'Depression' Is Newest Disability Intensive Course Introduced To College Of Direct Support Curriculum

The College of Direct Support (CDS), an internet-based college for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and managed in partnership by Elsevier I MC Strategies and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center, has introduced its newest Disability Intensive Course (DIC) into the CDS Curriculum "Depression."


The course on "Depression" is an introduction to a mental health condition and in it, users will learn about the different forms of depression and how it may affect the individuals supported and other people. Depression is a common illness that spans all ages. Direct Support Professionals studying this course will learn to identify the signs and symptoms of depression and the common treatment options, and will help DSPs identify some common prevention and recovery tools. These tools can help those supported and people living with depression.


This is the third DIC course to be added to the CDS curriculum, joining courses on "Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders" and "Cerebral Palsy." Kelly Nye, Project Coordinator at the Institute on Community Integration (ICI), authored this course, and the internal course editors were Nancy McCulloh and Susan O'Nell, Project Coordinators at the ICI at the University of Minnesota. The ICI team creates and authors all CDS courses.


"CDS strives to be at the cutting edge of issues for Direct Support Professionals, and this disability intensive course on Depression provides a wealth of information for DSPs related to symptoms, causes, treatment and recovery," Nye said of the course she authored. "It also provides DSPs with an improved set of skills to work in their given field to provide the most comprehensive care to individuals with depression. We are pleased to provide DSPs with new and useful information to assist them in their roles as front line leaders in the field of disability services."


A DIC is a specialized course within the CDS that focuses on one disability or condition. Unlike other CDS courses, they have only one lesson. Each course defines and describes the nature of a specific condition. It has information about the causes, characteristics and symptoms, and shares some stories of people who have this condition.