OUR ADVOCACY COALITIONS
Georgia Coalition on Older Adults & Behavioral Health
Aging and Behavioral Health Care Collaborative
PARTNERSHIPS AND PROJECTS, 2016
Coalitions and Collaboration – Partnerships and collaborating with organizations throughout Georgia continues to be one of the key components that drive our work. Partnerships include:
Georgia Coalition on Older Adults and Behavioral Health (GCOABH). The focus of this Coalition is on strengthening Georgia’s capacity to care for the growing older adult population with severe and persistent mental illnesses. Partners include Emory’s Fuqua Center and Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, And the Georgia Division of Aging Services (DAS) and Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD). Membership of the Coalition includes staff from DPH, CDC, and numerous other organizations and people interested in the needs of this population including family members and older adults and has led efforts to cross train the aging network and the public mental health system regarding both systems of care and how to access services. Extensive training regarding Recovery in older adults, decision making capacity in persons with mental illness and dementia, and care coordination across systems has taken place and efforts in 2016 focused on work to improve the direct care of this vulnerable population through local partnerships between aging services providers and public behavioral health service providers regionally around the state.
Atlanta Coalition on Aging and Mental Health (AACAMH), a forum for collaboration between mental health and aging services professionals focused on facilitating public education, professional training and advocacy projects aimed at reducing the stigma surrounding aging and mental illness, expanding access to mental health services and resources, and improving quality of mental health programs for older adults. Each year the Coalition hosts a Workforce Development Conference open to healthcare and housing professionals with a focus on different behavioral health issues impacting older adults. NOTE: This Coalition combined membership with the Atlanta Area Housing and Behavioral Health Network Coalition in February 2016 and was renamed the Aging and Behavior Health Care Collaborative (ABHCC)
Aging and Behavior Health Care Collaborative (ABHCC) – This Collaborative plans to focus on Care Coordination/Case Management since this is so critical to successful outcomes for older adults. It is hosted by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) in partnership with Emory’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and the Fuqua Center for Late-Life Depression. The plan is to first learn more about the various types of Care Coordination available that could help our behavioral health consumers. We will gather information on what’s currently out there – who the providers of care coordination that serve the Metro Area are – what options do each of them have available – how is care accessed – who do they serve – and how is care paid for. Various Care Coordination providers will be invited to talk about their services. After we understand what the Care Coordination options are, we will utilize the Collaborative as a summit or forum for discussing real cases and problem solving how to get the person into the care they need.
November 16, 2016 ABHCC Notes and Handouts
Click here for Notes
Click here for Atlanta Regional Commission Mobility Program Atlanta Area Transportation Programs and click here for SimplyGettingThere Program
September 16, 2016 ABHCC Meeting Handouts:
Click here for information on Adult Protrective Services (APS) and Home and Community-Based
Services (HCBS);
Click here for statewide staff listing for APS so you can identify your local APS contact.
Suicide Prevention Coalition of Georgia, a statewide Coalition that has worked together on suicide prevention efforts since 2002 to impact the crisis of suicide in Georgia.
Behavioral Health Services Coalition (BHSC) which provides leadership to improve mental health and addictive disease services in Georgia
PARTNERSHIPS/PROJECTS 2015
DBHDD/DAS/FUQUA Partnership to Strengthen Georgia’s Capacity to Care for Older Adults with Mental Illnesses In July 2014, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) and the Division of Aging Services (DAS) entered into an agreement with the Fuqua Center for Late-Life Depression, Emory University to strengthen Georgia’s capacity to care for the growing older adult population with severe and persistent mental illnesses. This past year, the Georgia Coalition for Older Adults and Behavioral Health (GCOABH), chaired by Eve H. Byrd, MSN, MPH, and whose membership consists of staff from DBHDD, DAS, DCH, DPH, CDC, and numerous other organizations and people interested in the needs of this population, has led efforts to cross train the aging network and the public mental health system regarding both systems of care and how to access services. Extensive training regarding Recovery in older adults, decision making capacity in persons with mental illness and dementia, and care coordination across systems is taking place strating in July, 2015. Efforts are also underway to improve the direct care of this vulnerable population through local partnerships between aging services providers and public behavioral health service providers..
Housing and Mental Health Network: Serving Older Adults with Mental Illness in Affordable Housing
This mental health network of care providers in housing continues its focus on keeping older adults healthy, well and independent so they can maintain thier housing. Links to meeting minutes and presentations can be accessed below.
March 18, 2015 Meeting Minutes
Handout-Emory Wesley Woods Hospital
Handout – Southern Crescent BH Mobile Assessment
Handout- Crescent Pines Contact Info
Handout-Anchor Hospital Info
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
On September 25, 2015, the Atlanta Area Coalition on Aging and Mental Health (AACAMH), chaired by the Fuqua Center, in partnership with the Atlanta Regional Geriatric Education Center (ARGEC), hosted a one day workshop, Building Workforce Competency: Ethical Considerations for Identifying, Reporting, and Responding to Self-Neglect in the Older Adult Population designed for Clinical Psychologists, Advance Practice Nurses, RNs, Social Workers, Licensed Professional Counselors, and other interested providers. Ethics CEs were approved by AANP; GPA; GA-NASW; and LPCA-GA. Topics included ●Ethics of Identifying and Responding to Abuse, Neglect or Exploitation of Older Adults ●Elder Investment Fraud and Exploitation: Ethical Considerations ● Screening for Cognitive Issues: Tools You Can Use ● Ethics of Responding to Self-Neglect: Opening the Conversation
CROSS TRAINING EVENTS
Coordinated the following presentations at trainings for staff from Georgia’s Division of Aging (DAS) and Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD)
Georgia Association of Community Care Providers (GACCP) Conference – Building Capacity to Care for Older Adults with Mental Illness: Overview of Ga Crisis and Access Line (G-CAL) Statewide Public BH Services Available and How to Access; Introduction to Concept of Recovery
Georgia Gerontology Conference (GGS) – Building Capacity to Care for Older Adults with Mental Illness: Overview of Recovery for Older Adults;;Public BH Services-Accessing Care; Case Studies and Ways Aging and BH Can Work Together to Serve Older Adults
DBHDD Community MH Provider Symposium – Building Capacity to Care for Older Adults with Mental Illness: Treatment of Older Adults with Depressive and Psychotic Symptoms; Concept of Recovery in Older Adults; Decision Making Capacity; Assessment and Treatment of People with SPMI and Dementia
PARTNERSHIPS/PROJECTS 2014
The Fuqua Center continues to partner with various local organizations with a focus on enhancing the quality of life for older adults through improving access to care, providing opportunities for community involvement and increasing awareness of resources available that support and improve health and wellbeing. Projects include:
Mental Health Summit: Creating a Network of Services – In partnership with the Atlanta Housing Authority and LeadingAge Georgia, The Fuqua Center created a network of care providers in housing with the goal of keeping older adults healthy, well, and independent so they can maintain their housing. Miniutes and preentations from the meetings are available by clicking the link below.
June 13, 2014 Meeting Minutes
June 13, 2014 Article – Ethical Issues in Mobile Psychiatric Treatment with Homebound Elderly
June 13, 2014 PowerPoint – Ethical Issues In Mental Health Treatment with Older Adults in Housing
March 11, 2014 PowerPoint – Housing for the Elderly and Adult Disabled – Myths and Realities
March 11, 2014 PowerPoint – Creating Collaborative Agreements in MH Care
PEARLS (Program to Encourage Active and Rewarding LiveS) – In partnership with LeadingAge Georgia, the Fuqua Center trained staff from three independent living older adult highrises to become PEARLS coaches who will offer an in-home brief skill building program that empowers older adults to manage depressive symptoms and improve their quality of life by learning three (3) depressive managment techniqiues: Problem Solving, Planning Social and Physical Activities and Scheduling Pleasant Events. The Fuqua Center will work with the University of Washington who will provide Teachnical Assistance and help in the development of outcome measures for evaluating the effectiveness of offereing this Evidence-based Program in the housing setting.
PARTNERSHIPS/PROJECTS 2013
The Fuqua Center values its partnerships with numerous organizations throughout Georgia with whom we have worked closely throughout the years to improve the quality of life for older adults by keeping them involved in their communities and by providing them and their families with resources, support and information to improve health and wellbeing. Some of the projects and partnerships include:
Improving Access to Care…..
COMMUNITY CLINICS
Since 2009. generous support from the Jesse Parker Williams Foundation and Fuqua Foundation has allowed the Fuqua Center to provide in-home psychiatric services to low-income senior public housing apartments throughout metro Atlanta. The goal of this program is to help older residents with mental illness remain independent by improving access to appropriate evaluation, medication, and support services. The Fuqua Center’s advanced practice nurses, social worker, and area partners in healthcare and social services collaborate to provide a continuum of care to this population. Housing staff receive mental health education and support services. Through this work, a strong partnership has been formed with Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA), which operates 11 senior and disabled high rises where approximately 2,000 low-income seniors and disabled adults live. LeadingAge is another strong partner and community clinic services are provided in several member sites that provide affordable housing to older adults. By 2012, the program expanded to include 18 low-income senior apartment buildings. In 2013 the Fuqua Center provided services in 22 residential communities including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and independent living facilities.
Funding: Jesse Parker Williams Foundation and Fuqua Foundation
Partners: Jesse Parker Williams Foundation, Fuqua Foundation, Atlanta Housing Authority, LeadingAge
TELEMEDICINE-The Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth connects patients in rural communities with specialty physicians throughout the state via videoconferencing “telemedicine” equipment. Emory University Fuqua Center/Division of Geriatric Psychiatry is one of the Georgia Telemedicine Program specialty providers providing psychiatry services to individuals fifty-five and older via telemedicine. This service is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and many other insurances. Patients attend their appointment at their local telemedicine site and an Emory clinician will see the patient using the telemedicine equipment. The clinician will work closely with the patient and the patient’s primary care physician to implement the recommended treatment. Emory clinicians will continue to consult with the patient via telemedicine as long as deemed necessary. The majority of the patients seen from rural areas by the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry are residents of nursing homes.
Funding: Start up Fuqua Foundation and Private donor. The service is now supported by Emory Healthcare
Partners: Emory Healthcare; Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth. Mr. Maynard Bates
TRAINING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EVIDENCE BASED CLINICAL MODELS- The following models of care known to improve the recognition of depression in older adults have been implemented in settings with Partners including Emma Darnell Geriatric Clinic at Grady, Affordable Housing in collaboration with LeadingAge Georgia, the Georgia Community Care Services Program (CCSP), Atlanta Regional Geriatric Education Center (ARGEC), Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Aging (DOA); Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), and the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC).
Funding: Fuqua Foundation, Kaiser Permanente/Mental Health America, Georgia Gerontology Society via a Lilly Grant
IMPACT – (Improving Mood-Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment) is a program for older adults who have major depression or dysthymic disorder. The intervention is a stepped, collaborative care approach in which a nurse, social worker, or psychologist works with the participants’ regular primary care provider to develop a course of treatment. Potential participants are either referred by the primary care provider or identified via routine screening of all clients. During the initial visit, the depression care manager (DCM) completes an assessment, provides education about depression and available treatments, and asks the participant about his or her depression treatment preferences. All participants are encouraged to engage in some form of behavioral activation, such as engaging in physical activity or scheduling pleasant events. IMPACT was found to be more than twice as effective as usual care for depression and also improves physical and social functioning and patients’ quality of life while reducing overall health care costs over a four-year follow-up. Currently in its fourth year of working with the Grady Health System’s geriatric primary care clinic to implement IMPACT, the Fuqua Center has trained a clinic-based nurse practitioner to provide Problem Solving Therapy and worked with staff to embed depression screening practices in everyday clinic operations. In 2012, 450 patients were screened for depression, 21% screened positive, and over 50% of those that screened positive accepted treatment. As the program expanded its reach in 2013, 484 patients were screened for depression and 65 screened positive. The Fuqua Center continues to consult with the Darnell Clinic to provide process evaluation and technical assistance services.
PEARLS – (Program to Encourage Active Rewarding Lives for Seniors) is a brief, time-limited, and participant-driven program that teaches depression management techniques to older adults with depression. It is offered to people who are receiving home-based services from community services agencies. The program consists of in-home counseling sessions followed by a series of maintenance session contacts conducted over the telephone utilizing problem solving treatment (PST), behavioral activation, and pleasant activities scheduling. PEARLS Program counselors empower individuals to take action and make lasting changes so that they can lead more active and rewarding lives. In partnership with LeadingAge and thanks to a grant from the Fuqua Foundation, PEARLS will be offered in several affordable housing sites throughout the METRO area in 2014.
Healthy IDEAS (Identifying Depression, Empowering Activities for Seniors) is an evidence-based program that integrates depression awareness and management into existing case management services provided to older adults. Healthy IDEAS is a structured depression program that prepares case managers and care coordinators to identify depression in at-risk elders and to facilitate access to treatment. It targets underserved, chronically ill, older adults in the community and addresses commonly recognized barriers to mental health care: detecting depression, helping clients understand depression as treatable assisting them to gain knowledge and skills to self-manage it; and linking primary care, mental health care and social-service providers. Healthy IDEAS empowers clients to manage their depression through a behavioral-activation (BA) approach that encourages involvement in meaningful, positive activities.
SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment). SBIRT is a comprehensive, integrated, public health approach to the delivery of early intervention and treatment services for persons with substance use disorders, as well as those who are at risk of developing these disorders. SBIRT provides opportunities for early intervention with at-risk substance users before more severe consequences occur through a quick screening to assesses the severity of substance use and identify the appropriate level of treatment. Brief intervention focuses on increasing insight and awareness regarding substance use and motivation toward behavioral change; referral to treatment provides those identified as needing more extensive treatment with access to specialty care. All of the Fuqua Center Advanced Practice Nurses (APRNs) and social work staff have received SBIRT training.
PHQ-9 PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (PIP) The Fuqua Center has a long history of collaboration with Georgia’s Medicaid-Waiver CCSP Program which assists seniors and/or functionally disabled adults througout the state in providing staff training and education focused on late-life mental illness. Following a $2 million grant award from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to the CCSP Program in 2013, the Fuqua Center has been engaged to help develop trainings and processes for screening for clinical depression and management of antidepressant medication for the elderly and disabled. These processes will be used by all Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and care coordination providers in the State of Georgia to improve care to CCSP’s thousands of elderly and disabled clients.
CERTIFIED PEER SPECIALIST (CPS)/ WHOLE HEALTH/WRAP – PePersons with the lived experience of mental illness are trained to work with a person seeking treatment for mental illness. Peers assist with health education and the setting of health related goals. During 2013, the Fuqua Center initiated a weekly CPS facilitated Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) Group for older adults in which participants develop a self-designed plan for staying well, feeling better when they are not feeling well, increasing personal responsibility, and improving their quality of life. The group is open to the public.
Funding: Thanks Mom and Dad Fund/ Atlanta Regional Commission
Community Education and Outreach……
SPARC: (Sickness Prevention Achieved through Regional Collaboration) The SPARC program, facilitated by the Atlanta Regional Commission for the senior population, was designed to increase the utilization of preventative health care services including immunizations and health screenings by providing these services in the community at locations that are easily accessible to older adults and not typically places someone would go for healthcare. The Fuqua Center for Late-Life Depression in partnership with other health care providers in DeKalb and Fulton counties participates in an average of 10 SPARC events during the Fall and Spring months providing depression screens and information on community based mental health resources. Over 1,000 screens have been completed to date with a number of them resulting in referral for further evaluation.
Funding: Fuqua Foundation
Partners: ARC, Fulton and DeKalb Senior Services; Fulton Behavioral Health, Visiting Nurse Heath System (VNHS)
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) – Mental Health First Aid is a public education program that introduces participants to risk factors and warning signs of mental health concerns, builds understanding of their impact, and overviews common treatments. The course uses role-playing and simulations to demonstrate how to assess a mental health crisis; select interventions and provide initial help; and connect persons to professional, peer and social supports as well as self-help resources. Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour course taught by certified instructors. The training allows for early detection and intervention by teaching participants about the signs and symptoms of specific illnesses like anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and addictions. Like CPR, Mental Health First Aid prepares participants to interact with a person in crisis and connect the person with help. Mental Health First Aiders learn a single 5-step strategy that includes assessing risk, respectfully listening to and supporting the individual in crisis, and identifying appropriate professional help and other supports. Certified Mental Health First Aid instructors provide a list of community healthcare providers and national resources, support groups, and online tools for mental health and addictions treatment and support. The Fuqua Center has trained housing providers including Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) staff, DeKalb Housing Authority staff and staff from other affordable housing sites; senior services providers; residents of AHA and other affordable housing sites; clergy; home health providers; in-home caregiver; DBHDD staff including staff from the Regional Hospital; Aging Services staff including Adult Protective Services (APS) workers and Ombudsman; CSB staff and CSB Board Members; as well as older adults living independently in the community
Funding: National Council for Behavioral Health (NCBH), Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), Fuqua Foundation, ARC for Lifelong Mableton, Fulton County Behavioral Health, Georgia Gerontology Society (GGS)/ Lilly Foundation Grant, Atlanta Housing Authority, Senior Citizens Services/Atlanta Women’s Foundation
Georgia systems change and geriatric mental health policy……
Georgia Coalition on Older Adults and Mental Health (GCOAMH) – The Fuqua Center chairs and is heavily involved in the facilitation and implementation of cross education between the Division of Aging (DOA) and the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilites (DBHDD). Part of the focus is the placement of leadership from each division on decision making councils of the other division with the purpose of creating infrastructure that begins to support public geriatric mental health services.
Atlanta Area Coalition on Aging and Mental Health (AACOAMH) –The Fuqua Center chairs the Coalition which focuses on developing workforce expertise in recognizing and addressing behavioral health issues in the older adult population. In partnership with the Atlanta Regional Geriatric Education Center (ARGEC), the Coalition hosted a workforce development symposium on the care of older adults with mental illness for social workers (2011) and for nurses (2012), and in 2013, the Coalition hosted a workforce development symposium for all disciplines on issues related to substance use/misuse by older adults. Fred Blow, Ph.D., a nationally known researcher and presenter from the University of Michigan was the featured speaker.
US Substance Abuse and Mental Health (SAMHSA) Policy Academy on Older Adult Mental Health – The purpose of the Policy Academy was to convene a meeting of key stakeholders which have the authority and expertise to begin to develop a plan for the state which would improve the recognition and treatment of older adults with mental illness. Georgia leadership included persons from the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse, Division of Aging and the Medicaid Authority as well as the Fuqua Center. The Fuqua Center wrote a paper documenting the recommendations and action steps decided on at the Georgia Academy.
Behavioral Health Services Coalition (BHSC) – The Fuqua Center chairs the statewide Coalition of behavioral health services and advocates which functions for the purpose of improved communication with the state and regional offices and advocates for the needs of Georgia’s citizens with behavioral health challenges. The Coalition coordinates the annual MH Day at the Capital Rally which helps to highlight attention to the principles of Recovery and advocates for behavioral services priorities.
Systems Change –
· Facilitating work between NW Area Agency on Aging and Highland Rivers Community Services Board to expand services within public mental health system to include older adult services.
Developed recommendation paper and action steps in coordination with the Georgia Alzheimer’s Association towards system of care for older adults with mental illness and dementia. Click here to read
Provided consultation for the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Initiative through a contract with ARC, working with Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) and their local CSB to help facilitate a smooth transition and identify needed policy and system changes to better serve persons with behavioral health challenges who choose to move from long term nursing home placement into living independently in the community.
EVE BYRD SPEAKS AT THE ROSALYNN CARTER INSTITUTE FOR CAREGIVING CARE-NET QUARTERLY MEETING
Eve Byrd, MSN, MPH, APRN-BC, Executive Director of the Fuqua Center and Jocelyn Chen Wise, LMSW, a social worker at the Fuqua Center, recently attended the Care-Net Quarterly Meeting of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving. Eve’s presentation, “Mental Health Literate Caregivers and Communities” was well received and included Mrs. Carter reading a moving passage from her book, Within Our Reach. Click here for a photo of the event
PROJECT INTERCONNECTIONS, INC. 2013 ANNUAL FUNDRAISER
William M. McDonald, M.D., J.B. Fuqua Chair for Late-Life Depression, Vice-Chair for Education, Emory University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Cathy T. Rambach, RN,MS, a project coordinator at the Fuqua Center, serve on the Board of Directors of Project Interconnections, Inc., (PII) whose mission is to provide permanent affordable housing with on-site supportive services to adults facing the challenges of homelessness and mental illness. Rosalynn Carter serves as Honorary Chairperson of the Board. Click here for a picture from the 2013 Fundraising Event.
THE FUQUA CENTER FOR LATE-LIFE DEPRESSION – ACCOMPLISHMENTS 1999-2009
In 1999, a generous gift from J.B. Fuqua established the Fuqua Center for Late-Life Depression of Emory University at Wesley Woods. Mr. Fuqua recognized that frequently a lack of understanding on the part of professionals and the general public regarding depression in older adults and poor access to geriatric psychiatry services was causing older adults with depression to go unrecognized and untreated. The founding of the Fuqua Center, a community education and outreach entity within the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, has facilitated the development of a continuum of evidence-based treatment options and clinical services, extensive community outreach aimed at educating those who serve older adults, and improved access to clinical services. The Fuqua Center’s successes are largely due to its valued partnerships with organizations throughout Georgia that realize the importance of keeping our older adult population mentally well and engaged in their communities. The successes of the Fuqua Center through its partnerships include . . .
Training Georgia’s Medicaid Waiver Program Community Care Service Coordinators who coordinate home care for over 14,000 frail and disabled older adults across Georgia how to screen and make referrals for depression American Foundation for Suicide Prevention/ Georgia Division of Aging Partnership
Facilitating change in state government policy so that all of Georgia’s Community Care Services Program participants at risk for depression are screened Georgia Division of Aging Partnership
Providing psychiatric assessment, treatment, and coordination of medical care for older adults living in twelve of Atlanta’s low-income residential facilities in Atlanta Jesse Parker Williams Foundation Partnership
Conducting an average of seven educational activities for aging services professionals, healthcare professionals, and the general public a month JB Fuqua Foundation
Training senior housing residential service coordinators how to screen for depression and provide problem-solving therapy for residents who exhibit depressive symptoms. Implementation of the evidence-based model of care Program to Encourage Active, Rewarding Lives for Seniors (PEARLS) Aging Services of Georgia Partnership
Providing training and clinical assistance to Georgia Adult Protective Services’ workers Georgia Division of Aging Partnership
Providing leadership and administrative support for the Atlanta Area Aging and Mental Health Coalition JB Fuqua Foundation
Facilitating the development of a full continuum of evidence-based geriatric psychiatry services at Wesley Woods Wesley Woods/Emory Healthcare Partnership
Being awarded the clinical team “Heroes in the Fight Award” Mental Health America of Georgia
Establishing the peer-led support group for older adults who have experienced depression Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network
Providing clinical experience in a full continuum of geriatric psychiatry services to medical and nursing students, psychiatry residents, and geriatric psychiatry and medicine fellows Emory Schools of Nursing and Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine and Georgia State University School of Nursing Partnership
Facilitating the inclusion of geriatric mental health services in the state-wide “AgeWise Connection” aging and disabilities services database Atlanta Area Agency on Aging/ Atlanta Regional Commission Partnership
Training the ten-county metro Atlanta Aging Services Information and Assistance personnel how to recognize mental illness in older adults and make appropriate referrals Atlanta Area Agency on Aging/ Atlanta Regional Commission Partnership
Being the first Emory Healthcare specialty to participate in Telehealth, thereby making geriatric psychiatry care available to an unprecedented number of rural Georgians and being awarded the “Georgia TeleHealth 2010 Partner of the Year” Georgia TeleHealth Partnership
Obtaining training and certification as “Peer Support Specialists” for older adults Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network Partnership
Facilitating the adopting of procedures that improve coordination of services for older adults being seen by county public mental health and aging services in metro Atlanta counties Atlanta Area Agency on Aging / Atlanta Regional Commission Partnership
Incorporating mental health and wellness as a key component of the Atlanta region’s “Older Adult Health and Wellness Plan” Atlanta Area Agency on Aging/ Atlanta Regional Commission Partnership
Creating the metro Atlanta Mental Health Services Collaborative, made up of various home and community-based service providers and mental health clinicians for the purpose of providing services in low income housing Atlanta Area Agency on Aging, Atlanta Housing Authority and Visiting Nurse Health System Partnership
Assisting in the development and implementation of Georgia’s “Suicide Prevention Plan” Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Partnership
Assisting the Governor and the new Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities in creating a robust array of community services Office of Governor Purdue/ Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities