Knowledge Bank

Many young adults entering college experience multiple developmental transitions and challenges to coping during their college career which may increase their risk of depression. Additionally, many young adults experience their first signs of depression just before or during their college years. Depression screening is recommended for adults in practices that can provide resources of diagnosis, effective treatment and follow up. The purpose of this quality improvement project is to develop an evidence-based screening protocol for healthcare providers to use within a college healthcare setting with students aged 18-24 years for earlier identification and treatment of depression. The Model of Evidence-Based Change served as a guide in order to develop the depression screening protocol. A brief needs assessment of current healthcare provider screening practices identified the need for an improved protocol. The development of a standardized evidence-based depression screening protocol utilizing the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was formulated after an extensive review of literature. An educational presentation via a Panopto video was developed for increased provider awareness of the improved protocol and progress note forms were revised to reflect the protocol implementation. A group discussion with healthcare providers was held to share rationale for the development of the protocol and helped to identify thoughts and concerns regarding the protocol implementation. In conclusion, this DNP project will supply healthcare providers with an improved protocol, education and updated documentation forms in order to improve patient outcomes by earlier identification and treatment of depression.