MAOA-IGSW Partnership Seeks to Improve Mental Health Services to Older Adults in Massachusetts

The Executive Office of Elder Affairs has recently awarded a Mental Health and Aging grant to the Massachusetts Association of Older Americans (MAOA), in collaboration with the Institute for Geriatric Social Work (IGSW) at Boston University School of Social Work.

The grant will fund an innovative program of mental health education and supervision for targeted elder service and mental health staff who provide services to at risk older adults. Training and supervision will be provided through a partnership involving MAOA, IGSW and the six regions of the Massachusetts Aging and Mental Health Coalitions (AMHC). The regional coalitions are located in Western Massachusetts, Boston, Greater Worcester, Lowell, Cape Cod and the Islands, and Greater Cambridge.

Each regional coalition is composed of professionals with interests related to aging and mental health. IGSW will provide training through a “blended” model using online and face-to-face training and an intensive program of consultative supervision aimed at building agency capacity to supervise practitioners working with older adults.

Despite advances in mental illness treatment, older adults are still not receiving much needed services – largely due to a shortage of practitioners in the mental health workforce. Dr. Scott Miyake Geron, IGSW Director, explains, “For too long, serious treatable mental health and substance abuse problems have gone untreated, either because they have failed to be identified, or because they have been misdiagnosed. The lack of adequately trained mental health professionals contributes to the needless suffering, ineffective or insufficient treatment, and unnecessary costs to individuals, their families, and society.”

By combining resources, IGSW and MAOA will strive to train practitioners, as well as enhance mental health programs, so they will be able to skillfully serve older adults now and well into the future. Anticipated program outcomes will include demonstrated acquisition of new knowledge, as well as new skills related to mental health practice with older adults. It is expected that the training will be provided to 420 practitioners, 48 supervisors, and 24 agencies across Massachusetts.

Established in 2002 with a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Institute for Geriatric Social Work has become a leader in the effort to build a stronger workforce for an aging society through educational innovation and assessment. Over 36,000 IGSW-trained practitioners are currently working in the field and IGSW educational programs and training are now available in all 50 states and overseas. IGSW brings together expertise in instructional technology, educational design, and evaluation to improve the quality of practice of social workers and other social service practitioners who work with older adults and their families.