Mental Health Provider

GAST services are available to caregivers of consumers of any mental health provider’s services when the following criteria are met:

• The person needing care must be age 60 or above, have a mental illness, and be at risk for psychiatric hospitalization. There must be a primary caregiver involved - usually a relative or friend.

OR

• The person needing care is under age 60 but has “geriatric-like” needs, for example early onset dementia.

Some examples of times when a mental health provider might make a GAST referral are:

• Mobile Crisis/or other provider is involved with a situation where a psychiatric hospitalization was averted but the caregiver needs education to better understand the needs/behaviors of an appropriate consumer. For example, Mobile Crisis was called due to behaviors of a person with Alzheimer’s Disease.
  
  
• Mental health provider has a consumer who is in the hospital with a discharge plan to return home to the care of a family member or friend. GAST can provide education to the caregiver either in anticipation of the discharge or after the discharge has occurred.
  
  
• Mental health provider is involved with a consumer who is a caregiver of a person meeting the criteria noted above. The caregiver may need extra education that could reduce some of the stresses of caregiving and improve the care the person is able to provide. Example: an adult child who is a consumer of mental health services (perhaps has depression) caring for an aged parent who has Alzheimer’s disease and behavior issues.