ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on loss of health and depression. As depression is so common and may present in so many ways, it is wise to administer screening tests as a routine part of the assessment of old people. For most people who are depressed in the context of an acute physical illness, it is perhaps best to treat the physical illness first and review the patient in two to three weeks to see if the depression has resolved. The Geriatric Depression Scale is probably the most useful in older patients. Hospital routines are not always conducive to well-being and few older patients after discharge wished that they had spent more time in hospital. Interviews of hospitalised patients in Australia revealed that all of them felt depressed. Thirty per cent of people with Chronic obstructive airways disease are depressed. Depression is also a factor in the frequency of hospital readmissions for acute exacerbations.
