As the U.S. population continues to age, our nation needs to give some serious thoughts to caring for an older population. In 2010, there were 40.3 million adults age 65 and older in the U.S. Over the next 20 years, that number is expected to climb to more than 72 million. With it will come a number of new challenges, many of them for our health care system.
The U.S. government released a new report last week that took an in-depth, systematic look at how the mental health care system is equipped to deal with an aging population. Their review found that there are 5.6 million to 8 million older adults in America today have one or more mental health and substance use conditions, and that number is expected to soar as the population ages.
The report calls for a number of major changes to the U.S. health care system including:
- A redesign of Medicare and Medicaid payment rules to guarantee coverage of counseling, care management, and other types of services crucial for treating mental health conditions and substance use problems so that clinicians are willing to provide this care.
- Health care accrediting organizations should make sure that health care providers who see older adults are trained to recognize signs and symptoms of geriatric mental health conditions, neglect and substance abuse.
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should make it a priority to promote building a work force trained in geriatric mental health and substance abuse care.
The report also details the consequences of inattention to older adults’ mental health conditions clearly leads to include higher costs and poorer health outcomes – an outcome that our senior citizens and our health care system can’t afford.
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