Nevada Falls Short in Providing Mental Health Care to Seniors, Homeless, System Director Says

Providing mental health treatment to the elderly and the homeless is a "shortcomin[g]" for Nevada's mental health system, Carlos Brandenburg, director of the state division of Mental Health and Developmental Services, told a state task force last week, the Las Vegas Sun reports. Testifying before the Fund for a Healthy Nevada task force, which is charged with allocating national tobacco settlement funds to state health agencies, Brandenburg said that the stigma surrounding mental health problems makes the state's elderly "reluctant" to seek professional help. Brandenburg added that the state's elderly have "under-utilized" the mental health system and that under-utilization has, in part, contributed to Nevada having one of the nation's highest suicide rates among the elderly. Brandenburg also estimated that 33% of the state's homeless are mentally ill, and half of those have drug or alcohol problems. He added that "there are limited services" for both the elderly and the homeless. The state mental health system is developing a strategy to "fill this gap" in mental health services, Brandenburg said. To that end, the state Aging Division has given the mental health system a grant to hire two social workers for a pilot mental health outreach program in Las Vegas. The workers will go into the community, contact seniors with mental health problems and offer counseling or refer them to mental health agencies (Ryan, Las Vegas Sun, 12/6).