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Virtual/Remote mental health and wellness resources for older adults and their family members and/or caretakers
Many people might recognize mental health as a fairly recent societal topic that specifically plagues the younger generations, but neglect the fact that older adults suffer extensively from mental health concerns as well.
According to the WHO, over 20% of adults aged 60 and above suffer from a mental or neurological disorder, accounting for 17.4% of Years Lived with Disability (YLD), and this issue will only become more and more prominent with the gradual increase in the global elderly population. In addition, various studies have shown the impact mental health has on physical health, as well as the psychological effects older adults are more vulnerable to and more likely to experience as their physical state weakens.
Research has also found that elderly people encounter more barriers in accessing mental health and addiction care, such as stigma against mental health issues, cost of treatment, low mental health literacy, physical mobility, and more. Considering in conjunction the complications of finding in-person resources brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, we’d like to offer some remote and/or online resources that may prove to be helpful for both older adults and their caretakers in understanding, processing, and seeking proper treatment for potential mental health issues.
Increasing Literacy of Older Adult Mental Health
Older Adult Mental Health — This website raises awareness of the importance in understanding how mental health issues can affect older adults, the physical and behavioral symptoms of these issues, and offers various studies and research showing the relationships between mental health, physical health, elderly family members, and aging.
Reducing Loneliness and Social Isolation Among Older Adults — This guide focuses on understanding loneliness and social isolation in older adults, and offers resources for reducing loneliness and social isolation of elderly members in the community.
Healthy Aging — This website aims to help people of all ages in understanding how to develop habits that assist individuals in maintaining good physical and mental health.
General and Specific Illness-Oriented Mental Health Resources
Health in Aging — This website provides information for older adults and family members on anxiety, delirium, depression, and dementia in the elderly.
Mental Health First Aid — This website compiles many channels and organizations that both provide general mental health assistance or specialize in the treatment of specific disorders and illnesses.
Alzheimers.gov — This website links to agencies and organizations with the most up-to-date information on Alzheimer’s disease- and dementia-related treatment and governmental policies.
Anxiety in Older Adults — This website explains common types of anxiety disorders, the identification of these disorders in older adults, and treatment options.
Help for Mental Illnesses — This website compiles crisis response and prevention hotlines, channels to find suitable mental health care providers and treatment, and how to determine which resources are suitable for the individual in question.
Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator — This locator system provided by SAMHSA helps individuals anonymously locate treatment facilities for substance use/addition and/or mental health problems.
It is also important to understand the difference between different categories of mental health providers, especially the differentiation of counselors and therapists. While they have much in common—expertise in dealing with mental health issues and wellness, specialization in specific mental health illnesses and disorders, shared therapy techniques and models—their roles are still very distinctive.
Counselors take a more individualistic approach to mental health issues, focusing on problem-solving and tracing the root causes of specific problems the patient may be experiencing. Often, they specialize in addressing particular situations, such as marriage and/or relationships, family counseling, substance abuse, and more.
Therapists, on the other hand, take a more social and relational approach, and treatment methods may be expanded to include other individuals within the patient’s web of interpersonal connections who may have been affecting the patient’s mental status. They usually specialize in specific mental disorders or illnesses, and they, while not being able to recommend or order medication, can refer patients for evaluation for medication or other treatments.
Here is a comprehensive and easy-to-understand guide on how to look for the “correct” mental health provider. Below are also mental health provider-specific locator websites that assist one in finding the specific type of mental health provider they’re looking for.
Find a Counselor — The American Counseling Association (ACA) provides information on the benefits of seeking help from a professional counselor, as well as channels and directories for finding a licensed professional counselor in one’s local area.
Find a Therapist — Psychology Today constructed an extensive directory for licensed professional therapists in all 50 States.
Support Groups and Community-Based Wellness
Mental Health America – Find Support Groups — This website explains the benefits of joining support groups and value in connecting with others with similar experiences, and they provide channels to find both local and remote/virtual support groups.
Mental Health and Social Support Resources for Older Adults — This website compiles some disease-specific support groups and foundations, social groups, and mental health hotlines that older adults and their caretakers and family members may find useful for maintaining mental wellness.
The maintenance of mental health is akin to that of physical health—it is absolutely necessary, there should be no shame in seeking for external support in the pursuit of wellness, and everyone is prone to the effects of deteriorating health regardless of age. We hope the resources listed above were of some help during the process of recovery, and we sincerely wish you well during every step of your journey.
