One in five Americans over the age of 55 suffer from mental health challenges at some point in their life. But mental health conditions are not a necessary part of aging. Seniors’ behavioral health can help navigate challenging life events and prevent long-term consequences.
Getting older does not necessarily mean developing mental or behavioral health problems. However, several aspects of aging may contribute to mental health challenges. Senior behavioral health helps address these challenges before developing into lasting health problems.
Features for Behavioral Health Services for Seniors
Some of the most common issues include:
- Adapting to declining health
- Dealing with loss and grief
- Suffering from loneliness and a lack of connection
- Struggling with medication management
Behavioral health for seniors addresses these challenges and helps older people establish positive habits. The goal is to ensure anyone can enjoy their retirement to the fullest and experience the best possible quality of life.
Positive behaviors include:
- regular eating patterns
- healthy exercise levels
- opportunities to socialize with others
All those behaviors contribute to a person’s overall health. They benefit both physical and mental well-being. As seniors become frailer, it is hard to maintain their previous lifestyles. Adapting to new restrictions or a different level of health is more straightforward with support from a senior behavioral health center.
This type of support can be highly personalized and tailored to an individual’s requirements. Some of the most popular senior behavioral health services include:
- Risk assessment and screening for mental health conditions
- Behavioral health counseling
- Practical support with day-to-day chores
- Medication management
- Offering encouragement and providing opportunities to socialize
TrueCare™ Behavioral Health Services for Seniors in Assisted Living
Assisted living facilities (ALF) have become popular among Americans over 65. There are currently nearly 29,000 assisted living communities across the country, offering different levels of independence and support.
Physical health care and assistance is a staple service of most facilities. Leading facilities also feature a senior behavioral health unit. TrueCare™ is a leading provider of behavioral health for seniors and a trusted partner for ALF communities.
The TrueCare™ team becomes an extension of the facility’s team, allowing the community to benefit from specialist services. They are fully licensed and qualified mental health professionals to start by assessing residents for their level of risk before providing personalized suggestions.
Access to TrueCare™’s expertise and knowledge is free of charge for both facility and residents because Medicare fully approves the program. The service has proved transformational for ALF communities with a senior behavioral health center.
Helping seniors establish and maintain better behavioral health habits benefits the individual. Those positive habits help form lasting bonds between residents and staff. They improve the facility’s quality of care measurably. As a result, residents choose to stay longer.
The facility benefits from economic stability, but more than that, it also strengthens its community thanks to long-term residents.
How Does Behavioral Health Services Work for Senior Citizens
Behavioral health for seniors starts by identifying those at risk of developing detrimental habits or who have already set them. Once those residents have been identified, a qualified mental health professional creates a personalized behavioral health strategy just for those individuals.
For many seniors, accepting the transition into residential care can be difficult. The move marks the beginning of the last phase of their lives. In many cases, it also means losing some degree of independence.
At the very least, such a big move is disruptive. Even those with well-established positive behaviors can find it hard to return to those habits. Making healthy meals is only one example. It is where a senior behavioral health unit can make an incredible impact through practical support.
Getting older also generally means taking medication to manage different illnesses and ailments. Managing those medications is challenging for some who may feel overwhelmed by their condition or are worried about side effects. Behavioral health for seniors helps mitigate those problems through counseling and offering simple solutions to existing problems.
FAQs on Behavioral Health Care Services
Behavioral health for seniors can make the difference between someone enjoying their retirement in excellent physical and mental health or struggling. Senior behavioral health units help clients establish positive habits that benefit their long-term health and overall well-being.
With one in five Americans over 55 struggling with their mental health at some point in their lives, senior living behavioral health can be instrumental in ensuring a high quality of life.
Moving into an ALF community is a big step in an older person’s life. But the community setting is ideal for supporting positive habits, including regular opportunities to socialize.
A senior behavioral health center can become a focal point for the community. The center can be a place to find support for mental and behavioral health concerns, meet other residents, or learn more about positive habits.
Integrating behavioral health care with primary health care allows the team of an ALF facility to assess their residents’ health more holistically. As a result, residents are happier and tend to stay longer.
Behavioral health concerns can vary widely between different people. But in the elderly, some concerns are seen more frequently.
Illness, injury, and medication management: as people get older, they are more likely to develop health problems. Some of those illnesses may be chronic or generally hard to manage. When they become too difficult to manage, they might overwhelm a person and lead to mental health issues. In other cases, anxiety and depression may be side effects of medication. Behavioral health services help address these issues.
Transitioning to residential care: most seniors require some form of care as they age. Leaving the family home for any assisted living community or residential care home can be difficult. Apart from the disruption caused by moving, some people find it hard to accept that they need help.
Partnering with a proven, experienced partner like TrueCare™ allows ALF communities to offer behavioral health for seniors without building an in-house team. Facilities benefit from access to services as and when they need them. Residents benefit from the peace of mind of knowing that they can get the help they need at any time.
Currently, there are more than 46 million Americans over 65. By 2050, this number will almost double as the baby boomer generation ages.
Most of those seniors will benefit from access to behavioral health care. Understanding how their daily habits affect their well-being is the first step toward establishing positive, sustainable habits. Those habits will benefit their quality of life for years to come.
Final Thoughts
Millions of senior Americans stand to benefit from access to behavioral health services.
Assisted living communities to have an opportunity to offer this level of care free of charge to the facility and its residents.
It is made possible by joining forces with proven partners like TrueCare™, who can deliver a comprehensive behavioral health program. Behavioral health for seniors can dramatically transform facilities by improving the quality of care.
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