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By Maria Lironi
What does it take to look after an elderly person who has a mental illness or addiction? The answer may come from a team of researchers at the University of Victoria, the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) and the BC Medical Research Foundation.
An estimated 13 per cent of Canadians are 65 years of age and older, and one out of every five older adults has a mental disorder. In an 18-month study entitled “Understanding the Needs of Caregivers of Mentally Ill Older Adults: Hearing Their Voices To Inform Services,” the team will discover how the program and service needs of caregivers dealing with seniors with mental illness differ from those of caregivers of elderly people suffering from dementia.
The research team is conducting focus groups with the Vancouver Island Health Authority and the Northern Health Region with “informal caregivers”—that is, family, friends, neighbours or others—of any age who help seniors with long-standing mental illness or substance abuse issues. It is also receiving input from service providers.
“Older adults with mental illness are a unique population,” says Dr. Holly Tuokko (psychology, Centre on Aging), the study’s principal investigator. “On the one hand, older adults experience age-related physical, psychological and social changes that individually and together may challenge their mental health,” she says.
“For some, this may result in the development of a mental illness for the first time in late life. For others who have a lifelong mental illness, age-related changes may present new challenges.”
Jane Milliken (Nursing) and the VIHA’s clinical nurse specialist in geriatric psychiatry Bev Wilden are also on the research team. The study’s project coordinator is Dr. Penny MacCourt (Centre on Aging). The $50,000 study is funded by the Vancouver Foundation and the BC Medical Services Foundation.
Once the study is complete, the research team will share the results with both health authorities so that the regions can tailor their programs and services to meet the needs of informal caregivers. The team will also publish its results in the Canadian Journal of Gerontology and the Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health.
Tuokko shares
health care award
Tuokko (left) and Alice Jean Raffan with their Excellence in BC Healthcare Award
Dr. Holly Tuokko (psychology, Centre on Aging) recently received one of five inaugural Excellence in BC Healthcare Awards from the Health Employers Association of BC. The awards honour excellence and innovation in BC’s publicly funded health care community and recognize exceptional health care employees who provide quality care and support to the people of British Columbia. Five Awards were presented in four categories, selected from 143 nominations from across BC and Tuokko is one recipient of the Top Innovator-Affiliate Award.
Tuokko and Alice Jean Raffan of Central Care Corporation were recognized for their work in the development and implementation of an innovative new health care model that focuses on supporting seniors living with persistent mental illness. Until recently, psycho-geriatric patients could only be treated at Riverview Hospital. Now, at Central Care Corporation’s Sandringham Care Centre in Victoria, 46 patients are receiving care. Under the leadership of Central Care, a new model of care was introduced in partnership with UVic, the Vancouver Island Health Authority and the Central Care Corporation.
For more information about Tuokko’s research visit http://web.uvic.ca/psyc/tuokko/.
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