In this Making Sense of SILVER Research webinar, Dr. Evan Plys, PhD, ABPP—a licensed clinical psychologist board-certified in clinical geropsychology, Assistant Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital, and faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School—presents his recently published article on policy changes needed to improve quality of life for people with serious mental health conditions living in U.S. nursing homes. Drawing on years of nursing home consultation experience, Dr. Plys describes a "mental health to nursing home pipeline" for older adults: over the past two decades, the number of long-term care residents with serious mental illness has tripled, yet nursing homes are not licensed, staffed, or resourced as psychiatric facilities, and an estimated 40–50% of these residents could live in a less restrictive environment.
Dr. Plys reviews why the PASRR screening process (Preadmission Screening and Resident Review (PASR—originally designed to divert people from unnecessary institutionalization—has instead become a "regulatory checkbox" that screens people in, and outlines the key unanswered questions his team of policy experts identified: how serious mental illness should be defined (diagnostically or functionally), what quality of care should look like in this setting, and, most fundamentally, whether the nursing home industry should reaffirm its original identity by investing in community-based alternatives or adapt to become more psychiatrically equipped. A discussion with attendees, moderated by Jane Burke-Miller, PhD, follows the presentation.
This webinar is part of the Making Sense of S.I.L.V.E.R. Research (MSSR) series, highlighting recent research related to aging with a psychiatric disability. Each webinar is designed to discuss a recently published study in a clear and relevant way, even if you know little or nothing about research.
MSSR webinars are also available as podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube Music
This event was supported by funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this project do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
