Senior mental unit to open at DMH

Sept. 28--DECATUR -- With an eye on future needs, Decatur Memorial Hospital is opening a new unit to help seniors with behavioral and mental health problems.

The Senior Behavioral Health Services department will open Thursday and is tailored to seniors with mental issues that affect their ability to function and are aggravated by underlying health issues and medications.

Psychiatrist Choudary Kavuri will serve as medical director of a team of a dozen nurses, social workers, therapeutic recreation therapists and certified nurse assistants. They will provide therapy, medication management, coping skills conflict resolution, wellness training and other services to stabilize patients.

"Mental health disorders affect at least 17 percent of individuals age 55 and older, and the risk of depression is four times greater than that of the general population" Kavuri said. "Due to the presence of other medical conditions, depression and other mental disorders often go undiagnosed in older patients."

The 13,000-square-foot unit on the sixth floor will have 20 beds and rooms that were built to reduce the risk for self and staff injury.

"Everything is psych safe," assistant director Marti Tolliver said.

That section of the hospital previously housed long-term care. Tolliver said the unit is the only one on that floor and will be secured with locked external doors and cameras. Visitors will need a patient code and be let in by a nurse.

There's an activity room for recreation therapy and a meeting area for group counseling. Tolliver said it's important for patients there to interact with others.

"It's about getting them back to their optimal level of functioning," she said.

The unit will begin accepting inpatient referrals Thursday from health care providers and social workers for those 55 and older who are a danger to themselves or others when living at home or in assisted living.

"We're going to be taking people who could not be safely managed with an outpatient program," said Keith Gostel, interim director of nursing of the unit.

This could apply to those with a spouse who wanders outside the home, those in assisted living who are aggressive or experiencing psychosis. Most would have a medical illness in addition to their psychiatric disorder.

"Working with geriatrics does require more medical care, because when you're older, you're more likely to have a chronic condition," Gostel said.

The new unit focusing on senior mental health has been in development for about a year and originated with finding out if there was a need.

"For quite a while now, we've had a focus on our senior population," Chief Nursing Officer Linda Fahey said.

Using Diamond Healthcare Corp., DMH found the local population of people 55 and older is expected to increase 6 percent by 2017.

"Whenever you look at the aging population here and the potential for diagnosing and serving psychiatric diseases in our area, we are probably underidentifying that need," Fahey said.

Still, Gostel said they are taking a cautious approach to opening the unit to make sure they don't expand too quickly. The hospital has had a difficult time finding qualified staff with medical and behavioral skills.

Tolliver has been letting area nursing homes, assisted living centers and senior service agencies know about the new unit.

"There's been a lot of interest," she said. "I've been very pleased with the feedback about the need for this population."

esteele@herald-review.com|(217) 421-6968

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