence shows black box warnings have discouraged use of antidepressants in spite of therapeutic benefits - Managed Healthcare Executive
Kaiser Permanente's California region, with 3.3 million members, finds it particularly effective to have behavioral medicine
specialists working within departments of medicine, alongside primary care physicians. These licensed clinical social workers
and psychologists offer direct patient care, as well as referrals (when needed) to the department of psychiatry. Kaiser also
offers free behavioral health education classes for members and spouses; the general public pays a small fee. During 2006
approximately 7,900 people attended its one-day overview of depression, while 5,800 participated in a six-session course,
"Overcoming Depression."
Elaine Zablocki has been reporting on healthcare for more than a dozen years. She can be reached at mhc@ezab.net
This article is based on information supplied by The Medical Letter ( http://www.medicalletter.org/),
a non-profit organization that offers critical appraisals of new drugs and comparative reviews of older drugs. It is independent
of the pharmaceutical industry and supported by subscription sales. Institutional site license inquiries can be sent to info@medicalletter.org .
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