Building resilience: A specialty clinic tailored to older adults at risk of violence and abuse

Abstract

Objective Both structural (e.g., ageism) and personal (e.g., stigma) barriers hinder older adult’s access to and engagement with mental health care). These barriers are particularly problematic for those vulnerable to interpersonal violence and abuse (e.g., due to social isolation). This study presents a quality improvement program aimed at older adults who have experienced significant stress events, particularly elder mistreatment, within a larger trauma specialty clinic. Leveraging home-based telemedicine, the clinic provides evidence-based psychotherapy tailored to older adults’ needs. Methods From 2021 through 2023, the authors retrospectively examined treatment initiation, engagement, completion, and clinical outcomes among 231 older adults age 60+ who reported trauma that met DSM-5 criterion A criteria for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and other mental health comorbid conditions related to their traumatic event. The clinic uses an automated measurement-based care approach that facilitates Quality Improvement projects, allowing us to track treatment initiation, engagement, completion, and clinical outcomes for all patients. Results The results indicated high treatment completion, high engagement with telemedicine-delivered interventions, and, most importantly, significant changes in clinical outcomes. Conclusion These findings highlight the importance of expanding telemedicine-based mental health services for older adults, challenging ageist norms, and prioritizing older adults' mental health needs by providing tailored services to this patient population.