Compassionate Care for Senior Mental Health Concerns
Geriatric Behavioral Health
Just as seniors need health care that is specific to their needs in this phase of their lives, they also can benefit from elderly mental health services provided by geriatric behavioral health experts. Seniors may experience anxiety, depression, or other behavioral conditions that are unique to their life experiences, such as the loss of independence, death of a spouse, or moving out of their own home. Physical health issues, such as diabetes or chronic heart disease, also may trigger mental health conditions, such as depression.
Outpatient Geriatric Behavioral Health Services
Penn Highlands Healthcare offers behavioral health services for adults age 55 and over at Penn Highlands Brookville and Penn Highlands Clearfield. Our teams specialize in assessing and treating elderly mental health patients. On an outpatient basis, we offer psychiatric evaluation, medication management, psychological assessment, and individual and family psychotherapy. Our team consists of psychiatrists, psychologists, physician assistants, licensed clinical social workers, and licensed professional counselors who have experience in diagnosing and treating mental health conditions in seniors.
Inpatient Elderly Mental Health Services
Penn Highlands Healthcare provides inpatient behavioral health services for geriatric patients, who sometimes face complex, profound life changes that can cause emotional breakdowns, especially when combined with physical health problems. Our teams at Penn Highlands offer specialized treatment of psychiatric disorders experienced by older adults. That treatment may include intensive psychotherapies, nursing, and educational services, which aim to re-establish emotional and cognitive stability, enhance self-confidence, and instill and reinforce coping capabilities. We work with each patient to initiate a post-hospital care plan that will allow them to complete and sustain recovery.
There are units dedicated to this specialized type of behavioral care. Each offers a 10-bed psychiatric inpatient unit that specializes in treating emotional and behavioral difficulties experienced by individuals 55 years and older, including major depression, grief and loss, compulsive disorders, hallucinations and delusions, suicidal threats or actions, schizophrenia, excessive fears and anxiety, and behavior problems associated with dementia. The programs are focused on wellness and therapeutic activities offered in a calm and quiet home-like environment. The dedicated staff ensures that patients receive the highest quality care for both their medical and mental health needs.
Services include, but are not limited to:
- Psychiatric assessment and stabilization
- Medication evaluation, management and education
- Multidisciplinary treatment planning
- Coordination of care with other providers
- Psychological testing
- Exercise, nutrition, and wellness education
- Leisure and recreational therapeutic activities
- Individual and group therapy
- 24-hour nursing care
- Family and patient education and support
- Case management and placement services
- Discharge planning and referrals
Obtaining Elderly Behavioral Health Services
If you are interested in obtaining outpatient mental health care for yourself or a loved one, start by talking to your doctor. You also can call the Penn Highlands location most convenient to you for information and to schedule an assessment.
Referrals for inpatient behavioral health services for adults 55+ can be made 24 hours a day by individuals, family members, friends, agencies, hospitals, clergy and physicians. Comprehensive face-to-face assessments also are provided by trained mental health staff via the Emergency Department at Penn Highlands DuBois for inpatient placement or outpatient services referral.
