| Programs
2005 White House Conference on Aging
The Geriatric Mental Health Foundation was intimately involved
with the White House Conference on Aging, held every decade by congressional
mandate. The GMHF held an officially sanctioned "mini White
House Conference on Aging" in March 2005 as a consumer town
hall to prepare recommendations to the Conference specific to late-life
mental illness. Clayton Fong, a member of the White House Conference
on Aging Policy Committee, participated in that meeting. Three of
the GMHF's Board of Directors were delegates to the actual conference
and were vocal proponents of mental health provisions in the final
Conference Report. It is largely due to their vigilance and persistence
that the final report was so inclusive of mental health as a priority
for our aging nation.
Delegates to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging focused on
mental health, making it a priority for the first time in the Conference's
history. Delegates from around the country representing diverse
perspectives and issues agreed on 50 recommendations to send to
the president and Congress on the pressing aging issues of today
and the future. Recognizing the current health and mental health
needs of older Americans and the challenges awaiting as the Baby
Boom generation ages, delegates voted to place at the forefront
mental health and geriatric health professional training issues
by voting them among the top 10 resolutions:
- Reauthorize the Older Americans Act within the first six months
following the 2005 White House Conference on Aging
- Develop a coordinated, comprehensive long-term care strategy
by supporting public and private sector initiatives that address
financing, choice, quality, service delivery, and the paid and
unpaid workforce
- Ensure that older Americans have transportation options to
retain their mobility and independence
- Strengthen and improve the Medicaid program for seniors
- Strengthen and improve the Medicare program
- Support geriatric education and training for all healthcare
professionals, paraprofessionals, health profession students,
and direct care workers
- Promote innovative models of non-institutional long-term care
- Improve recognition, assessment, and treatment of mental illness
and depression among older Americans
- Attain adequate numbers of healthcare personnel in all professions
who are skilled, culturally competent, and specialized in geriatrics
- Improve state and local based integrated delivery systems to
meet 21st century needs of seniors
"Older adults and their advocates are much more aware of
the disabling and tragic consequences of mental illness in late
life, especially depression, anxiety and the agitation that is associated
with dementia. They also recognize that we can do something about
it," explained Dan Blazer, MD, MPH, PhD, a delegate to the
White House Conference on Aging, then GMHF board member, and professor
of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Duke University School
of Medicine. At the time of the Conference, Blazer was also president
of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.
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