February 16, 2023
When AMDA established the Behavioral Health Advisory Council in 2020, the group hit the ground running. It continues to evolve and take on new projects and challenges, currently under the leadership of co-chairs Lea Watson, MD, and Lisa Lind, PhD, ABPP. “We have a very active council and a wonderful interdisciplinary group. Everyone brings unique viewpoints and experiences, but they share passion and commitment to ensuring the best possible care for their patients,” says Dr. Watson.
Among the most significant efforts of the Council to date is the Healing Together campaign—an effort that involved access to an extensive collection of vetted resources and a free webinar series. All of these were designed to enable AMDA members and others to share strategies for coping with the grief and trauma they and their patients and colleagues experienced during the pandemic. Dr. Watson says, “We believed that this needed to take priority because of the significant trauma people suffered.” The campaign was very successful, with strong attendance at the webinars and many of the tools and materials being downloaded and shared.
In addition to Healing Together, council members have presented other webinars, guested on the AMDA On-The-Go podcast, spoken at the EDGE Virtual Symposium, and worked on deprescribing efforts. Members of the council have written articles for Caring for the Ages, and the group will publish regular columns in the publication in the coming year.
The council was established to promote awareness of behavioral and mental health issues in the PALTC population and to disseminate best practices for the treatment of mental health in this care sector. Dr. Watson credits AMDA Executive Director Christopher Laxton, CAE, with the idea for the council. “The Society board has been very supportive, and they understand that behavioral health needs greater attention,” Dr. Watson says. “One thing our council has championed is behavioral health integration. We need to bring this care into the facility, instead of sending people out for care.” The group also has promoted the use of nonpharmacologic interventions and a team approach to behavioral management as ways to reduce the use of inappropriate antipsychotics in the PALTC population. “There has been growing acceptance and popularity of these concepts, and we have been successful in helping to get the word out there,” Dr. Watson observes.
Moving forward, the council will be prioritizing getting content on the AMDA mobile app. “We want to provide information and resources on a variety of issues related to behavioral management,” Dr. Watson says. “We want people to have immediate access to resources such as what antidepressants to choose first and how to de-escalate agitation in a person living with dementia.”
