Introduction

Changing Attitudes: Enhancing Engagement in Ageing

Incorporating Mental Health Self-Care into Daily Practice

by Lise McCarthy, PT, DPT

More than ever, we are privileged to live and work in a country where our tax dollars support mental health research and public education. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is a federal agency; its mission is to lead and support research on mental health disorders. The NIMH has free educational information for the public that you can read for yourself and share with others. For more information about the NIMH agency go here if you are a visual word/text learner: www.NIMH.nih.gov; if you are a visual picture/movie learner try this link: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nin4V1MeFds.

Two worthwhile publications, featured on the NIMH website as of August 2022, are the pdf handouts entitled “Mental Health: Do I Need Help?” and “Tips for Talking with a Health Care Provider About Your Mental Health.” These brochures are designed to be used as educational self-care guides to teach people how to help themselves by assessing their own mental health needs and learning how to start a conversation about mental health with their health care provider. You can read about the NIMH’s work at www.NIMH.nih.gov.

In this issue of GeriNotes, Drs. Heitzman and Snell combine their physical therapy and nursing perspectives in: It begins with Us: Taking Care of Our Patients Begins with Taking Care of Ourselves.” As you read their words, I would encourage you to consider what the words “taking” and “care” mean to you. “Taking” has different connotations with varying emotional impacts. Consider what it may really mean for you to be “taking” something for yourself. Are there negative feelings you have unconsciously associated with this word? Can you intentionally shift your perspective to associate positive feelings with “taking” something, like time, for yourself?

As a healthcare worker, if you are having difficulty taking care of your own needs first by practicing what you preach to your ageing clients, then the article by Drs. David Taylor and William Staples may be for you. They discuss “Advocating for a Decade of Healthy Ageing” by highlighting the 4 action areas being promoted by the United Nations through the Add Life to Years Initiative, launched in 2020. Are you ever too young or too old to start making a lifestyle change? The global message Taylor and Staples bring to this issue is that mental, physical, functional, and financial shifts in thinking are needed for healthy ageing to occur. They write “the first action area challenges us to change how we think, feel, and act towards age and ageing.” Another perspective toward ageing and its challenges is presented by "The Pillars of Intentional Aging" which invites us to look beyond an individual’s chief complaint and reason for referral and aims to address the many factors that could potentially cause another destabilizing event.

Drs. Alex Germano, Julie Brauer, Samantha Chamberlain, and Jeff Musgrave present a case example rich in details about the importance of mental health and message consistency. These authors remind us what it means and what it takes to be resilient. Encouraging patients to mentally engage in their therapeutic journey to improve their self-care skills, health, and function also rebuilds their resilience.

The article by Drs. Jennifer Gindoff and Heidi Moyer entitled “Taking the Fall?” provides details for optimizing resident mobility in long-term care settings. These authors describe 3 domains in which barriers limit/prevent increased physical activity (i.e. resident, environment, and organization). They offer evidence-based recommendations for minimizing the impact of these common barriers while Dr Childers provides numerous suggestions for removing barriers and engaging people living with impaired cognition.

Dr. Kimberlyn Thomas’ article, “What I Wish I Had Known Working with Older Adults: Reflection on Essential Clinical Skills for the Early Career Professional” is for the pioneers in all of us. She, and Dr. Childers, remind us that the older we get, the more unique we become. Being with people older than yourself can be a worthwhile adventure, especially if you take care to focus on the creative process of building a relationship with someone who may think differently than you.

Read Dr Sahhar’s message to look beyond an individual’s chief complaint t oinclude factors that potentiallyl could cause another destabilizing event. As an example, our esteemed PT colleague, Debra Barrett, has written an article about “Autism in the Older Adult Population." She writes “The view of neurodiversity as a corollary to biodiversity acknowledges that while autism can be disabling, it is not inherently pathological, and demands acceptance of autistic and other neurodivergent individuals.” Being aware and mindful of the needs of others requires thinking outside the neurotypical cognitive mental health box. You can find more information about autism spectrum disorder at https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/ autism-spectrum-disorders-asd