The Underside of the Silver Tsunami — Older Adults and Mental Health Care

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 368; no. 6; pp. 493 - 496
• Main Authors: Bartels, Stephen J, Naslund, John A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 07-02-2013
• Subjects: Aged; Developing Countries; Fellowships and Scholarships - trends; Geriatric Psychiatry - manpower; Geriatric Psychiatry - trends; Health services; Humans; Medicare; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental Disorders - therapy; Mental health care; Mental Health Services - manpower; Mental Health Services - organization & administration; Mental Health Services - trends; Older people; United States - epidemiology; Workforce; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1211456

By 2030, the United States will have less than one geriatric psychiatrist per 6000 older adults with mental health or substance-use disorders. Perhaps innovations in other types of workforce expansion, use of technology, and federal policy can help to fill the gap.
Approximately 5.6 million to 8 million Americans 65 years of age or older have mental health or substance-use disorders, and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimates that their numbers will reach 10.1 million to 14.4 million by 2030.
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Yet the American Geriatrics Society estimates that there are fewer than 1800 geriatric psychiatrists in the United States today and that by 2030 there will be only about 1650 — less than 1 per 6000 older adults with mental health and substance-use disorders. The IOM's 2012 workforce report on this topic, aptly subtitled
In Whose Hands?,
confirms that we will never be able . . .