Community psychiatric nursing in primary care

Abstract

Depression in elderly people is the most common psychiatric problem. The community psychiatric nursing service was developed to provide care for people of all ages living in the community. Since its inception in the mid fifties it has expanded and as with other professions specialization has occurred; working with elderly people now being the largest specialty. The Gospel Oak Depression study was designed to assess the efficacy of a community psychiatric nurse (CPN) acting as a case manager for a group of elderly people identified as having depression, and to highlight specifically what interventions were made. This paper outlines the role of the CPN based in primary care, intervention requested and implemented and difficulties encountered.