January 20, 2010 — The Geriatric Mental Health Foundation (GMHF) and the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) have named the OASIS Program (Older Adult System of Integrated Services) of San Mateo County’s Health System in California as the winner of the GMHF/AAGP Deirdre Johnston Award for Excellence and Innovation in Geriatric Mental Health Outreach Services. The Foundation and Association will present this award to OASIS for the program’s innovative, interdisciplinary, and comprehensive mental health care for homebound, vulnerable older adults.

For more than 20 years, San Mateo County’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Service Division has provided mental health services to the elderly at home, and the OASIS program currently serves more than 200 older adults. A multi-disciplinary treatment team consisting of psychiatrists, a community mental health nurse, and case managers provide hands-on mental health services to older adults dealing with multiple issues, such as complex medical conditions, substance abuse problems, functional limitations, and other challenges. Chinese- and Spanish-speaking team members help extend services across the community. The broad spectrum of services includes medication management, case management, counseling and therapy, peer counseling, and a special program for the most seriously ill and medically fragile older adults.

“We are proud of the fact that through our work and the work of our collaborative partners—Aging and Adult Services and the Ron Robinson Senior Care Center—we have enabled seriously mentally ill, medically fragile, and functionally and cognitively impaired individuals to remain living in the community and to have the highest possible quality of life,” Diane C. Dworkin, LCSW, clinical services manager for OASIS, explained. “The work we do is critical in order for County residents to have the services and assistance they need to be able to successfully age in place.”

The GMHF and AAGP first presented the Johnston Award for Excellence and Innovation in Geriatric Mental Health Outreach Services in March 2009. “The selection committee was delighted with the increased number of applications we received for the 2010 award, almost double from last year, and to see how many communities across the country have recognized this need and developed excellent programs for mentally ill elderly in their homes,” said Burton V. Reifler, MD, MPH, chair of the GMHF/AAGP selection committee. “We must now explore ways to disseminate information about these wonderful models.”

Reifler, the Kate Mills Snider Professor of Geriatric Psychiatry at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, will chair a conference session titled “Model Programs Providing Mental Health Service in the Home” during the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) on March 8. Dworkin, of the OASIS program, will present, along with representatives of other successful programs.

The GMHF/AAGP Deirdre Johnston Award is made possible by a generous gift from Arnold H. Snider of New York, a long-time advocate for health care causes, and is named in honor of geriatric psychiatrist Deirdre Johnston, MBChB, MRCPsych, in gratitude for the care she provided to Kate Mills Snider, Snider’s mother. OASIS will be presented the $10,000 award during the opening plenary session of the AAGP Annual Meeting on March 5 in Savannah, Georgia.

The Geriatric Mental Health Foundation (www.GMHFonline.org) was established by the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry to raise awareness of psychiatric and mental health disorders affecting older adults, eliminate the stigma of mental illness and treatment, promote healthy aging strategies, and increase access to quality mental health care for the elderly.

The American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (www.AAGPonline.org) is a national association representing and serving its members and the field of geriatric psychiatry. AAGP’s mission is to enhance the knowledge base and standard of practice in geriatric psychiatry through education and research and to advocate for meeting the mental health needs of older Americans.

To learn more about AAGP’s Annual Meeting, March 5-8, 2010, in Savannah, Georgia, please visit www.AAGPmeeting.org.

CONTACT:
Kate McDuffie, E-mail: kmcduffie@aagponline.org, Phone: 301.654.7850 x113

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