At least 5.6 million to 8 million-nearly one in five-older adults in America have one or more mental health and substance use conditions, which present unique challenges for their care. With the number of adults age 65 and older projected to soar from 40.3 million in 2010 to 72.1 million by 2030, the aging of America holds profound consequences for the nation. For decades, policymakers have been warned that the nation's health care workforce is ill-equipped to care for a rapidly growing and increasingly diverse population. In the specific disciplines of mental health and substance use, there have been similar warnings about serious workforce shortages, insufficient workforce diversity, and lack of basic competence and core knowledge in key areas. Following its 2008 report highlighting the urgency of expanding and strengthening the geriatric health care workforce, the IOM was asked by the Department of Health and Human Services to undertake a complementary study on the geriatric mental health and substance use workforce. The Mental Health and Substance Use Workforce for Older Adults: In Whose Hands? assesses the needs of this population and the workforce that serves it. The breadth and magnitude of inadequate workforce training and personnel shortages have grown to such proportions, says the committee, that no single approach, nor a few isolated changes in disparate federal agencies or programs, can adequately address the issue. Overcoming these challenges will require focused and coordinated action by all.

As the first of the nation's 78 million baby boomers begin reaching age 65 in 2011, they will face a health care workforce that is too small and woefully unprepared to meet their specific health needs. Retooling for an Aging America calls for bold initiatives starting immediately to train all health care providers in the basics of geriatric care and to prepare family members and other informal caregivers, who currently receive little or no training in how to tend to their aging loved ones. The book also recommends that Medicare, Medicaid, and other health plans pay higher rates to boost recruitment and retention of geriatric specialists and care aides. Educators and health professional groups can use Retooling for an Aging America to institute or increase formal education and training in geriatrics. Consumer groups can use the book to advocate for improving the care for older adults. Health care professional and occupational groups can use it to improve the quality of health care jobs.

Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings emphasizes the major research and clinical findings realized in five years of research on mental health issues in older urban medical patients, many of whom represent minority groups. Chapters cover the high comorbidity of health and mental health problems in geriatric patients, neuropsychological (or cognitive) assessment, depression, alcohol abuse in health care settings, emerging behavioral medicine issues, and family relations and their tie to medical settings. As a practitioner, you’ll find this book helps your practice by representing the first assessment and treatment techniques normed and validated on minority elderly. If you’re a professional working in the mental health system, you’ll see how to expand your services to health care markets.Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings devotes three chapters to neuropsychological assessment--first, a review of major principles; second, a new test battery for minorities; and third, extensive review on how to use test results in clinical decision making. Other chapters provide valuable information on: the analysis of outcomes for one thousand 60--103-year-olds a new validated behavioral treatment method for depression methods of detection and treatment of alcohol abuse emerging issues in behavioral medicine, including competency assessments; anxiety and pain disorders; and shaping the referral process family relations and health care, including caregiving and nursing home placement nursing home consultation and survival strategies in health care systemsAs Author Peter A. Lichtenberg describes in the Introduction, each chapter in Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings is multidisciplinary, empirically and statistically investigated, and focused upon urban elderly. “In addition, the major objectives are to provide clinicians with new understandings and new assessment and treatment knowledge to utilize in their practices. Finally, this book is hoped to provide clinicians [with] information about emerging trends in the field, and effective strategies for practice in healthcare settings.”

This open access book provides a comprehensive perspective on the concept of ageism, its origins, the manifestation and consequences of ageism, as well as ways to respond to and research ageism. The book represents a collaborative effort of researchers from over 20 countries and a variety of disciplines, including, psychology, sociology, gerontology, geriatrics, pharmacology, law, geography, design, engineering, policy and media studies. The contributors have collaborated to produce a truly stimulating and educating book on ageism which brings a clear overview of the state of the art in the field. The book serves as a catalyst to generate research, policy and public interest in the field of ageism and to reconstruct the image of old age and will be of interest to researchers and students in gerontology and geriatrics.

The Handbook of Mental Health and Aging, Third Edition provides a foundational background for practitioners and researchers to understand mental health care in older adults as presented by leading experts in the field. Wherever possible, chapters integrate research into clinical practice. The book opens with conceptual factors, such as the epidemiology of mental health disorders in aging and cultural factors that impact mental health. The book transitions into neurobiological-based topics such as biomarkers, age-related structural changes in the brain, and current models of accelerated aging in mental health. Clinical topics include dementia, neuropsychology, psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, mood disorders, anxiety, schizophrenia, sleep disorders, and substance abuse. The book closes with current and future trends in geriatric mental health, including the brain functional connectome, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), technology-based interventions, and treatment innovations. - Identifies factors influencing mental health in older adults - Includes biological, sociological, and psychological factors - Reviews epidemiology of different mental health disorders - Supplies separate chapters on grief, schizophrenia, mood, anxiety, and sleep disorders - Discusses biomarkers and genetics of mental health and aging - Provides assessment and treatment approaches

Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings emphasizes the major research and clinical findings realized in five years of research on mental health issues in older urban medical patients, many of whom represent minority groups. Chapters cover the high comorbidity of health and mental health problems in geriatric patients, neuropsychological (or cognitive) assessment, depression, alcohol abuse in health care settings, emerging behavioral medicine issues, and family relations and their tie to medical settings. As a practitioner, you’ll find this book helps your practice by representing the first assessment and treatment techniques normed and validated on minority elderly. If you’re a professional working in the mental health system, you’ll see how to expand your services to health care markets. Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings devotes three chapters to neuropsychological assessment--first, a review of major principles; second, a new test battery for minorities; and third, extensive review on how to use test results in clinical decision making. Other chapters provide valuable information on: the analysis of outcomes for one thousand 60--103-year-olds a new validated behavioral treatment method for depression methods of detection and treatment of alcohol abuse emerging issues in behavioral medicine, including competency assessments; anxiety and pain disorders; and shaping the referral process family relations and health care, including caregiving and nursing home placement nursing home consultation and survival strategies in health care systems As Author Peter A. Lichtenberg describes in the Introduction, each chapter in Mental Health Practice in Geriatric Health Care Settings is multidisciplinary, empirically and statistically investigated, and focused upon urban elderly. “In addition, the major objectives are to provide clinicians with new understandings and new assessment and treatment knowledge to utilize in their practices. Finally, this book is hoped to provide clinicians [with] information about emerging trends in the field, and effective strategies for practice in healthcare settings.”

Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.