Development and Evaluation of a Regional Collaborative Care Model for the Early Management of Depression in Primary Care

Interdisciplinary collaboration between general practitioners (GPs), psychotherapists (PTs) and psychiatrists (PYs) is insufficient but could improve guideline-based healthcare delivery for patients with depression. Collaborative care may help strengthening coordination and facilitating timely access to specialised treatment. This pilot study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a regional collaborative care model for the early management of depression in primary care and perceptions of interdisciplinary collaboration from the perspective of GPs, PTs and PYs. The study evaluates a complex intervention consisting of two complementary components: a) regional structured collaboration pathway between participating GPs and the regional psychiatric outpatient centre (POC) Lohr: GPs will referral adult patients with depressive symptoms to the psychiatric outpatient centre where the will participate on a 12-week multidisciplinary treatment, b) educational workshop for GPs about diagnosis and brief interventions for depression as well a survey and in-depth interviews about interdisciplinary collaboration between GPs, PTs and PYs. The study aims to evaluate the feasibility of the regional collaborative pathway and to understand the barriers and facilitators of interdisciplinary collaboration.