The Gerontology Center

For information on mental health services for older adults
call the CU Aging Center at 719-471-4884.

Check out the Online Gerontology Certificate Program

has honored us by selecting our Clinical Geropsychology Workforce Expansion Program as one of the Innovative Practices to be highlighted in their Registry of Innovative Practices. The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Gerontology and Psychology Departments have developed a novel cadre of behavioral health training programs in the field of aging. The multi-faceted effort addresses the local and national paucity of psychologists and other professionals specifically trained to work with older adults. These programs directly impact the behavioral health workforce by:
1) training practicing psychologists without geriatric training to work with older adults;
2) enhancing inter-professional training through outreach programs to train home health care professionals, primary care physicians and staff, and senior service agency professionals to recognize the signs of behavioral health disorders or cognitive impairment; and
3) training the next generation of providers with the only Ph.D. program in the nation focused exclusively on geropsychology.

The Palisades at Broadmoor Park Do you want to optimize your wellness? The Palisades at Broadmoor Park has partnered with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs to provide opportunities that will help you stay engaged, active and healthy as you want to be. This is a unique collaboration between the university and Dunn & Associates, Inc.. Dunn and Associates, Inc. is the developer of The Palisades at Broadmoor Park, a 108-unit retirement community in southwest Colorado Springs. “This agreement, which brings together academic expertise and private development, is an example of the university’s commitment to engage with its community,’’ said Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak. For more information please click on the link above.

The Gerontology Center is in its final year of this two year project, sponsored by The Retirement Research Foundation, with the lengthy title, Traditional and Web-based Mental Health Training for Allied and Home Health Professionals: Laying a Foundation for a National Center for Mental Health and Aging. The title may be lengthy, but the idea behind the project is quite simple. Research shows that seniors who are homebound following an illness or injury are at elevated risk of developing depressive symptoms, which, in turn, can negatively impact the course of rehabilitation. The goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive training program to educate home health professionals about mood disorders in older adults, who are recovering from physical illness.

"The Aging Revolution - Adding Value to Your Work Place" Presenter: Barry Spiker, PhD Barry Spiker is a Senior Research Fellow with the University of Indianapolis' Center for Aging and Community focusing on the value of older workers. He brings more than 25 years' experience leading organizational change and directing human capital development and management. A management consultant, business strategist and theoretician, Spiker draws from his background in the private sector as both corporate executive and start-up entrepreneur and from his knowledge as an educator and researcher.b.spiker@worldnet.att.net

Additional Articles by Barry Spiker, PhD
"Establishing the Positive Contributory Value of Older Workers"
and
"Gray Matters"

Our first Ph.D. graduate in Clinical Psychology with Curricular Emphasis in Geropsychology May 2007
Mary Stephens, Ph.D.