Well Into Your Future: National Campaign

State of the Art, Inc. has developed a health promotion campaign to educate older adults and their caregivers on important mental health issues. It is designed to support older adults and their caregivers by providing needed information on maintaining good mental health throughout the aging process, specific information on depression, dementia, and substance abuse; treatment options for these diseases; and caregiver interventions.

In this century, the rate of growth of the elderly population, persons 65 years old and over, has greatly exceeded the growth rate of the population of the country as a whole. Mental illness is found in over 50 percent of institutionalized elderly and in the general elderly population the rate is close to 22 percent. This high rate of mental illness found among older adults has given rise to the belief that mental illness is to be expected in elderly populations. Mental illness, however, does not accompany normal aging and has significant personal and economic cost. “Professional help is not often sought or offered so many of our senior citizens will live their final years in despair and suffering without any appreciation of their affliction or the understanding and comfort of those dear to them. (NIH Consensus Statement 1991) The series addresses the emotional conflicts and additional stressors that can make the aging process more difficult, such as depression, substance abuse, dementia, and a reluctance to seek available treatments and sources of support.

This series of educational videotapes and an interactive web content module present models of patient-centered care and show strong professional/patient relationships. The research for this project is funded by the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health.

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