The purpose of this study was to identify effective treatment to manage the depression of older residents.

Using Klein and Bloom’s criteria, we analyzed the number of subjects, designs and methodologies, residential types, intervention types and duration of treatment, standardized measures, and findings. Data searches were conducted to classify empirical studies and to review empirical literature published from 2007 to 2014. A systematic research synthesis of 25 articles was conducted to investigate how various treatments affected depression among older residents.

The results show that antidepressant medication treatment appears less efficacious in treating less severe depression.

These findings reveal that minor depression should be treated initially with a nonpharmacologic intervention to avoid unnecessary medication risks. The findings further suggest the need for more comprehensive analyses of longitudinal research and the need for more studies that examine the combination of medication and psychotherapy for depressed older adults.