Typical patient profile: Age 55 or older

• Mental health – Psychiatric diagnosis
• History of depression
• History of anxiety
• History of bi-polar disorder
• History of post traumatic stress disorder
• History of obsessive compulsive disorder
• Early stages of dementia
• Recent Loss

Co-Morbidity medical issues:

• Post stroke
• Post cardiac care
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Minor medical issues which are not primary concern
• Major changes in previous physical level of functioning
• Substance abuse related issues

Admission Criteria
The following admission criteria are applied:

1. Patient must be 55 years or older.
2. The patient has a diagnosed Axis I Psychiatric Disorder and is in need of crisis stabilization in order to avoid imminent and severe damage to their self-care, social, occupational, educational, financial or legal functioning.
3. The patient has not made sufficient clinical gains within a lower level of care setting, or the severity of his/her presenting symptoms is such that success in less restrictive and intensive treatment is doubtful.
4. The patient’s medical needs must be sufficiently stable to be safely managed by the staff and equipment available on the psychiatric unit.
5. An improvement in the patient’s level of functioning can reasonably be expected with active treatment.
6. The patient requires the intense and continuing observation, protection, treatment and/or evaluation found only in an inpatient setting.
7. The patient’s condition is expected to deteriorate in the absence of an inpatient level of care.
8. The patient is voluntarily admitted under his/her own or their legal guardian’s consent or the patient is legally ordered into involuntary treatment.
9. The patient is judged to be able to be safely managed by the psychiatric staff.

Exclusionary Criteria:
Criteria that identify patients for whom geriatric psychiatric treatment is not indicated include:

1. High medical acuity that is potentially life threatening and cannot be safely managed on the geriatric psychiatric unit (severe head trauma, onset of dysrhythmia which compromises medical stability, central line placement, diabetic ketoacidosis, renal failure, telemetry, reverse isolation, respiratory insufficiency with inability to maintain oxygen saturation > 90% with oxygen, unresponsive/comatose patients, etc.), infectious diseases (c-dif, MRSA, VRE).
2. Baseline cognitive impairment to such a degree that the patient would be unable to benefit from the behavioral health treatment intervention offered within the geriatric psychiatric program.

Patients for whom another, less restrictive level of care would be safe and effective in meeting their needs. 

Typical patient profile: Age 55 or older

• Mental health – Psychiatric diagnosis
• History of depression
• History of anxiety
• History of bi-polar disorder
• History of post traumatic stress disorder
• History of obsessive compulsive disorder
• Early stages of dementia
• Recent Loss

Co-Morbidity medical issues:

• Post stroke
• Post cardiac care
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Minor medical issues which are not primary concern
• Major changes in previous physical level of functioning
• Substance abuse related issues

Admission Criteria
The following admission criteria are applied:

1. Patient must be 55 years or older.
2. The patient has a diagnosed Axis I Psychiatric Disorder and is in need of crisis stabilization in order to avoid imminent and severe damage to their self-care, social, occupational, educational, financial or legal functioning.
3. The patient has not made sufficient clinical gains within a lower level of care setting, or the severity of his/her presenting symptoms is such that success in less restrictive and intensive treatment is doubtful.
4. The patient’s medical needs must be sufficiently stable to be safely managed by the staff and equipment available on the psychiatric unit.
5. An improvement in the patient’s level of functioning can reasonably be expected with active treatment.
6. The patient requires the intense and continuing observation, protection, treatment and/or evaluation found only in an inpatient setting.
7. The patient’s condition is expected to deteriorate in the absence of an inpatient level of care.
8. The patient is voluntarily admitted under his/her own or their legal guardian’s consent or the patient is legally ordered into involuntary treatment.
9. The patient is judged to be able to be safely managed by the psychiatric staff.

Exclusionary Criteria:
Criteria that identify patients for whom geriatric psychiatric treatment is not indicated include:

1. High medical acuity that is potentially life threatening and cannot be safely managed on the geriatric psychiatric unit (severe head trauma, onset of dysrhythmia which compromises medical stability, central line placement, diabetic ketoacidosis, renal failure, telemetry, reverse isolation, respiratory insufficiency with inability to maintain oxygen saturation > 90% with oxygen, unresponsive/comatose patients, etc.), infectious diseases (c-dif, MRSA, VRE).
2. Baseline cognitive impairment to such a degree that the patient would be unable to benefit from the behavioral health treatment intervention offered within the geriatric psychiatric program.

Patients for whom another, less restrictive level of care would be safe and effective in meeting their needs.