As the Rush Center for Excellence in Aging continues its commitment to improving the health and well-being of older adults, others are taking notice. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded Rush the $3.5 million Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities in Older Adults.
As the only institution in the nation awarded this five-year center, Rush’s Center, titled “Engage, Educate, Empower for Equity: E4, The Rush Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities in Older Adults” (E4 Center), will focus on older adults and reducing health disparities. The E4 Center will specifically focus on community-based providers and their implementation of evidence-based practices and programs (EBPs) for vulnerable adults who experience the greatest behavioral and physical health disparities. The center will work to reduce behavioral health disparities for older adults in four SAMHSA strategic priority areas:
- Depression and suicide
- Substance use disorders
- Serious Mental Illness
- Socioeconomically disadvantaged and underserved ethnic and racial minority groups
To achieve this goal, the E4 Center will use trainings and activities that focus on scaling and spreading culturally tailored EBPs to the health care environment. This will include not only working with licensed mental health providers but community-based organizations, direct care workers, and the aging network — the system of federal, state and local services designed for older adults. Across the five-year grant period, the E4 Center anticipates reaching nearly 3,000 learners each year, for a total of 15,000.
The center will work to have a broad and lasting impact on the care of vulnerable older adults with mental health and substance use disorders.
The E4 Center is led by Erin Emery-Tiburcio, PhD, ABPP and Robyn Golden, LCSW who have decades of experience working with older adults and developing innovative programs. “Building on work of the Center for Excellence in Aging, we are excited to create E4 as it will reach the lives of older adults and families at Rush, in our community, and across the nation,” said Emery-Tiburcio.
To learn more about E4, please contact Emery-Tiburcio at [email protected]
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