Inaugural Meeting Review
With the support of the Iowa Division of Behavioral, Developmental, and Protective Services for Families, Adults, and Children (BDPS), the University of Iowa Center on Aging held the first meeting of the Iowa Coalition of Mental Health and Aging (ICMHA) in April 2005.
The Coalition meeting started with a presentation from Dr. Kitty Buckwalter from the University of Iowa. Dr. Buckwalter identified problems faced by older Iowans with mental illnesses, and methods to address them. A presentation from Willard Mays, the immediate past-President of the National Coalition of Mental Health and Aging, reviewed the activities of the national coalition and discussed what other state coalitions had accomplished over the past 10 years. Other speakers at the inaugural meeting included Directors Kevin Concannon from the Iowa Department of Human Service and Mark Haverland from the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs.
By the end of the inaugural meeting, the Coalition identified methods to expand and improve the delivery of care to older Iowans with mental illnesses.
The four most salient points were defined as:
(a) the need to improve public education and professional training efforts that focus on the needs of older Iowans with mental illnesses;
(b) the need to establish a formal, evidence-based approach to identifying and treating older persons with mental illnesses;
(c) the need to establish formal, sustainable linkages between qualified mental health providers and the usual places older Iowans with mental illnesses receive care: primary health care offices, nursing homes, and community-based programs;
(d) the need to enlist federal agencies, state policy makers, and private organizations to support the coalition’s efforts to expand and improve the care provided to older Iowans with mental illnesses.