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