TY - JOUR
T1 - A new home-based mental health program for older adults
T2 - Description of the first 100 cases
AU - Johnston, Deirdre
AU - Smith, Melissa
AU - Beard-Byrd, Karen
AU - Albert, Aaron
AU - Legault, Claudine
AU - McCall, William Vaughn
AU - Singleton, Amy
AU - Brenes, Gretchen
AU - Hogan, Patricia
AU - Reifler, Burton
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - Background: The Geriatric Psychiatry Outreach (GO) Program began in 2005 and provides in-home psychiatric evaluation and treatment for older adults who have difficulty getting to an office-based setting. METHOD:: An initial assessment was conducted on the first 100 patients seen by the program and follow-up treatment was provided as clinically indicated. Results: The mean age of patients seen was 79.7 (SD: 8.2), 74% were women, and the most common psychiatric diagnoses were depression (50%) and dementia (45%), with a mean of 1.4 (SD: 0.6) psychiatric diagnoses per patient. The patients had a mean of 4.8 (SD: 2.9) medical diagnoses and were on a mean of 6.8 (SD: 4.0) prescription and 2.2 (SD: 1.2) nonprescription medications. Patients received a mean of 4.2 (SD: 4.2) in-person visits and a mean of 30.2 (SD: 36.5) additional contacts related to their care, such as phone calls, e-mails, and faxes. Conclusions: Providing psychiatric services at home for older adults with mental illness is a much needed but rarely available service. Such patients typically have a complex combination of medical and psychiatric diagnoses and benefit from contacts in addition to the face-to-face visits.
AB - Background: The Geriatric Psychiatry Outreach (GO) Program began in 2005 and provides in-home psychiatric evaluation and treatment for older adults who have difficulty getting to an office-based setting. METHOD:: An initial assessment was conducted on the first 100 patients seen by the program and follow-up treatment was provided as clinically indicated. Results: The mean age of patients seen was 79.7 (SD: 8.2), 74% were women, and the most common psychiatric diagnoses were depression (50%) and dementia (45%), with a mean of 1.4 (SD: 0.6) psychiatric diagnoses per patient. The patients had a mean of 4.8 (SD: 2.9) medical diagnoses and were on a mean of 6.8 (SD: 4.0) prescription and 2.2 (SD: 1.2) nonprescription medications. Patients received a mean of 4.2 (SD: 4.2) in-person visits and a mean of 30.2 (SD: 36.5) additional contacts related to their care, such as phone calls, e-mails, and faxes. Conclusions: Providing psychiatric services at home for older adults with mental illness is a much needed but rarely available service. Such patients typically have a complex combination of medical and psychiatric diagnoses and benefit from contacts in addition to the face-to-face visits.
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U2 - 10.1097/JGP.0b013e3181dd1c64
DO - 10.1097/JGP.0b013e3181dd1c64
M3 - Article
C2 - 20808099
AN - SCOPUS:79751516458
SN - 1064-7481
VL - 18
SP - 1141
EP - 1145
JO - American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
JF - American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
IS - 12
ER -