Older Adult Behavioral Health Network Supports Community Living for Older Adults

MAMH has received a $150,000, two-year grant from the Point32Health Foundation to support its work to elevate the importance of behavioral health and wellness for older adults. The grant will be used to support the Massachusetts Older Adult Behavioral Health Network (OABHN), a statewide coalition focused on behavioral health advocacy, workforce development, and peer support programs for older adults.

This grant continues Point32Health Foundation’s previous support for OABHN, which helped to transform the coalition from a grassroots advocacy group formed in 1999 to a robust network of older adults, providers, advocates, and others dedicated to improving the behavioral health of older adults across the Commonwealth. A few key accomplishments are described below, along with the Network's plans to continue and expand work in these priority areas.

Advocacy for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Older Adult Behavioral Health Supports

Since OABHN’s establishment in 2021, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs’ (EOEA) Geriatric Mental Health budget line item has more than doubled in funding. EOEA recently launched a behavioral health webpage and reorganized its oversight of a key mental health outreach program, now called Behavioral Health Outreach for Aging Populations (BHOAP). Over the next two years the Network hopes to build on this momentum to ensure that older adults across the Commonwealth have access to this critical service.

In 2024, OABHN helped to bring together aging and disability advocates including AARP-MA, Dignity Alliance, Mass Councils on Aging, Mass HomeCare, Mass Senior Care Action, and MAMH to raise awareness about the needs of the diverse population of older adults across the Commonwealth. OABHN’s speaker, Cambridge senior and activist Lloyd Smith, spoke about the importance of using one’s voice for change and the need for quality, in-home mental health support.

The recent settlement agreement in Marsters v. Healey provides an important opportunity to expand community living options for older adults and people with mental health conditions currently confined in nursing facilities. Under this landmark agreement, the state has agreed to invest in additional housing and services to support people in these less restrictive settings. In collaboration with advocacy partners, OABHN and its members will serve on Marsters' implementation workgroups and partner with the legislature, advocates, EOEA, and the MA Department of Mental Health to build, maintain, and expand programs to implement Marsters equitably and successfully achieve the goal of community living for older adults with behavioral health conditions.

Public Education and Workforce Development

During April-June 2024, MAMH and OABHN collaborated with AARP-MA and the MA Organization for Addiction Recovery (MOAR) to host a public education series called How Much is Too Much? The series, designed for older adults, families, and caregivers, focused on areas such as alcohol, clutter, and nutrition. The Network plans to build on the success of these events by creating new webinars for older adults and those who care for them, with input from OABHN’s members.

In July, MAMH received a two-year Healthy Aging grant from the MA Department of Public Health to support OABHN in leading a statewide Hoarding Resource Network. This initiative, with a primary goal of preventing homelessness, involves convening a coalition that will include mental health, housing, and aging services providers; older adults and others with hoarding conditions; peer specialists; caregivers; and other stakeholders to improve knowledge and access to effective services to support people with excessive clutter.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

Ensuring equitable access to information, resources, and effective services is a core value for OABHN. This past year, OABHN’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) workgroup members reviewed Dignity Alliance and Health Equity Compact legislative initiatives to provide feedback to ensure that the needs of older adults with behavioral health conditions were reflected. DEI members brought an “Immigration 101 and Eligibility of Benefits for Older Adults” workshop to the OABHN annual conference, which has since been requested by other organizations to increase the understanding by aging providers of immigration policies affecting older adults.

This year, OABHN is partnering with Dignity Alliance to co-lead a DEI and Accessibility Workgroup, with members from both organizations and other key stakeholder groups.