Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

13
The Interdisciplinary Treatment
Team as a Geriatric Mental
Health Resource Prior to
and During Disasters
JOHN A. TONER AND EVELYN S. MEYER
Interdisciplinary approaches to the management of health care for older
persons have received a great deal of attention in the scientific literature in
recent years. Much of this literature focuses on the need in all health care
fields to develop efficient methods for organizing and coordinating health
care as well as a framework for communication between health care professionals
(Barr, Koppel, Reeves, Hammick, & Freeth, 2005; Miller, 2004;
Toner, 2008; Toner, Miller, & Gurland, 1994). This need is particularly severe
with regard to the mental health care of older people during disasters
(Toner, Howe, & Nathanson, 2007).
Almost 10 years after the Institute of Medicine published its report on
safety and medical errors in American health care (Institute of Medicine
[IOM], 2001) and called for better systems for coordinating care, the Institute
of Medicine (2008) issued its most recent report, which highlights
the importance of the interdisciplinary treatment team in reducing medical
errors, improving safety and enhancing quality of life, and caring for
older persons. A recent review of evidence-based studies of new models
of geriatric care, conducted by the Institute of Medicine Committee on
the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans (IOM, 2008,
p. 3.15), concluded that there is some evidence that the care provided by
the interdisciplinary team demonstrates, “improved survival and quality
of life, quality of care and patient satisfaction . . . some also showed lower
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