Elderly residents in 29 long-term care facilities in Iowa will be treated for mental illness by University of Iowa Health Care geriatric mental health specialists through telemedicine, through funding from a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Rather than traveling to Iowa City for their appointments, participating patients and their caregivers can attend their psychiatry visits via secure video chat from their long-term care facility. To date, eight long-term care facilities have launched geriatric psychiatry services from UI Health Care. Although Iowa has the fifth most-elderly population in the nation with 14 percent of residents over 65, only eight board-certified geriatric psychiatrists practice in the state. To learn more about telepsychiatry at the University of Iowa, visit www.thesignalcenter.com/telepsychiatry.
