Innovations and Challenges of Training in Geriatric Mental Health

TY - JOUR

T1 - Innovations and Challenges of Training in Geriatric Mental Health

AU - Lee, Ellen E.

AU - Balasubramaniam, Meera

AU - Joo, Jin Hui

AU - Manning, Kevin

AU - Pontone, Gregory M.

AU - Kirkham, Julia

N1 - Funding Information: Altogether, these articles touch on a broad range of issues in training from international, interdisciplinary, and developmental perspectives. Despite the differences in healthcare delivery and education in other countries, the challenges of recruiting and sustaining a specialized geriatric mental health workforce in the United States are shared by many other countries. The Neuro Mental Health Research Program, a novel clinical education program in Australia, incorporates research efforts, funded through the Royal Brisbane and Woman's Hospital Foundation fellowship, Parkinson's Queensland Inc., and the Lions Medical Research Foundation, as well as philanthropic funding to train the next generation of psychologists in public and private neurology outpatient clinics to treat PD. 17,18 Despite the program's success and innovations, this program has not been able to garner government financial support, apart from in-kind support provided by the public sector neurology movement disorders outpatient clinics (i.e., access to movement disorders neurologists, specialist nurses, outpatient rooms). Similarly, the common difficulties at the medical and graduate school level in recruiting and training future geriatric mental health clinicians and researchers highlight the need for early exposure to the field and the needs of older adults as well as the striking similarities between the U.S. and international education systems. Future endeavors would benefit from incorporating international perspectives and interventions to support early training in geriatric mental health. Nearly every article in this thematic issue emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary training efforts to draw from the unique strengths of each discipline and to best address the complex and diverse mental health, medical, and psychosocial needs of older adults. Finally, the thematic issue focused on the clinical and research education challenges at every level of training, underscoring multiple opportunities to widen and nurture the pipeline of future leaders, clinicians and researchers in geriatric mental health. Funding Information: Ellen Lee has received support from the National Institute of Mental Health T32 Geriatric Mental Health Program ( MH019934 ), NIH/NIMH K23 a NARSAD Young Investigator grant from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and the Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California San Diego. Gregory Pontone is a medical advisor for Acadia Pharmaceuticals, and is currently supported by NIH/NIA K23AG044441 for research in Parkinson disease. Funding Information: Ellen Lee has received support from the National Institute of Mental Health T32 Geriatric Mental Health Program (MH019934), NIH/NIMH K23 a NARSAD Young Investigator grant from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and the Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California San Diego. Gregory Pontone is a medical advisor for Acadia Pharmaceuticals, and is currently supported by NIH/NIA K23AG044441 for research in Parkinson disease.

PY - 2019/7

Y1 - 2019/7

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85065838807&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85065838807&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jagp.2019.04.017

DO - 10.1016/j.jagp.2019.04.017

M3 - Editorial

C2 - 31122754

AN - SCOPUS:85065838807

SN - 1064-7481

VL - 27

SP - 655

EP - 659

JO - American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

JF - American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

IS - 7

ER -