This virtual program is designed to provide professionals with the skills and knowledge needed to recognize and assess mental health conditions in geriatric patients.
Understand How to Provide the Best Care for the Geriatric Population
How can you create a well-rounded care practice for your older patients or clients? By learning to assess and identify their mental health. According to The World Health Organization, approximately 15% of adults over the age of 60 suffer from a mental disorder. The challenge can be understanding the difference between the normal signs of aging and the symptoms of mental illness. Mental illness may affect the daily well-being of our clients but there are ways we can learn to support and provide care while allowing them to live a happier and more fulfilling life.
This workshop offers an overview of how mental health conditions manifest differently in older adults. Participants will explore the symptoms and behavioral presentations of dementia and other neurocognitive disorders, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and late-life schizophrenia.
The session will delve into how mental health symptoms in older adults differ from those in children and younger adults, providing insights into unique diagnostic and behavioral patterns. Participants will also learn about best practices for assessing these conditions and tailoring treatments to meet the specific needs of geriatric individuals.
By the end of this workshop, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how to effectively identify and address mental health challenges in older adults, equipping you with practical strategies to improve care and outcomes.
- Recognize how mental health disorders can present differently in older adults.
- Identify best interview and assessment practices with geriatric individuals when assessing mental health.
- Deepen understanding of geriatric mental health versus ‘normative’ changes.
- Increase knowledge of empirically-based mental health treatments for geriatric individuals.
Who should attend
Health and human service professionals such as social workers, counselors, therapists, and nurses providing care to geriatric patients.
Instructors
-
Dr. Todd Sigler is a Licensed Psychologist, a National Certified Counselor and a registrant of the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. He received his Counseling Psychology M.A. and Psy.D. from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. Dr. Sigler has been in private practice since 2004 and has extensive experience working with refugee clients.