ABSTRACT
Depression isealth concern, not justental health concern. This chapter will review the literature on the links between depression and medical burden, and the links between depression and physical health in older adults. Studies conducted on our urban samples will be described, methods of measuring depression will be discussed, and the empirical results of our behavioral treatment program will be analyzed. The significance of depression in the context of health care settings will be amplified, both by its prevalence and its effects on health outcomes. In this chapter, the empirical evidence to support the link between depression and health outcomes is presented, and inater chapter, the specific method of depression treatment will be described.
