Georgia Coalition Older Adults and Mental
Health
Meeting Minutes – May 11, 2015
PRESENT
Eve Byrd, Fuqua Center for Late-Life Depression
Jay Bulot, Ph.D., DAS
Cathy T Rambach, Fuqua Center for Late-Life Depression
Cynthia Haley Dunn, DAS
Jocelyn Wise, Fuqua Center for Late-Life Depression
Alix LeCher, Family Member
Laura LeCher, Family Member
Pam Buckmaster, DAS
Sue Burgess, ARC
Jennifer Beamer, ARC
Deborah Johnson, MD, DHS Medical Director
Diane Gramman, Volunteer
Wendy Schneider, BHL - Guest
BY PHONE
Dr. Adrienne Mims, GMCF
Babs Hall, SOWEGA Council on Aging
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Eve Byrd welcomed the members present and thanked everyone for their involvement with the
Coalition and expressed appreciation for their continued interest.
We are a Coalition of agencies charged with creating a plan for cross training between DAS and DBHDD
aimed at improving capacity for our state to care for older adults with mental illness – we are not
creating a separate system, rather we are trying to grow capacity to care for those in the system who
are aging. Eventually this will expand to other areas including Public Health. We are also looking at any
policy issues that might need to be addressed that are perceived to impact the care of older adults in
the public MH system.
DBHDD/DAS/FUQUA Cross Training
• Eve, Dr. Bulot and Cathy recently met with Monica Parker, Dr. Terri Timberlake, and Jill Mays to
review cross training projects to date and those planned in the upcoming months as we work
toward building capacity to care for older adults with mental illness. The training GRID was
reviewed and there was discussion of the need for gathering data on older adults who are in the
system. Data was received late last week on older adults who had been served by the public MH
system in FY 14 that will be reviewed and shared with Coalition members.
• Today had a planning meeting with CCSP for the Cross-Training Pilot for 3 Regions for CCSP, SOURCE
and CSB staff working on the ground with individuals in the community. Discussion of objectives of
the pilot for the staff included:
o Demonstrate understanding of each other’s programs and services and how they are
accessed
o List ways to collaborate together to better serve joint clients and coordinate care
o Identify behaviors that impact care coordination and identify resources to address them
Discuss any challenges and barriers and identify needed policy/procedure changes to
address then.
This pilot is possible due to additional funding Jill secured from DBHDD.
GACCP (Georgia Association of Community Care Providers) Conference (Savannah)
o Our presentation slot is Thursday, July 23 in the afternoon – Currently we have one hour
allotted but we’ve requested that it be increased to 2 hours
o Need to finalize presenters – will ask Jill at the May 18 small group meeting to reach out to
GCAL to talk about access to care though GCAL system and to invite someone from the local
area CSB to review service array provided by the system overall as well as invite a local
certified peer specialist to talk about Recovery and the role of peer support in the system.
Also want to provide time for questions/case discussion from the audience.
o
•
GCAL OVERVIEW
• The Coalition welcomed Wendy Schneider who was invited to attend the meeting to give an
overview of GCAL and to clarify some issues that were raised during the April meeting. A summary
of information shared follows:
o Recommendations from a 2012/2013 Crisis Study Committee included ways to get the
GCAL number more widely circulated and these are beginning to be implemented moving
forward
o It’s not just a crisis line it is also access
o Single point of entry designed for public MH system services – finding resources for those
with benefits sometimes is challenging
o Single point of dispatch for mobile crisis services statewide – all 159 counties have mobile
crisis since July 2014 – 1 hour average response time – available 24/7
o GCAL receives 1,000 calls a day
o GCAL is a resource to both the client as well as to families/caregivers/concerned parties
 Feedback was shared that this was not that clear that it was resource for families
and needed to be spelled out more clearly on the website
o First responders and law enforcement do receive training that GCAL is a resource
 Education is planned for 911 operators
o GCAL is doing tip sheets for all types of agencies
 This is what we do
 This is how we can help you
 There are resources for you
 Wendy agreed to create a tip sheet geared at older adult callers and share it with
the Coalition for input
• GCAL will soon be able to access more information on those in the system – who they are being
served by and services they are receiving if they are currently enrolled so that they know this when
the person calls in
• Wendy thanked those present for their feedback on improvements to the web site particularly on
ways to help it be more clear that this is a resource for families/caregivers/etc
• Wendy has reached out to all probate court judges in the state to inform them of GCAL services and
those available from Mobile Crisis
• Wendy’s Contact Information – Wendy Schneider, LPC – Acting CEO – 404-420-3202 main –
[email protected]
Discussion followed on putting a link to BH Crisis Services on the DAS, DCH, and DPH websites that
included language directing the person to the website if they have an older adult with a MH issue who is
in distress. Just recently Alzheimer’s information was provided on these sites. Dr. Bulot is going to ask
Dr. Johnson, Medical Director with DCH to bring it to the BH Coordinating Council. We have also
reached out to Wendy for language to use for this link.
OTHER
ARC is moving forward with the BH Coach position who will work in the housing authority picking up the
gap and redirecting older adults with BH disorders – A final decision will be made shortly.
NAMI recently hosted a Recovery Symposium that over 500 people attended.
National Coalition on Mental Health and Aging (NCMHA) is co-hosting public education
activities during Older Adult Mental Health Week (May 17-23). As part of their activities, they
will be disseminating a wide variety of on-line public and professional education materials
about the mental health needs of older adults throughout the week. A list of resources they
compiled in 2009 was distributed and is attached with the e-mail of the minutes.
Georgia was selected as one of the states that will to be part of the National Learning Collaborative that
kicks off tomorrow and that Eve and Dr. Bulot will be participating in. The collaborative is led by
Kimberly Williams MHA-NYC – The Geriatric Mental Health Alliance of New York
Free WebEx - Wednesday, May 27th, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM EDT - Recognizing Mental Health Issues in
Older Adults: The 3 D's - Depression, Dementia, and Delirium
Click to register:
https://global.gotowebinar.com/ojoin/3789735472177026818
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the
webinar.
NEXT MEETING: Monday, June 8, 2015
Conference Calling Information
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nd
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Street NW - Room 33-389
June 8
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WEDNESDAY, October 14 (NOTE Special Date)
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