| Senior Behavioral Health is a unit of the North Country Regional
Hospital offering Geriatric Psychiatric
Services. Our specialty
is short-term inpatient treatment for seniors, assisting them with
their psychosocial, emotional and physical needs which are unique
to their specific age group.
A skilled interdisciplinary team of health
professionals, under
the direction of a psychiatrist, provide intensive intervention
in a holistic and structured therapeutic environment.
Common problems for seniors can include:
- Inability to accept
and adjust to losses
- Hearing or seeing things that are not
present
- Increase in memory difficulty
- Loss of interest in pleasurable
activities
- Inability to take care of day-to-day needs
- Recurrent thoughts
of death or suicide
- Emotional difficulty due to persistent
medical conditions.
- Excessive feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness
or guilt
- Significant change of appetite, sleep patterns or
energy
- Sudden onset of inability to deal with stressful situations
- Assaultive or combative behaviors
- Acute deterioration of
coping skills, placing person or others at risk
Often, confusion, disorientation, depression, paranoid behavior,
and other mental and emotional problems of senior adults have
been blamed on “getting old.” Therefore, many senior
adults have not been diagnosed and treated for their mental health
disturbances. The truth is that there are numerous medical and
psychological factors that can produce these types of problems.
Any person who is experiencing these symptoms should have a
comprehensive assessment to determine the cause of the problem.
SBHU offers free initial screening assessments on location at
local residential facilities, private homes and inpatient locations.
Referrals are accepted from physicians, hospitals, residential
facilities, clergy, local agencies, human resource organizations,
the community, and family. Self-referrals are also welcome. All
assessments include the Mini-Mental State Exam and Geriatric
Depression Scale. Other tests are administered as needed by a
qualified member of our clinical team. All referrals are
discussed with a Psychiatrist/Clinical Nurse Specialist who makes
the final determination regarding admission into our program.
All admissions are on a voluntary basis.
Contact Us:
Call 218-333-0323 or e-mail to
request a free information packet or to arrange for a free screening
assessment. All calls
are handled in a confidential manner.
Reaching out to the Medicare population, a stay at the Senior
Behavioral Health Unit is intended as the
beginning phase of the patient’s road to stabilization,
maximizing their capacity to function independently to the degree
possible.
Links:
Read about
Our Leadership Staff > : ^Back to top |
Recipient
of the Avatar International, Inc. Five Star Service Award for
Inpatient Behavioral Health in 2006.
