Mental Health Blog

GLAD-PC Toolkit Is Here to Help You Treat Depression

The new edition of Guidelines for Adolescent Depression in Primary Care (GLAD-PC) is now available on The REACH Institute website. This practical toolkit offers dozens of resources to help pediatric primary care providers diagnose and treat depression.

  • General screening tools to identify psychosocial and health-related risk factors
  • Depression-specific screening tools for patients, parents, and clinicians, some in multiple languages
  • DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for the range of depressive conditions, with guidelines for differential diagnosis
  • Advice on treatment options including evidence-based psychopharmacology and psychotherapy
  • Forms to facilitate referrals to mental health professionals
  • Education materials for adolescents and their families
  • Guidance on billing for mental health interventions in primary care

The new edition is a thorough revision of the GLAD-PC toolkit first published in 2007. Its practical tools enable clinicians to implement the depression treatment guidelines published in February 2018 in Pediatrics. New features include:

  • The new GLAD-PC recommendations for practice preparation and identification, assessment, initial management, treatment, and ongoing management of depressive conditions
  • The Whole Child Assessment, a self-report tool on general physical, mental, and emotional health factors, including adverse childhood events
  • Versions of the depression-specific self-report tool Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in a dozen languages, including not only English and Spanish but also Chinese, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Russian, and more
  • Up-to-date billing codes from the American Academy of Pediatrics for mental health assessment and depression care in primary practice

“More than a decade had passed since the original publication of GLAD-PC,” said Rachel Zuckerbrot, MD, one of the toolkit’s authors. “Though most of the tools and guidelines had stood the test of the time, some needed to be updated. My co-authors and I are proud to support primary care providers in helping the whole child, body and mind.”

The GLAD-PC toolkit is published by The REACH Institute and written by Amy Cheung, MD; Rachel A. Zuckerbrot, MD; and Peter S. Jensen, MD.

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