Web Resources

• John A. Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing Try This. Try This: Best Practices in Nursing Care to Older Adults is a series of assessment tools to provide knowledge of best practices in the care of older adults. Includes a general assessment tool (SPICES), the Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living; Mental Status Assessment of Older Adults (Mini-Cog), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) in English or Spanish.
  http://www.hartfordign.org/resources/education/tryThis.html
  

• Neurotransmitter.net Psychiatric Rating Scales Index. This link takes you to a list of conditions. Selecting one of these conditions takes you to a list of assessment instruments, many of which can be downloaded and used in your practice, others take you to a link to contact the instrument developer about use. (Includes scales for Anxiety, Depression, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia, and Schizophrenia, among others.)
  http://www.neurotransmitter.net/ratingscales.html

On-line Fact Sheets

• Health and Age Depression Center. This site contains a brief description of depression with a link for more detailed information and another link to a self-test for depression. There is a section with articles and news about depression, and another section with questions and answers geared toward caregivers.
  http://www.healthandage.com/Home/?gm=20&gc=7&select.x=21&select.y=8
  

• NIMH (National Institute on Mental Health) Depression and Suicide Facts. This link provides information about depression and suicide in older adults. It is written for the consumer and includes a self-screen.
  

• [Unfortunately, the font size is small and you would have to use the browser tool for zooming (increasing) size before printing out the pages. In Explorer: click on the “View” drop-down menu, then “text size,” and increase the size. In FireFox: click on “View,” “Zoom,” then “Zoom-in.”]
  http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/older-adults-depression-and-suicide-facts.shtml

DVD and Video Resources

• Assessment of Suicide Risk in an Older Adult Male. Geron 620 Mental Health and Aging, K-State Division of Continuing Education. Laurel Dinkel demonstrates an assessment of suicide risk in a white, older adult male. The video provides an outline of the interview including suicide risk and protective factors, the interview, and a post-interview discussion between Laurel and Janice Dinkel. This 60-minute DVD was developed specifically for social work students and is quite user-friendly for both bachelor’s and master’s level students. DVD, 60 minutes.
  

• Initial Screening: Older Woman with Suspected Cognitive Impairment. Geron 620 Mental Health and Aging, K-State Division of Continuing Education. Laurel Dinkel demonstrates an initial assessment of a 77 y.o. woman with suspected cognitive impairment. The demonstration includes a brief history taking; assessment of current symptoms; administration of the Mini-Mental Status Exam, Clock Drawing Test, and Trail Making Test A and B; and presentation of recommendations and plan to the client and her daughter. The demonstration is followed by a post-interview discussion, between Laurel and Janice Dinkel, of the interview and the scoring and implications of the screening tools. This 60-minute DVD was developed specifically for social work students and is quite user-friendly for both bachelor’s and master’s level students. DVD, 60 minutes.

  
  

  Janice Dinkel, MSW, LSCSW
  Associate Professor of Social Work
  Kansas State University
  204 Waters Hall
  Manhattan, KS 66506
  (785) 532-4980
  

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