WestMass ElderCare Launches New Elder Mental-health Outreach Team
HOLYOKE — WestMass ElderCare (WMEC) announced that an Elder Mental Health Outreach Team (EMHOT) will soon be available to area communities. With funding from a recent grant award, WMEC and several community partners will be offering mental-health support to older adults in their homes or at community sites.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly one in four older adults have a mental-health condition, such as a mood disorder. Those with anxiety disorders and depression, which are new or have been worsened by the isolation of the pandemic, are often undiagnosed and go untreated, leading to severe complications such as hospitalizations and ‘silent suicides.’ Older adults living in the community face added challenges in accessing behavioral-health services, including transportation, social isolation, financial burdens, fewer mental-health professionals with expertise treating older adults, and complications of co-morbid cognitive and medical-health illnesses.
WMEC will be partnering with the Belchertown, Chicopee, Hadley, South Hadley, and Ware Councils on Aging (COAs) on this project. COAs are ideal community-based service providers to coordinate prevention efforts, identification of signs and symptoms, referral, and collaboration with treatment providers. The five Councils on Aging represent urban areas with a significant Latinx population as well as rural communities.
Consumers will also be identified who are living at home and in need of mental-health interventions. Referrals to the program can be made by anyone concerned about an older adult who lives in Belchertown, Chicopee, Granby, Hadley, Holyoke, Ludlow, South Hadley, or Ware by contacting WMEC’s Information and Referral department or by clicking here to make a referral.
WMEC is seeking a part-time social worker (LICSW) to serve on this project by providing assessments for older adults in their homes or at a community site. Click here to learn more and apply to make a difference in the lives of older adults.