Project REACH
(Resources for Elderly Assistance and Community Help)
Project Reach is a five-year grant funded by the New York State Office of Mental Health. The program is a public/private partnership designed to identify older adults at risk of behavioral health problems. Private partners are local businesses whose field staff receive training to identify vulnerable individuals who may be in need of services, and make referrals to Project REACH. In 2008, more than 150 community business partners were trained.
The Onondaga County Department of Aging and Youth (OCDAY) supports a comprehensive system of services for children, senior citizens, their families, and caregivers through advocacy, planning, coordination, direct services, and funding. OCDAY's mission focuses on the use of community-based resources that enable our primary customers to develop and maintain dignity, and reach autonomy while having their diverse needs met.
As the designated Area Agency on Aging, we follow the tenets of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (as amended). The Older Americans Act (OAA) provides the framework for a variety of community-based programs whose objectives include adequate income, housing, employment, nutrition and transportation services. While age eligibility for programs supported by the OAA is 60+, there are target groups within that broad range. Those groups include persons with the “greatest economic need” (need resulting from an income level at or below the poverty line), as well as the “greatest social need” (need because of non-economic factors). These non-economic factors include barriers to services created by cultural, social or geographical isolation.
Project REACH is an Onondaga County community collaboration managed by the Department of Aging and Youth in conjunction with the Office of Mental Health. It is one of three such programs funded by the New York State Office of Mental Health. Project REACH is a program designed and structured to assist the elderly in our community, as well as, identify elderly with behavioral health needs.
Onondaga County needs such a program because:
- The number of adults 85 and older living in Onondaga County will increase 66% by the year 2015
- Seniors adults are living longer and the projected growth of adults 65 and older will double by 2030
- There is increasing isolation of senior adults with no family or social connections
- There are increasing connections between physical conditions and mental health disorders
- One in every five people over the age of 55 experiences a mental disorder-which is not a part of normal aging
- Studies indicate that approximately 63% of older adults with mental health issues do not receive the services they need
- Diminished functioning, substance abuse and poor life quality that may result from untreated mental health problems increase mortality
- As a group, adults age 65 and older have the nation's highest suicide rate
The goals of the program are to:
- Increase awareness and knowledge of mental health and the elderly
- Identify behavior and indicators for at-risk elderly
- Seek out at-risk elderly whose independence and safety may be in jeopardy due to mental health and substance-use conditions
- Provide early intervention with community support services that will help decrease inappropriate and unnecessary placement in nursing homes or adult residential facilities
How Project REACH works:
The initial supporting Onondaga County Project REACH Partner Agencies are Christopher Community, Inc., National Grid's Sage Upstate, Syracuse Housing Authority and Time Warner Cable. Project REACH Partner Agencies have agreed to identify employees that, through the course of their everyday business, will come in contact with older adults who may be at risk of behavioral issues and in need of supportive community services. The individuals identified by Partner Agencies are called Project REACH partners and are educated to be the “Eyes and Ears” of the project. The training curriculum includes education concerning age-related changes; cultural diversity and cultural competence; communication; behavioral health/mental health and how to make a referral to the Project REACH staff. Project REACH staff within the Department of Aging and Youth follow up on each referral and offer supportive assistance to those who want to receive services.
Contact Information:
Onondaga County Department of Aging and Youth
421 Montgomery Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
JoAnne Spoto Decker
Director, Community Service Programs
Phone: (315) 435-2362
Jacqueline Parker Hicks
Phone: Consultant, Project REACH Coordinator
Educational Resources:
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From the NYS Office for Mental Health Website:
Geriatric Mental Health
In 2011, the first of the post-war “baby boom” generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) will reach the traditionally defined “old” age of 65 years. This “elder boom” will result in a doubling of the number of older adults from 35 million in 2005 to 70 million by 2030. In New York State, the number will increase over 50% from 2.4 million to 3.7 million. The number of older adults with mental illnesses in the United States will also double increasing from 7 million to 14 million and will increase more than 50% in New York State from 480,000 to 740,000. Only 20-25% of the elderly with mental illness currently receive services from mental health professionals while others prefer to be treated by their primary physician or their illness goes undiagnosed.
This dramatic increase in the number of older adults that will require mental health services raises concerns about the ability of health, mental health, and aging services to provide adequate access to services that respond to the unique needs of older adults in a coordinated way. Additionally, the projected growth of cultural minorities in the older adult population from 16% to about 25% and the projected 5% decrease in the proportion of working age adults present even greater challenges.
As part of the growing attention and interest at all levels of government to advance geriatric mental health care and prepare for the impending elder boom, New York State enacted the Geriatric Mental Health Act on August 23, 2005. The law, which took effect on April 1, 2006, authorized the establishment of (1) an Interagency Geriatric Mental Health and Chemical Dependence Planning Council, (2) a geriatric service demonstration program, and (3) a requirement for an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature.
Geriatric Service Demonstration Programs
The Geriatric Mental Health Act called for OMH to establish a geriatric service demonstration program to provide grants to providers of mental health care to the elderly. OMH solicited proposals for two types of demonstration programs – Gatekeeper and Physical Health – Mental Health Integration. In April 2007, after receiving a record number of proposals, the Office of Mental Health made nine awards throughout the state for five-year demonstration grants designed to identify and treat older adults who may be at risk for mental health problems. Subject to appropriations, these awards total approximately $2,000,000 a year.
Gatekeeper Programs
Gatekeeper Programs are designed to proactively identify at-risk older adults in the community who are not connected to the service delivery system. Gatekeepers are non-traditional referral sources who, in the normal course of their daily work, come in contact with older adults who might otherwise be isolated. Examples of Gatekeepers include postal workers, utility meter readers, police officers, firefighters, senior center personnel, etc. Gatekeepers are trained to recognize basic signs and symptoms of mental health problems that may indicate an elderly person is in need of help. Once they identify an older adult who might have such problems, they refer them to the Gatekeeper Program. This agency then provides a community response by contacting the identified individual, determining his/her level of need and offering assistance in obtaining support services.
The three Gatekeeper Programs are listed below:
Physical Health – Mental Health Integration Programs
More than half of older people who receive mental health care receive such services from their primary care physician. The advantages of treatment in a primary care setting for older adults include convenience, improved coordination of mental and medical disorders, and decreased stigma when seeking help from a primary care provider rather than from a mental health provider.
The six Physical Health – Mental Health Integration Programs are listed below:
Though not funded with monies allocated to the geriatric service demonstration program, Greene County is implementing a Physical Health – Mental Health Integration Program at the initiative of its Department of Mental Health and participates fully in OMH evaluation, consultation, and oversight activities designed for the service demonstration projects.
Demonstration Programs in the News
Upcoming Geriatric Conferences & Trainings
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