Objective: To describe the initial efforts of a small group of geropsychiatry professionals working in tandem with state government staff, to develop a system to enhance mental health services for older adults in Wisconsin, a medium-sized state in the Midwestern region of the United States.
Design: Case study
Materials and Methods: A description of current initiatives designed to more widely disseminate basic principles of geriatric psychiatry to different kinds of groups of non-geropsychiatry health care providers, utilizing an heuristic model easily adaptable to different audiences.
Results: There is a broad array of geriatric service programs, in addition to standard Medicare, currently being piloted in Wisconsin with the support of the state and federal governments. Psychiatric morbidity is high in the populations of older adults being served by these programs, but geriatric mental health resources are scarce. Mobilizing geropsychiatry professionals to spend some of their time providing indirect care-- through case-based teaching and supporting other health care providers on an ongoing basis-- may help meet some of the growing need. The initial responses of different types of providers to the heuristic model have been positive.
Conclusion: Attempting to shape Wisconsin's limited geropsychiatric resources into a viable infrastructure is a daunting task. But models of indirect care may hold significant promise in the effort to enhance mental health services for the state's growing population of older adults.
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