Family Medicine & Medical Science Research
Open Access

Abstract

Implementing an Educational Program to Enhance Identification, Diagnosis and Treatment of Adolescent Depression into Primary Care in Guatemala

Garcia-Ortega I, Rodriguez J, Escobar-Martinez A and Kutcher S

Depression is projected to become the leading cause of disability and second leading contributor to the global burden of disease by the year 2020. Depression commonly has its onset in adolescence-early adulthood, affecting 6-8% of young people during that time span. Youth onset of Depression usually develops into a chronic condition with substantial morbidity and increased mortality. If untreated, depression can negatively impact the life of an adolescent and in some cases lead to suicide. Early identification and effective treatment provided in primary health care, can decrease depression related morbidity and mortality. “Identification, Diagnosis and Treatment of Adolescent Depression, A Package for Primary Health Care Providers” is an evidence-based educational program, designed to enhance the knowledge of primary health care providers to better identify, assess, diagnose and treat adolescent depression. This educational program has been field tested in Canada and is accredited as a Continuing Medical Education in Canada. The program has been translated into Spanish and culturally adapted for the Latin America context. The present article describes the process to establish a ‘Train the Trainers’ program to integrate the educational program into primary health care in Guatemala.