Guided Self-Help for Depression in Parkinson's Disease
Guided Self-Help for Depression in Parkinson's Disease
The purpose of this project is to develop and pilot-test a guided cognitive-behavioral
 self-help program for mild-to-moderate depression in Parkinson's disease (dPD). We will
 pilot-test the guided self-help treatment on 20 people with PD and their caregivers. The
 manual will be revised based on participant feedback. Several feasibility measures regarding
 the guided self-help program (i.e., recruitment, retention, enjoyment, helpfulness,
 adherence) will also be assessed. Moreover, preliminary estimates of effect size for this
 guided self-help program will be calculated and used in future research. We hypothesize that
 people with PD will report decreases in depression, anxiety, and negative thoughts and
 improvements in quality life and sleep and that caregivers will report decreases in burden
 after participating in the guided self-help program
To our knowledge, Cognitive-Behavioral self-help interventions remain unexplored for
 depression in PD to date. The results of this study will be used to support future treatment
 development efforts for depression and other psychiatric complications in PD that may improve
 the access to and quality of mental health care in this medical population.
Inclusion Criteria:

 1. Previous diagnosis of Parkinson's disease by a general neurologist or Movement
 Disorders Specialist

 2. Clinically significant depression as determined by study staff

 3. 35-85 years old

 4. Stable medication regimen ≥ 6 weeks

 5. No change in mental health treatment in past 2 months _

 Exclusion Criteria:

 1. Severe depressive symptoms

 2. Suicidal plans or intent

 3. Significant cognitive impairment

 4. Significant motor fluctuations (i.e., ≥ 50% of the day)

 5. Unstable medical conditions

 6. Receiving CBT elsewhere