In our post-pandemic world, mental health awareness has increased exponentially. The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the impact of extreme loneliness and social isolation — feelings many older adults in senior living communities experience regularly. Mental illness can impact anyone, regardless of gender, cultural background, or age. However, those factors can play a role in how mental health is viewed and how mental disorders are treated.
Below, we’ll take a look at why the mental health of older adults is so critical, and how your senior living community can understand the risk factors for mental health issues, spot the warning signs, and encourage residents to seek help when needed. We’ll also look at how the right senior living software can make it easier and more effective to support elderly mental health needs.
Approximately 20% of all adults aged 65 and older deal with mental health issues, but mental illness is not considered a “normal” or unavoidable part of aging. However, there are elements of the aging process that can contribute to mental health problems, including:
Mental health support for older adults is crucial in improving their quality of life. However, over half of geriatric patients seeking mental health services see their primary care physician rather than a qualified mental healthcare provider, and an alarming number (58%) believe they can or should handle it themselves rather than get help from outside.
Caregivers, family members, and healthcare providers all play an important role in supporting older people in prioritizing their mental health, and your senior living community can also play an active role and have a positive impact on residents’ mental well-being.
What might be surprising is how effective senior living management software can be in supporting the mental health of your residents. Let’s explore how by taking a look at Eldermark NEXT.
Eldermark NEXT is an end-to-end, comprehensive software solution for senior living communities, assisted living organizations, and long-term care residences. It consolidates the functions and features of many software types into a single, seamlessly integrated platform that is simple for employees to learn, cost-effective for your organization, and impactful for residents and loved ones. Here’s how Eldermark NEXT can be the gamechanger you’re looking for when it comes to offering elderly mental health support and meeting the needs of older adults:
Our EHR system improves accuracy and reduces errors, so you always have the most up-to-date health information on any resident at any moment. With Eldermark NEXT, EHR and eMAR work together so you only have to enter information once, and your staff can manage residents’ care and medication easily and correctly, so they are assured to receive the exact support they need.
Improve access to mental healthcare and health resources with our telehealth integration. Traveling to and from doctor’s appointments can be difficult for some geriatric residents to manage, but the availability of telehealth addresses their concerns and connects them with qualified mental health providers and mental health services so they get the specialized care they need.
With Eldermark engage, you can add a fully integrated community programming management platform to your Eldermark NEXT suite. Our engage program allows you to track participation and engagement so you can create programming that meets the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of your residents.
When reaching the stage of life in which they are choosing a senior living community for their loved one, 94% of family members would opt for one with a family portal. The family portal from Eldermark is next-level community programming, as it allows family members to view and help schedule activities for residents. It also provides a place to share photos, solicit feedback, and much more. By connecting residents to their support network, you’re able to facilitate improved mental health and higher engagement and satisfaction.
Through Eldermark NEXT and Eldermark engage, you can collect feedback, send surveys, and keep an eye on critical data to find out where there are gaps in programming, or identify trends in healthcare or medical needs in patients that may require mental health treatment. Our robust analytics platform, ElderSmarts, puts the power of data in your hands, and in addition to improving the quality of care, it can help you document and file critical reports and maintain regulatory compliance.
Eldermark NEXT comes with many communications tools that can support your senior living community. You can communicate with your entire organization in real time, making it easy and simple to share critical messages. The communication tools found on Eldermark NEXT and Eldermark engage also help with connecting residents to loved ones, which can help alleviate feelings of loneliness and isolation, and contribute to better mental health.
Consolidating your senior living software vendors into one comprehensive solution can feel like a daunting task, but Eldermark NEXT makes it easy. Our integrated platform boasts quick and simple onboarding, so there’s no major downtime, and employees feel confident and in control right from the start. Implementing the functions of Eldermark NEXT is also a smooth process, and you can choose the features that work best for your senior living community, for a customized fit. To get started, all you have to do is schedule your free demo!