Key Takeaways
Each year in May, the Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day symposium is held as a free educational event for professionals.
The symposium is hosted by NCOA, the Administration for Community Living (ACL), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) along with other federal and non-federal partners.
Learn more about the 2021-2023 events and see their impact in the evaluation reports.
To bring awareness to the need for mental health support for older adults, NCOA hosts the yearly Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium.
The 6th annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium was held on May 11, 2023. This free event was co-sponsored with the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the E4 Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities in Aging.
Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium 2023 Impact Report
The 6th annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium featured individuals sharing their personal mental health stories as well as those of caregivers and family members. The nine sessions also highlighted research findings on the state of mental health in older adults and promising programs and interventions.
The symposium ended with a call to action for all participants—to think about who they can partner with to better serve older adults and caregivers in their communities.
A few event highlights:
- Almost 5,000 people participated in this year’s symposium live—the largest audience to date.
- Emmy-award-winning TV personality Montel Williams served as the keynote speaker. He shared about how having multiple sclerosis (MS) impacts his mental health.
- Up to 5.5 continuing education credits were offered at no cost to participants for multiple disciplines including nurses, social workers, and physicians.
Call to actions for attendees:
- Promote and disseminate mental health resources including the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, FindSupport.gov, and FindTreatment.gov.
- Leverage the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers: Actions for States, Communities, and Others to identify and prioritize actions to support family caregivers.
- Review and update medication protocols to identify potentially inappropriate medications (PIMS) or unnecessary and problematic polypharmacy.
- Forge connections with other agencies or organizations in their state or community to increase coordination and quality care for older adults, such as State Head Injury Administrators.
- Use trainings and resources shared during with colleagues and partners to increase awareness and skills in supporting older adults’ mental health, including The E4 Center’s trainings and toolkits and NCOA’s hub for behavioral health.
- Look for opportunities to integrate services, including utilizing collaborative care models and behavioral health and primary care integration models.
- Prioritize the voice, perspective and insights of older adults and their caregivers in providing individual services, developing programs and resources, and conducting research.
This report includes summaries and key takeaways from each session:
More about Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium impact
Year | Summary |
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2022, Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium |
The 5th annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium was held on May 16 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. There were nine sessions. Some highlights:
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2021, Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium |
The 4th annual Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day Symposium, the first hosted by NCOA, was expanded from the two-hour event of previous years to a full day and was held live online, 10 a.m.-5:15 p.m. ET. Nine sessions covered such topics as addressing ageism, what behavioral health access looks like in diverse populations, and the latest in substance use interventions. Some highlights:
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This project was supported, in part by grant number 90CSSG0048 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official Administration for Community Living policy.