Abstract
•What is the primary question addressed by this article? Given the differential access to mental health care and the differential quality of care for diverse populations, the purpose of this article is to describe specific areas of training for the geriatric mental health workforce needed to address this problem.•What is the main finding of the article? To deliver care to a diverse older adult population, cultural competency and communication skills, interprofessional training relevant to collaborative care, and skills to work effectively with a lay workforce are needed.•What is the meaning of the finding? We are at the intersection of a growing and diversifying population of older adults and a rapidly transforming healthcare system with new models of care that require training the mental health workforce to achieve equitable and quality mental health care.
An increasingly diverse population of older adults requires a diverse workforce trained to address the problem of differential healthcare access and quality of care. This article describes specific areas of training focused on addressing health disparities based on ethnic differences. Culturally competent care by mental health providers, innovative models of mental health service delivery such as collaborative care, and expansion of the mental health workforce through integration of lay health workers into professional healthcare teams, offer potential solutions and require training. Cultural competency, defined as respect and responsiveness to diverse older adults' health beliefs, should be an integral part of clinical training in mental health. Clinicians can be trained in avoidance of stereotyping, communication and development of attitudes that convey cultural humility when caring for diverse older adults. Additionally, mental health clinicians can benefit from inter-professional education that moves beyond professional silos to facilitate learning about working collaboratively in interdisciplinary, team-based models of mental health care. Finally, familiarity with how lay health workers can be integrated into professional teams, and training to work and supervise them are needed. A growing and diversifying population of older adults and the emergence of innovative models of healthcare delivery present opportunities to alleviate mental health disparities that will require relevant training for the mental health workforce.
