Program at Butler Hospital Helps Older Adults With Emotional Well-Being

Butler Hospital in Rhode Island offers a program to help older adult at risk for suicide, reports NBC News 10 . Participants in the hospital's Intensive Outpatient Program meet three hours a morning, three times a week. Social worker and program therapist Jonathan Zimmerman says senior adults are "the largest growing population and there really aren't behavioral health services that are adequate." Claire MacKenzie, who works as an occupational therapy assistant for the program, says in her capacity: "I come in looking at trying to develop life skills. We offer skills to help them live life to the fullest." Zimmerman adds that groups in the program are arranged into topics like resilience, finding meaning, and purpose in life. Butler Associate Chief Medical Officer Ghulam Surti says all program participants are seen by a physician, "so, they do get medical help with it along with therapy."