AAGP Session to Focus on Evaluation, Treatment of Older Minority Patients

As the U.S. population ages, the percentage of older adults from diverse backgrounds is increasing. Psychiatrists need to be prepared to provide culturally sensitive care.

The role of culture and diversity in geriatric psychiatry will be highlighted in a session presented by the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) at APA’s 2018 Annual Meeting in May. In the session, titled “Culture and Diversity in Geriatric Psychiatry Across the Clinical Continuum,” a panel of geriatric psychiatrists will discuss the growing diversity of the aging U.S. population and the demographic imperative to address diversity and the importance of incorporating patients’ ethno-cultural and sexual identity and orientation in assessment and treatment and as part of the overall approach to the mental health care of older adults. This session is particularly timely and salient, given the evolving landscape of the increasing diversity of the aging population within a rapidly changing health care environment.

When we talk about patients’ diversity, we are referring to such demographic characteristics as race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, and immigration status. Currently, 50 million seniors, or 15 percent of the U.S. population, are over the age of 65, and this number is projected to increase to over 80 million, or 24 percent, by 2060, with an accompanying increase in diversity. The United States is also projected to become a majority-minority nation by this time. Ethnic elderly people aged 85 and above comprise the most rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population.

Culture and ethnicity have an impact on what are considered normal changes with aging, as well as on psychopathology leading to differences in the prevalence, presentation, and etiology of symptoms and disorders. Culture can also affect therapeutic relationships and attitudes toward treatment as well as contribute to the burden of stigma. Cultural and ethnic differences between patients and health care providers can further exacerbate disparities in health care, such as access and quality of care provided. A framework for culturally informed, aware, and culturally competent care is therefore a critical component of meeting the mental health care needs of the diverse aging population.

Among our presenters are current and past AAGP presidents, as well as leaders within AAGP, including Daniel Sewell, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and director of senior behavioral health at UC San Diego School of Medicine; and national experts Maria Llorente, M.D., deputy chief medical officer at the Maryland Veterans Administration Medical Center, and Ladson Hinton, M.D., director of geriatric psychiatry and director of the Latino Aging Research Resource Center at UC Davis.

We will present an overview of culture and diversity in aging. Llorente will review the role of cultural psychiatry education and curriculum in training the health care workforce to meet the needs of minority elderly individuals. Sewell will discuss culturally sensitive clinical care of LGBTQ older adults, and Hinton will offer insights on innovative and culturally sensitive approaches incorporating families and caregivers of older adults. ■

The preliminary program of APA’s 2018 Annual Meeting can be accessed here.