Follow-up post boosts care for people with depression

A few follow-up phone calls and tools for people to monitor their symptoms can significantly help people being treated by their GP for depression. Researchers from the University of Michigan studied 186 people who were being treated for the condition; 120 of them received the follow-up care and 66 received 'care as usual.' The follow-up care included interventions such as self-monitoring tools so people could keep an eye on their symptoms and follow-up telephone calls from a care manager. After 18 months 49.2% of the people receiving follow-up care were in remission, compared to 27.3% of people in the usual-care control group.