Agenda - 05-04-2006-7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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i5 In response to a question about the Mental Health Department, Kate Barrett said that she had a meeting with Sarah Lueger who works for OPC and they have a planning person for adult services who is very interested in what the subcommittee is doing and is willing to come and sit on this steering committee as a consultant. She said that the majority of people who are seniors in that system are people with cluonic severe long-term mental health issues. When Uiese people turn 65, they have Medicaid which pays only 50% of mental health services. The senior who has done very well tluoughout life but suddenly has become widowed or get a chronic illness and all the people around in their social network have died and they end up with depression and that person, for lack of reason, is not going to go to OPC. Jan Busby Whitehead said that what these people do is go to their primary doctor who has tried to get them into a mental health setting or on a medical antidepressant which, if they stay with it and take it correctly, the numbers drop off dramatically, You also have the older adults who don't want to go to a psychiatrist, BREAK Note: Adelaide M, Spitsbergen left at this point in the meeting, Ann .Iolmson said that she feels it is important to make a difference between depression and institutional depression which are experienced by both older men and women when they lose a,job, etc. Women usually stay active but men do not when something stressful happens in their lives, She does not feel that the Department on Aging should take on the responsibility for treatment for mental health but that it should stay with OPC and Mental Health Departments. She does feel that in order to determine what is appropriate there does need to be a dialogue and an agreement on what situational depression is and how this is different from those who really do need treatment. She does not feel it is sufficient to,just say that as soon as you reach 70 years of age that 50% will be in depression, Florence Soltys said that according to Bill Warden, a researcher in this area, 35-40% of people who see their primary physician are going because of depression symptoms and they are using physicals to cover it, It is overwhehning and a new study which came out yesterday also talks about the extend of it as a major issue. C. Institutionalized/Severely Impaired Functional Group: Prio-•ity Issues -Jill Jill Passmore made reference to the minutes she distributed during the break and said that this is the group that deals with the institutionalized residents -both in the nursing homes and adult care homes which are less than 5% in this County? The first issue was quality of life and care issues which includes improving basic oversight, continuity of care, dental care, being treated with dignity and respect and end of life and dementia care issues for residents and staff. The second issue which received a lot of votes was caregiver support and workforce issues which includes recognition issues, recruitment, staffing (current requirements are inadequate to meet the needs of the current residents), retention, training (scholarships and education), support, pay and benefits, career ladder (provide a professional culture for personnel including use of best practices), leadership training and support for administrators and nurses, foster personnel training and supervision acrd UNC medical conununity involvement and combining resources including the Orange County Long Term Care Roundtable (OCLTC). The #.3 priority was education and outreach, This is for families, family councils, resident councils and doctors on the appropriate placement of residents which is not necessarily facilities - especially for those who have adequate support at home. The #4 priority was person-directed care which can be rolled into quality of life and quality of care issues. Jill Passmore made reference to the second page of the report and noted that the Page 4 of 8