Mental Health and Aging: Addressing the Unmet Needs of America's Elderly

In June, the SPRY Foundation, together with the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry sponsored a special educational forum for Congressional Staff on Capitol Hill on the topic: "Mental Health and Aging: Addressing the Unmet Needs of America's Elderly".

Experts testified that between 5 and 10 percent of seniors suffer from clinical depression. Most leave the doctor's office without being diagnosed and without appropriate treatment, even though it would improve their quality of life and their ability to function independently.
Currently, Medicare only covers 50 percent of the cost of mental health treatment, although it covers 80 percent of the cost of general medical care. The lack of "parity" between coverage for mental health and physical health care needs of seniors is a major problem for seniors, said Dr. Russell E. Morgan, Jr., President of the SPRY Foundation, the research and education arm of the National Committee, and one of the co-sponsors of the congressional forum. "There also needs to be a better understanding of strategies that help seniors prevent or reduce adverse mental conditions," said Morgan.

"The inability to get care can be costly, for families of seniors and for society. We see it with suicide rates, which are higher for older adults than for any age group," Dr. Dan Blazer, a professor at the Duke University School of Medicine told the forum. "Depression, is the most frequent predictor of suicide in the elderly," he said.

107 participants attended the forum including three members of Congress, Congressional Staff, media representatives, government agency representatives, and advocacy and professional association representatives.

Because of the follow up interest expressed in the Forum, SPRY placed a webcast of the event on the National Committee website www.ncpssm.org.