Older Americans tend to be happier and more content than their younger peers, according to an AARP study published June 2022, but aging brings its own unique challenges.
In fact, 39 percent of providers have a high level of concern about the mental health of their patients over 65, according to CVS Health's 2021 Health Care Insights Study. About a fifth of retirement-age Americans have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, and many more avoid talking to their providers about mental health at all.
Virtual care, perhaps surprisingly, is helping to mitigate some of the cultural discomfort some older Americans experience in discussing their mental health.
"It turns out that older Americans have been more than adept at getting their care virtually," CVS Health Chief Psychiatric Officer Taft Parsons, MD, said in CVS' Health Trends Spring 2023 report.
"To help bridge the discomfort gap, we tell older patients — and all of our patients — that screening for depression is no different than screening for high blood pressure or high blood sugar," Dr. Parsons said in the report. "We do this to help them understand they’re being assessed for a medical problem, not a personal weakness."
But whether or not a patient is comfortable seeking care, it can't be accessed if there is no provider. Behavioral health provider shortages are projected by some to only grow worse in the near future, but digital health and other solutions are helping to mitigate the issue.
Medicare will begin accepting a wider range of behavioral health providers in 2023, the report said. That includes trained marriage and family therapists, addiction counselors and licensed professional counselors, who will be able to provide care without a doctor or nurse practitioner physically on-site.
"That means more clinicians who can provide mental health care to older adults," Dr. Parsons said.