Nuestros Abuelitos: A program of La Clinica del Pueblo & EOFULA

Conference held at Belmont Center for Comprehensive Treatment on October 6, 2004

New Directions in Geriatric Behavioral Health: Serving Older Persons of Different Cultures The Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania

With funding from SAMHSA's Older Adult Mental Health Services program, La Clinica del Pueblo (LCDP) and Educational Organization for United Latin Americans (EOFULA) created Nuestros Abuelitos, a program that provides free mental health services to the Latino elderly community in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Together, LCDP and EOFULA aim to increase the amount, quality, and accessibility of mental health services available to elderly Latino adults and to develop the necessary infrastructure to support increases. A related aim is to develop a model of care for the Latino elderly in which medical, social, and mental health services are offered in an integrated manner.

La Clinica del Pueblo is the only bilingual, bicultural, free, community health clinic serving primarily Latino immigrants in the Washington DC Metropolitan area. La Clinica's services include primary care and specialty areas, including pediatrics, dermatology, rheumatology, neurology, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, reproductive health, occupational medicine, mental health, and alternative health care. La Clinica's education and outreach services include the training of health promoters and community educators to provide regular workshops that cover a variety of health topics; monthly health fairs at churches throughout DC; a bi-monthly health program on Channel 48; and weekly health columns in the Washington Hispanic, among other related services. The Mental Health Department at La Clinica offers individual, family, and group counseling and psychiatric services and evaluation, provided by mental health professionals, including social workers, counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

EOFULA assists the Senior Spanish speaking community of Washington, D.C. to overcome the language barriers and other limitations unique to the Latin American community, with special attention to critical community development areas such as education, health, welfare, housing, legal services, and employment. EOFULA aims at providing community residents proper aid and technical assistance in all these areas focusing especially on the senior population.

Slides used during presentation

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