The Treatment Initiation and Participation (TIP) Program is an effective intervention to improve early adherence to antidepressant medication, a recent study found, and improved adherence can promote improvement in depression. In order test the effectiveness of a psychosocial intervention to improve early adherence among older patients whose primary care physician newly initiated an antidepressant for depression, researchers offered the TIP in a 2-site randomized clinical effectiveness study between January 2011 and December 2014 at primary care practices in 2 major US cities. All participants were aged ≥55 years, had received newly initiated depression treatment by their primary care physician, and were recruited within 10 days of their prescription. In total, 167 women (72.3%) and 64 men (27.7%) without significant cognitive impairment were randomly assigned to the TIP intervention (n=115) or treatment as usual (n=116). Researchers found:

• Participants in the TIP group were 5 times more likely to be adherent at 6 weeks and 3 times more likely to be adherent at both 6 and 12 weeks.
• Participants in the TIP group showed a significant earlier reduction (24.9%) in depressive symptoms.