Awareness of depression at the reception desk: education for primary care receptionists

Authors: White, Corinna; Riley, Anthony; Smith, Steve

Source: Education for Primary Care, Volume 19, Number 2, March 2008 , pp. 173-190(18)

Publisher: Radcliffe Publishing Ltd.

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $20.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN IN THIS AREA

• Depressed patients faced barriers upon accessing care.

• Improved access may prove beneficial with regard to prognosis for the patient.

• Training has been shown to have an impact on receptionists' attitudes to their work by enhancing their morale and acknowledging their role as an integral and important part of the service offered.

WHAT THIS WORK ADDS

• Receptionists valued knowing about a common mental health problem, suffered by many of the patients they communicate with on a daily basis.

• Education on depression produced attitudinal and behavioural changes in receptionists toward patients showing signs of depression, which were sustained over time.

• Many practices do have informal receptionist desk procedures but most do not have a written protocol. Despite offering substantial support to practices in writing a protocol, more work to engage appropriate agents of change within the practice would be required to do so.

• Receptionists could benefit from having more structured or regular support mechanisms.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

• What support mechanisms work well for practice receptionists and what is their impact?

• How to successfully implement change mechanisms in the general practice setting.

Keywords: GENERAL PRACTICE; PRIMARY HEALTH; PRIMARY HEALTHCARE TEAM; SMALL GROUP LEARNING; WORKSHOPS

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2008-03-01

More about this publication?