By GREG JORDAN
CEDAR BLUFF — Senior citizens often face an increasing number of challenges such as declining health, declining mobility and the gradual loss of their independence. A recent federal grant to a regional agency will help provide a need that is often missing, the need for mental health care.
Appalachian Agency for Senior Citizens (AASC) has received a federal grant totaling $375,000 to develop a mental health program for frail elderly residents in Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell and Tazewell counties. The program is operated through AASC’s AllCARE for Seniors PACE (Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly).
The grant allows AllCARE to add a mental health specialist to its team, said Director Rose Hurley. With the specialist’s help, patients can seek help for issues they often try to avoid.
“Sometimes there is a stigma to seeking mental health service, and a tendency to want to deny depression and anxiety, particularly in this population,” Hurley said. “And I think there is another barrier. There is a shortage of mental health professionals in our area.”
Sometimes physicians providing general care have to help their patients with mental health issues. The resources for helping the frail elderly with mental health have not been available.
The new counselor provides assessment and counseling services to PACE participants and educational support to their families.
“The target population for us are participants in the PACE program,” Hurley said. “The service now provides, in addition to medical care needs and other services they might require, a way to ensure that mental health care issues are addressed as well.”
Such care can be provided either through referrals or to the mental health counselor who can work with participants daily or weekly. The specialist makes sure the patients are compliant with their medications and offers opportunities to talk about issues troubling them in this stage of their lives, Hurley said.
“This can be loss of family, loss of friends and becoming more dependent on other people,” she said. “Those kind of challenges contribute to their mental health.”
Having a counselor on-site give the patients an avenue to openly discuss whatever could be contributing to their depression and anxiety.
“It’s a lonely time. If you have a lot of health issues, that, too, in itself can contribute to a sense of hopelessness,” Hurley said. “That loss of identity, the loss of independence, and that loss of health can contribute to depression and anxiety and have serious consequences for their quality of life.”
Problems such as depression and dementia also put a strain on the friends and family members caring for the patient. The mental health counselor can help them, too, by offering education and support.
“That kind of service can be one-on-one counseling, group visits or referral to a mental health care provider. Sometimes they (caregivers) need counseling support so they can continue to deal with the challenge,” Hurley said.
For example, the counselor can help the families of patients suffering with dementia learn what to expect and how to deal with the changes they are seeing.
“It’s a real drain on family members to see that member of their family transform in front of their eyes. A counselor can give them reassurance that they are doing the right thing as best they can given the circumstances,” Hurley explained.
Community partners contributing to the mental health project include Cumberland Mountain Community Services, Dickenson County Behavioral Services, and the Appalachian College of Pharmacy.
