QUESTION
How is the NYC Department for the Aging addressing mental health service utilization disparities among English-speaking and non-English speaking seniors?
1:27:41
·
3 min
Associate Commissioner Anya Herasme discusses potential consideration for including community support services in the geriatric mental health Request for Proposals (RFP) and emphasizes the importance of inclusive outreach to combat stigma and increase participation.
- Herasme mentions the necessity to review the potential inclusion of community services like those provided by Saks for the South Asian community.
- Outreach and inclusive practices of current geriatric mental health programs are highlighted, aiming to reduce stigma and improve service accessibility.
- The role of center staff in bridging service utilization gaps through referrals and support is underlined.
- Council Member Linda Lee requests data on utilization rates, stressing its significance in understanding service disparities.
- The need for additional information on including peer-to-peer and social programs in the RFP is recognized.
Linda Lee
1:27:41
And just out of curiosity, going along with the data, Have you looked at the data and because I know for for certain, you know, workforce issues in general across the board with healthcare services are very short staffed.
1:27:55
And on top of that, to find social workers that speak a lot of these different languages is also very challenging.
1:28:01
So I just wanted to know if you are tracking the English speaking folks that are utilizing the mental health services versus the non English speaking seniors and looking at what that rate is because I know that at least for the API community, we have the highest rates of underutilization of mental health services, which even grows higher when you're looking at the senior older adult population.
1:28:27
So my question is what efforts are being made to increase that participation if it is low?
1:28:35
And then also my second part of the question is, is there room in the geriatric mental health RP to include groups?
1:28:42
And I'm just thinking out loud like sex.
1:28:44
Saks does not have an article 31 clinic.
1:28:48
It's run by Sudha Ataria serving the South Asian community and flushing area.
1:28:52
So is there room to include services like that because they do the peer to peer.
1:28:57
They do other services in the community where they actually reach a lot of the older adults.
1:29:01
It's not formal mental health services, but they do offer different types of mental health and social programs like that.
1:29:07
So the second part is to see if there's room or is there talks about including those types of services into the geriatric mental health
Anya Herasme
1:29:15
RFP?
1:29:17
Sure.
1:29:17
So I'm I think we'd need to get back to you about including those types of services.
1:29:21
I think that's very interesting and definitely something to consider.
1:29:24
And even if it's not through geriatric mental health, our centers can work with different providers and different you know, so I think there's definitely opportunities to look into that.
1:29:33
And I I speak from personal experience from having worked at the centers before coming here, and they had geriatric mental health program.
1:29:39
They do a wonderful job with outreach.
1:29:41
That's a core component of those programs.
1:29:43
Before they even start doing mental health counseling, they become the the idea is for them to become a part of the program.
1:29:50
So they'll serve meals, they will participate in parties.
1:29:53
They really tried to, like, incorporate themselves.
1:29:55
So it's not, you know, there's to help lessen that stigma of, oh, I'm, you know, that's therapy and that makes me crazy those things that we know obviously are not true, but that really a lot of cultures really don't feel comfortable to sometimes speak to social worker or a counselor of some sort.
1:30:11
So there's that's a huge component of that program and that I think helps a lot.
1:30:16
We also see that when the center staff really buy into the the service and understand the benefits of it.
1:30:21
They can also help make those referrals and help kind of bridge that gap to help more people utilize.
1:30:27
Because it really is such an amazing program.
Linda Lee
1:30:29
And then if you can get back to us about the data in terms of the utilization rates because I think that would actually be a huge indicator of what's actually happening on the ground because I guarantee you even if some seniors are not utilizing the services, it's not because they don't have the issues and Absolutely.
1:30:45
Yeah.
1:30:45
Agree.
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How are smaller immigrant-serving senior centers impacted by case management contract consolidation, and what steps are being taken to improve inclusivity and reduce subcontracting for culturally sensitive meals?
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What are the challenges faced by immigrant older adults in accessing services in New York City beyond language barriers, and how are they being addressed?