Mental Health Care
Saturday, June 12th, 2010Many older people and many nursing care home residents suffer from mental health problems. Unfortunately, these conditions often go untreated because older individuals find themselves in facilities without adequate mental health resources.
In addition to well known problems like dementia many older individuals suffer from other problems such as depression. In many cases these problems go undiagnosed and destroy a patient’s quality of life.
This means that you should always try to find facilities that offer their residents adequate mental health care. Fortunately all that’s required to find such communities is a little checking.
A facility should at least have a geriatric psychologist or psychiatrist on staff or on call to treat patients. Geriatric psychologists and psychiatrists specialize in treating older people with mental problems.
Homes should also have programs and procedures for dealing with older people with mental problems. An example of this would be a nurse or aide who is specifically trained to deal with such individuals.
Some homes may offer group therapy and other treatments in addition to traditional care. Others may have transportation available to take patients to mental health treatment outside the facility. At the least the staff should be familiar with psychiatric drugs and how to administer them.