VA Boston Hosts Mental Health Summit
Working together to establish strong community partnerships makes elder care at VA Boston more effective and allows for ease of mobility among groups within our community.
In early September 2014 VA Boston Healthcare System hosted a Mental Health Summit with a focus on Older Veterans that included 50 participants from surrounding VA healthcare settings, Veteran Centers, and local community agencies.
The primary goal of the summit was to establish new partnerships in elder care for Veterans and strengthen existing relationships. The Summit featured a presentation by Jennifer Moye, Ph.D., Director of the Geriatric Mental Health Outpatient Program at VA Boston Healthcare on “The Role of Military Experience and PTSD in a Veteran’s Healthcare Needs.”
Ms. Susan Temper, from the Massachusetts State Executive Office of Elder Affairs, gave a presentation on community-based elder resources. There were informative breakout sessions relating to geriatric services that were co-led by VA Boston. The sessions focused on topics such as: community resources for Veterans, Veteran caregiver and family support, in-home resources for Veterans, high risk Veterans in the community, day support options for Veterans, and inpatient resources for Veterans.
Follow-up goals for this Mental Health Summit are to identify and fully utilize collaborative elder mental health services and to implement best practices, such as use of cognitive behavioral therapy for older Veterans with PTSD.
For more information pallas.wahl@va.gov
