Date of Conferral

2-4-2026

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Deborah Lewis

Abstract

In a comprehensive mental health facility, patients diagnosed with major depression continue to experience depressive symptoms despite treatment. Despite using standard treatment with antidepressants and psychotherapy, facility data showed that 40% of these patients are still experiencing depression symptoms that negatively impact their overall functioning and quality of life. There is evidence supporting exercise as an effective strategy for depression treatment. Therefore, a staff education project was proposed to educate staff about exercise for depression management in adults. A thorough literature search in four databases yielded 12 articles with high quality evidence supporting educating staff to use exercise for depression management. Twelve clinicians participated in an in-person staff education for 2 hours covering types of exercise for depression, benefits, and strategies to integrate exercise into current depression treatment. Staff knowledge was evaluated using pre- and post-test. The mean pretest score was 4.92 (average percentage score of 40.9%). The mean posttest score was 9.917 (average percentage score of 82.7%), and there was a statistically significant improvement in staff knowledge using a paired t-test analysis (p < 0.001). The staff education program is a feasible approach to improve staff knowledge and capability to implement exercise as a depression treatment. Exercise can be integrated into practice settings as a core treatment for depression. It is versatile and customizable, can be used alone or with existing treatment regimens, has little to no side effects, and can be used for a diverse patient population with different sociodemographic groups. This project contributes to social change by empowering interdisciplinary clinical staff to manage depression for adults using a novel and sustainable approach.

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