Senior’s mental health research database knowledge tool for general public, researchers
Monday, June 26, 2006 -- Craig Anderson
It’s only a week and a half old, but owing to the response so far – including 50 researchers signing on during that time – the web-based “Senior’s Mental Health Research Network” is shaping up to be a powerful knowledge-sharing tool, says Faith Malach, executive director of the Canadian Coalition for Senior’s Mental Health.

The network was developed after 60 prominent researchers on senior’s mental health met in the fall of 2004 and identified a lack of research sharing.

A database of research work, they decided, would allow the public, care-providers, and researchers the chance to gain knowledge, connect, and develop linkages to identify opportunities for future, collaborative research.

“The problem in the past was that it was often difficult [to gain access] to who was doing what,” says Malach.

The fledgling network, which is free to the public, can be found at: http://researchnetwork.ccsmh.ca

Apart from researchers and the general public, the network’s audience is expected to include representatives of funding bodies, policy planners, administrators and educators in long term care, and other research networks.

“It’s about building capacity,” says Malach.

The Canadian Coalition for Senior’s Mental Health was developed in 2002 after government representatives and healthcare professionals noted an inadequate awareness about senior’s mental health issues and a corresponding dearth of assessment/treatment resources.

The Coalition recently announced a series of best practice guidelines in the assessment and treatment of delirium, depression, those at suicide risk, and mood and other behaviour disorders.

The guidelines, said Malach in an earlier interview with the Morning Report, aim to remove the stigma associated with mental illness in seniors (persons over 65) while creating a tool for both clinicians and researchers that can be easily integrated into current curriculae nationwide.

“We want to raise awareness across disciplines,” said Malach.