Media Advisories

2005 White House Conference on Aging to participate in January 24 Listening Session - Sponsored by the National Coalition on Mental Health and Aging (NCMHA)

WHAT: The 2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) will participate in a Listening Session. The listening session will be attended by WHCoA Policy Committee Chairman Dorcas R. Hardy as well as other Policy Committee members as they continue to solicit input from older adults and baby boomers, service providers, organizations and others who are interested in playing a role in the future of aging policy in the United States. Comments and recommendations from the Listening Sessions, Solutions Forums, Mini-Conferences and Officially Designated WHCoA events which are being held throughout the country are being considered as the Policy Committee continues its preparation for the Conference to be held October 23-26, 2005 in Washington, D.C. White House Conferences on Aging have occurred once a decade since 1961.

WHEN: Monday, January 24, 2005, 9:30 AM – 12 noon

WHERE: American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC, 20002-4242, 9th Floor Conference Room

WHO:

Opening Address:
Norman Anderson, PhD, CEO, American Psychological Association
Sanford Finkel, MD, Chair, National Coalition on Mental Health & Aging and Director, Geriatric Institute, Council for Jewish Elderly, Chicago
Panel #1 Overview/Statement of the Problem

Robert Bernstein, , PhD, Executive Director, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Laurie Young, PhD, Executive Director, Older Women’s League, “Consumer Perspective of Key Issues”

Panel #2 Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Interventions

Mildred Reynolds, EdD, MSW, National Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Board of Directors, International Center on Global Aging “Consequences of Untreated Mental Health Conditions and Substance Abuse in Older Adults and Benefits of Treatment: A Consumer’s Perspective”

Presenter:
Ira Katz, MD, American Geriatrics Society, Director, Section of Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, “Efficacy of Mental Health Interventions” Kristen Barry, PhD, Research Associate Professor, University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry and Associate Director, Department of Veterans Affairs National Serious Mental Illness Treatment Research and Evaluation Center, “Efficacy of Substance Abuse Interventions”

Panel #3 Translation of Effective Mental Health and Substance Abuse Interventions to Practice

Linda Powell, Older Adult Consumer Mental Health Alliance, “A Consumer’s Perspective of Barriers to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Solutions”
Willard Mays, MA, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, “Financing Barriers and Solutions” Stephen Bartels, MD, MS, Professor of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School and Director, Aging Services Research, New Hampshire-Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center, “Health Delivery System Barriers and Solutions” Alixe McNeill, MPA, Assistant Vice President for Program Development, The National Council on the Aged, “The Role of Community-based Organizations in Connecting Older Adults to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services”

Panel #4 Education and Development of the Professional Mental Health Workforce

Anita Rosen, PhD, Board of Directors, American Society of Aging, “The Shortage of an Adequately Trained Geriatric Mental Health Workforce”
Steven Bartels, MD, MS, Professor of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School and Director, Aging Services Research, New Hampshire-Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center “Recommendations for Addressing the Shortage of Geriatric Mental Health Professionals” Julie Meashey, Ombudsman Specialist, National Citizen’s Coalition on Nursing Home Reform, “The Need for a Mental Health Presence in Long-Term Care”
Jacki McKinney, MSW, Board of Trustees, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Services Board of Trustees Member, “The Implications of the Increasing Diversity of Mid-Life and Older Americans for the Mental Health Workforce: A Consumer’s Perspective”

Panel #5 What we have learned and where we need to go

Margaret Gatz, PhD, American Psychological Association, Professor of Psychology, Gerontology, and Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California “What we have learned and where we need to go: Research in Mental Health and Aging”
Susan Levkoff, PhD, Director, Positive Aging Resource Center, Boston, Massachusetts, “What we have learned and where we need to go: Future Directions for mental health programming” Tess Scannell, Director, Senior Corps, Corporation for National and Community Service, “Community Service and its Impact on Older Adult Mental Health and Wellbeing Sandy Finkel, MD, Chair, National Coalition on Mental Health and Aging, Director, Geriatric Institute, Council for Jewish Elderly, Chicago, “What we have learned and where we need to go: 2005 and Beyond
Summary and Next Steps ”

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The mission of the WHCoA is to make policy recommendations to the President and Congress, and to assist the public and private sectors in promoting dignity, health, independence, and economic security of current and future generations of older persons. In addition to addressing issues of the current older population, the 2005 White House Conference has a mandate to focus on needs and impact of those individuals born between 1946 and 1964 (baby boomers). White House Conferences on Aging have occurred every decade since 1961. The 2005 WHCoA will be the first of the 21 st Century. To learn more about the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, please visit http://www.whcoa.gov