Maggie McKay (Host): Welcome to Stoughton Health Talk. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. Today, Deanna Houck, Senior Life Solutions Program therapist, joins us to talk about her role at Stoughton Health and what the program offers. Thank you so much for being here today, Deanna.

Deanna Houck: Thanks for having me here today.

Host: So, let's talk about Senior Life Solutions. Can you provide an overview of the program, who's eligible, how insurance typically works, and what the referral process looks like?

Deanna Houck: It's for people 65 and older with mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, just for a few examples, and grief. And then, they would make a referral. They could self-refer, a family member can refer, or it could be a doctor that refers. They don't have to have a doctor's order to come into our program. We will look at their insurance and verify that, you know, we're covered by their insurance. And if not, we would give them extra resources. So, we don't leave people ever high and dry.

Host: That is reassuring, I'm sure, to people trying to get into the program. How does Senior Life Solutions tailor mental health care to the unique needs of older adults?

Deanna Houck: You know, as we age, we lose loved ones. We lose friends. So, grief might be a factor. We might lose more of our cognitive abilities. We might have more challenges with mobility, and things like that. So, we meet with the individual. We talk with them and see what they want to accomplish. And it might be something that, "Gee I don't write letters to my kids anymore. I really want to start doing that again because I felt better about myself before." And that might be a goal for that person, so it's very specific and personal to that person.

And our program, we work not to necessarily teach brand new skills, even though that's part of it, we really want to focus on individuals regaining skills that they have lost. Like maybe they don't leave the house as often, maybe we don't exercise as often. So, it's those kind of things.

Host: Would loneliness be considered a mental health issue in the older population?

Deanna Houck: Yes, because loneliness usually leads to depression. You know, not leaving a home, isolation. Loneliness in itself is not a mental health issue, but it's often the trigger to depression and isolation.

Host: What are some common signs that someone might be struggling with their mental health? What should family members look for?

Deanna Houck: Yeah. It might be, you know, "Gee, I'm tired. I don't understand why I am just so tired lately. You know, I have no desire to do anything lately." Even something that feels enjoyable is no longer fun. I just feel kind of, "Ugh, like I'm down all the time," "I feel like I'm letting people down," or I don't want to burden other people," "I might feel hopeless if I'm losing abilities," and that. So, those are some signs of depression.

Anxiety, feeling anxious on edge. "I can't sit still. I can't relax. I can't sleep at night. I sleep three hours, I wake up, I go back to bed, I wake up an hour later. And then, I'm up four in the morning for the rest of the day." It also might be panic symptoms, where it feels like it's coming on like a heart attack. They get sweaty, their chest gets tight, it gets hard to breathe, and they end up going into the emergency department. And then, they find that it's a panic attack and not a heart attack. So, those are some signs. Grieving, missing somebody that they love.

Host: And could you walk us through what a typical participant's journey looks like from referral, which you mentioned briefly to treatment to aftercare?

Deanna Houck: We get a referral. And we want to talk to them about the program to make sure that they have a good understanding of what's involved with the program, because we do have a group model where we meet Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. And they get supportive psychotherapy in the group. They get skills building in the group. And they also learn how to apply those skills. And so, we want to make sure they understand what's involved. Because some people three days a week, "I don't want to do it." But it's that social component that they get too. And once they actually do get into a group, what we found in other programs is that they actually enjoy coming. And it's a good thing and it actually leads to them getting out of the house maybe more and, you know, building up those skills. So, we have less trips to the doctor. Because with mental health conditions, they trigger physical health conditions. And then, also, with mental health conditions, people can also end up in the hospital for depression or severe anxiety. And what programs like ours do is they actually decrease those hospital days statistically.

Host: Well, that's wonderful.

Deanna Houck: Yeah.

Host: And so, what about aftercare?

Deanna Houck: So aftercare, the first day, we talk about at least weekly to prepare the person. So when they're ready for that aftercare, they're ready to go. We make sure they're connected in the community. And then, we followup with them periodically, quarterly. We invite them to come in and talk to us and let them know how things are going. At any point in time if things are not going well, they can come back into the program again, which is really nice. It's kind of like we're wrapping services around the individual, just to make sure they don't fall through the cracks.

Host: That's so nice. It sounds like Stoughton Health has thought of everything regarding this program, anything that a senior would need for sure. And what would you say to a senior or their family who might feel that depression or anxiety is "just a part of getting older"?

Deanna Houck: Yeah. I think I would ask them to look at their life now compared to where it was when they were feeling happier, you know, and what has changed, and are they truly happy, and what is working for them, is it really successful? If we don't change our behaviors, nothing changes, you know, in our life. So if we're miserable and we don't want to do anything about it, we're not going to feel better. But sometimes, it is developing that insight that this is not normal, this is depression, this is anxiety.

Host: Deanna, in closing, is there anything else you'd like to add about the Senior Life Solutions program that you'd like people to know about?

Deanna Houck: When they do come to our day program, Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays, that does include lunch, that does include the nurse taking vitals, so there's some medical monitoring that goes on, and then they can also get family therapy on top of individual therapy as well besides the group.

Host: So, the family can get therapy as well?

Deanna Houck: Yes.

Host: That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing your insight today. We really appreciate your time.

Deanna Houck: Thanks for having me.

Host: Again, that's Deanna Houck. To learn more about today's topic, please visit stoughtonhealth.com. And for more information on Senior Life Solutions at Stoughton Health, visit stoughtonhealth.com/health-services/seniorlifesolutions. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. I'm Maggie McKay. Thanks for listening to Stoughton Health Talk.