Part of the CAMH Healthy Aging Project, Improving Our Response provides the information, tools and guidance that service providers need to work more effectively with older adults who may have substance use, mental health or gambling problems. 

This comprehensive resource includes:

• an overview of alcohol use, anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, tobacco use and other problems as they appear in older adults
• a selection of screening tools that can be used to help identify problems
• practical guidance on building a relationship, adopting a holistic approach and advocacy for older adults
• an introduction to the recovery, harm reduction and stages of change models as guiding principles of care
• ways to guide and support staff, families and others who care for older adults with these problems
• information on referring to specialized addiction and mental health treatment services
• case studies and practical strategies for complex situations
• information sheets for older adults and their families on substance use, mental health and gambling.

This guide is for professionals who work with older adults, including nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, educators and management staff in community support services, retirement and long-term care homes. The guide is also a useful resource for mental health and addiction treatment providers.

The CAMH Healthy Aging Project was formed to help caregivers and their supervisors and managers better understand and support the older adults in their care who have mental health, substance use and gambling issues. The project invited experts in related disciplines to contribute their knowledge to help create accessible and practical educational resources.

C.A.M.H. Healthy Aging Project's profile page

Benoit Mulsant, MD, is The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health's Physician-in-Chief as well as the Clinical Director of the Geriatric Mental Health Program in the Clinical Research Department. He is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Mulsant has been designing and conducting clinical trials for "hard–to-treat" older patients with mood disorders for more than 15 years. He is concerned about the demographics of an ageing population and the urgency to improve the treatment of seniors with severe mental disorders. He is one of the principal investigators of two major studies: a large placebo-controlled study to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of a combination of a newer antidepressant and an atypical antipsychotic for the treatment of psychotic depression; and the first randomized clinical trial to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of drug therapy for bipolar disorder in late life. In addition, Dr. Mulsant is assessing the nature and course of cognitive impairment in older patients with a psychiatric disorder. He is also involved with a pilot project that uses PET-imaging to investigate how to improve the treatment of late-life schizophrenia.

Benoit Mulsant's profile page