Citation

Ashaolu B, Noureddine N. Pac. J. Health (Stockt) 2023; 6(1): e13.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, University of the Pacific)

DOI

10.56031/2576-215X.1021

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

It has been established that due to several factors, African American adults and older adults in the United States respond poorly to pharmacologic intervention in treating depression. The study will help to provide evidence and raise awareness on how to better serve the African American population with depression. This systematic review of the literature examines the effectiveness of using modified evidence-based psychotherapy and faith-based resources in improving depression among older African American adults over the use of conventional pharmacological intervention. 21 studies that recommended utilizing psychotherapy intervention to improve depression in this population were reviewed to better understand the need for using modified psychotherapy and faith-based for African American adults and older adults. All the reviewed articles concluded that modified psychotherapy is a better intervention for African American adults and older adults than pharmacological intervention. Given the composition of African Americans used for the studies reviewed, more clinical research is needed to accommodate the diverse cultures among African Americans. This study presents evidence on the effectiveness of using psychotherapy and faith-based resources in improving depression among African American adults and older adults in lieu of using pharmacological intervention for which this population demonstrated extremely poor response.