COPSA
Comprehensive Services on Aging (COPSA) is a program of the University
of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) - University Behavioral
HealthCare and the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, UMDNJ - Robert
Wood Johnson Medical School. Currently, COPSA and its Institute
for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders serve as New
Jersey’s most visible clinical service, research, and training
site dedicated to the care of older adults with mental health
disorders, including those with Alzheimer’s disease and related
dementing illnesses. COPSA provides a wide variety of resources
for older adults with dementia and other mental health needs to
their family members and to the professionals who interact with
them. Our staff can be reached via telephone at 1-800-424-2494
or 732-235-5840.
Since its beginning in 1975 as an outreach advocacy program,
COPSA’s mission and goals have included the following:
- To prevent inappropriate institutional admission of aging
persons and to assist them to live in the community as long
as possible;
- To ensure the provision of sensitive, effective, and barrier-free
mental health services to the elderly and their families;
- To reduce the stress of old age through a variety of prevention
activities which promote and extend a positive aging process;
and
- To increase the effectiveness of programs and services designed
to meet the needs of the elderly through advocacy, community
development, education, and research.
COPSA staff members address the above issues through a variety
of psychiatric, social-psychological, and community outreach interventions
targeted toward frail, isolated, and impaired elderly and their
families. Interventions include individual and family psychotherapy;
support and education groups; and outpatient psychopharmacological
management. More specific descriptions of COPSA’s Outreach
and Outpatient programs are as follows:
Outpatient Services
COPSA’s Outpatient Mental Health services have been developed
to provide barrier-free psychiatric/clinical care to the elderly
population residing in the community. The Outreach and Outpatient
programs work together to provide accessible, non-threatening
mental health care to frail elderly persons with late onset mental
illness, lifelong personality disorders, normative life transition
problems, and severe psychosocial adjustment problems. Contemporary
psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological approaches are offered
by an interdisciplinary team of professionals, which includes
Board-certified geriatric psychiatrists, clinical psychologists,
and Masters-level social workers. Using this model, the program
has been successful in treating older persons who are frail or
physically ill, who are not mobile, or who resist viewing their
problems as mental health issues.
Community Outreach Program
The Community Outreach Program can best be described as involving
a combination of individual, family, and systems advocacy efforts
undertaken on behalf of elderly adults and their families. The
program has increased access to mental health care for the elderly
by providing outreach interventions and case management. These
mental health professionals bring resources into the community
and provide liaison between the older adult and formal health
care systems. The Outreach staff consists of Bachelor’s-level
mental health specialists with training in geriatrics and with
extensive knowledge of community resources. Data suggests that
the Outreach program is successful in identifying older adults
in need of assistance and in linking them with appropriate resources.
A combination of home visits; work with family members, neighbors,
and other informal support networks; negotiating entitlement programs;
consultation with geropsychiatrists, geropsychologists, geriatric
social workers, and other mental health professionals; and, most
importantly, time spent in gaining the trust of the client has
helped to overcome clients' resistance to treatment in many instances.
COPSA Institute for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders
Through the state supported Institute for Alzheimer’s Disease
and Related Disorders, COPSA also provides specialized services
for patients and caregivers dealing with Alzheimer’s disease
and other dementias. The need for such services was recognized
by the State of New Jersey as early as 1983, when legislation
was signed establishing an Alzheimer’s Disease Study Commission.
The Commission convened three public hearings throughout the state
in the Fall of 1984, during which time input from family and professional
caregivers for dementia patients was solicited.
As outlined in the final report of the Commission, released in
July of 1986, recommendations were made for improving New Jersey
based services for those dealing with Alzheimer’s disease
and related disorders. These recommendations resulted in the establishment
of the COPSA Institute for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related
Disorders as a means of addressing the needs of dementia patients
and their caregivers on a statewide basis. Services provided by
the Institute include:
Dementia Diagnostic Clinic
The Dementia Diagnostic Clinic offers diagnostic assessment and
treatment guidelines to New Jersey residents with memory loss
and other cognitive deficits, to their families, and to referring
physicians. All patients are evaluated by a multidisciplinary
team which includes family medicine, neurology, neuropsychology,
psychiatry, gerontological nursing, and social work.
Dementia Management Clinic
The Dementia Management Clinic provides medication management
for persons diagnosed with a dementing illness. Counseling around
management problems, referrals to community resources, education
about dementia, and help with future planning is provided to patients
and their families by the staff of geriatric psychiatrists, nurses,
and social workers.
Dementia Day Care Program
The Dementia Day Care Program provides a structured program of
therapeutic activities for older adults with dementia. The goals
of the program are to promote the cognitive, emotional, and physical
functioning of the participant and to provide respite and support
to caregivers. Ongoing psychiatric and nursing care are provided
as needed.
Resource Center
The Resource Center is a comprehensive referral and counseling
service, accessed through a toll-free telephone number (1-800-424-2494),
which provides ongoing support services state-wide to persons
with dementia , their families, and professionals who work with
them. The Center’s staff of professionals offers guidance
and information related to behavior management, community resources,
benefits, options for home care, financial and legal issues, and
long term planning.
Clinical Trials Program
In collaboration with leading pharmaceutical companies, COPSA
offers patients the opportunity to participate in clinical trials
of promising experimental medications for the treatment of Alzheimer’s
disease and related disorders. Other non-pharmacologic research
activities are devoted to the continuing study and treatment of
dementia and general mental health concerns of the elderly. For
further information, please call 732-235-4907.
Education and Training
In addition to providing much-needed clinical services, the COPSA
Institute also provides education and training in geriatrics and
gerontology for medical students, interns, and residents; nursing
students; physician’s assistant students; psychology interns;
social work interns; and other health care professionals. COPSA’s
educational and training activities, conducted in collaboration
with UMDNJ - University Behavioral HealthCare, UMDNJ - Robert
Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, and area hospitals/health
care facilities, are designed to ensure that tomorrow’s professionals
in geriatrics and gerontology continue to provide the high level
of care and assistance to older adults that has been the hallmark
of COPSA since its inception.
COPSA staff work closely with geriatric health care providers
at UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Departments of Family
Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Neurology; UMDNJ - Robert Wood
Johnson University Hospital; and other area medical centers. Close
working relationships are also maintained with private physicians
and other health care professionals serving the elderly. In general,
COPSA staff work to provide consultation on special issues related
to aging and to attempt to improve the effectiveness of clinical
care provided to older persons in the formal health-care network.
Clinical Research
Finally, the staff of COPSA is also involved in a number of research
activities devoted to the continuing study and treatment of dementia
and other mental health concerns of the elderly.
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