University Psychiatric Centers

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Geriatrics

The Geriatric Psychiatry program has been in existence informally since 1999. Approximately 18 months ago a business plan was developed that included a financial and program model. The Geriatric Psychiatry program has a dual emphasis on quality clinical care for the elderly as well as training future professional practitioners to understand and competently treat older adults. A third goal is to add clinical research into the mix of activities.

Dr. Keller took the lead as a program coordinator / manager to establish standards and procedures for the services that are provided in several locations in the Detroit Metropolitan area. Suzanne Keller, Ph.D., LP, is a clinical psychologist with specializations in geriatric psychology, health psychology, and behavioral medicine. She is a graduate of Western Michigan University and has been a full-time faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences for 6 years.

Ancuta Matei, M.D., a board certified psychiatrist, is a full-time UPC employee. She has been the supervising psychiatrist of record for over a year in the community geriatric settings. Dr. Matei joined the program after serving as chief resident in the WSU general psychiatry residency program. She also completed a geriatric psychiatry fellowship at Wayne State University.

The UPC geriatric program is one without walls as services are provided in multiple sites reflecting very diverse populations:

A. Imperial Health Care facility is a 265-bed acute/long-term care facility located in Dearborn Heights.

B. Henry Ford Village is a three tiered Erickson Retirement Community in Dearborn with 1,500 independent apartments, 100 assisted living beds, and 100 long-term care beds.

C. Henry Ford Health System - Center for Senior Independence is a PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) program that has 230 participants in Detroit, located on Outer Drive.

D. Fox Run is a new Erickson Retirement Community under construction in Novi. This program currently has approximately 300 independent senior apartments.

E. DMC Geriatric Center of Excellence is one of the new specialty clinics in DMC’s University Health Center. Currently, Dr. Matei is spending one day a week consulting with the DMC multidisciplinary team of geriatric specialists on geriatric mental health issues.

F. Moroun Nursing Home is a 176-bed acute/long term care facility on Jefferson Ave. in Detroit. This facility has a dedicated, locked, Alzheimers Dementia Unit. Services will begin in this facility in March 2006.

G. UPC Jefferson and Livonia are two outpatient locations where older adults are currently being seen.

Academically the Geriatric Psychiatry program helps to train multiple individuals representing the major mental health disciplines through didactics and community on-site supervision. Currently the program is training geriatric psychiatry fellows, general psychiatry residents (PG-2), pre-doctoral psychology interns, and geriatric medicine fellows. Behavioral management meetings also take place at the various community sites, encompassing consultation and training for social work, nursing, case managers, physician assistants, and medical staff.

In the future with the addition of new personal computer notebooks and connecting to the UPC electronic medical record, the Geriatric Psychiatry program plans to collect clinical information that can be used to inform and enhance services to the geriatric population. Additionally, it is anticipated that this data set will provide the necessary background information to obtain funding to carry out research projects.