Canadian Guidelines for Seniors’ Mental Health

In May 2006, the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health (CCSMH) issued Canada’s first evidence-based guidelines for seniors’ mental health in collaboration with four multi-disciplinary teams of recognized experts across the county. The guidelines were the result of a year-long grant funded by The Public Health Agency of Canada, Population Health Fund, to identify existing best-practices within Canada as well as internationally. The guidelines are focused on four key areas:

• The Assessment and Treatment of Delirium
• The Assessment and Treatment of Depression
• The Assessment of Suicide Risk and Prevention of Suicide
• The Assessment and Treatment of Mental Health Issues in Long Term Care Homes (Focus on Mood and Behavior Symptoms)

The guidelines are free and available for download through the CCSMH website http://www.ccsmh.ca. Please note that you must register before you can download the documents. For information on hard copies of the guidelines, please contact Faith Malach, Executive Director of CCSMH, at fmalach@baycrest.org. The guidelines are also being translated into French and will be available in mid Fall 2006 on the CCSMH website.

For an executive summary of the project, click here.