PA Behavioral Health & Aging Website
The Pennsylvania Behavioral Health and Aging Coalition has created a new website for the benefit of its members & the public. It may be accessed online here.
Admittedly, the website presently has very limited offerings -- just a home page with a mission statement, and an email listserv sign-up. But I expect that this new website will grow into a great resource and become a clear expression of the interests & advocacy of the Coalition's members.
This is the mission statement of PA BH&AC:
The Pennsylvania Behavioral Health and Aging Coalition was formed in 1999 as a statewide coalition of individuals and organizations concerned about the unmet mental health and substance abuse needs of older adults across the Commonwealth.The National Coalition on Mental Health & Aging includes the PA BH&AC as a member, among other statewide & national organizations.
As a coalition, regional groups representing Northeast, Northwest, Central, Southeast and Southwest work together on local and statewide levels in order to collaboratively address the mental health/substance abuse needs of older adults.
Our mission is to advocate expansion, improvement, and development of affordable, appropriate, and accessible behavioral health prevention and treatment services for older Pennsylvanians.
Linda Schumaker is the Executive Director of PA BH&AC, who also supervises PA MBHAC's email alerts for news relevant to its members. Linda is a Registered Nurse who works in the Department of Psychiatry, of the Penn State College of Medicine, in Hershey, PA, and also for Pinnacle Health System. Her contact information is: Rutherford House, 3300 Parkview Lane, Harrisburg, PA 17111 (Phone: 717-564-5010; Email: pabhacoalit@verizon.net).
PSU (by the way) maintains its own excellent website regarding mental health concerns in the aging process. See: Mental Health & Aging.
Other components of, & coordinators for, PA BH&AC, as listed in the most recent brochure about the organization, include:
- Central Regional Coalition -- Jill Buhrman
Dauphin County Area Agency on Aging
2 South Second Street, Third Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: 717-780-6180
Fax: 717-255-2792
Email: jbuhrman@dauphinc.org - Southeast Regional Coalition -- Susan Saler
Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone: 215-751-1800 Ext. 297; Fax: 215-636-6300
Email: ssaler@mhasp.org - Northeast Region Coalition -- Karen Leonovich
Aging Care Management Supervisor II
Columbia Montour Aging Office, Inc
702 Sawmill Road, Suite 201
Bloomsburg, PA 17815
Phone: (570) 784-9272; Fax: 570-784-3678
Email: kleonovich@CMAAA15.org - Northwest Region Coalition --Rochelle Youkers
Stairways Behavioral Health
810 Walnut Street
Erie, PA 16502
Phone: 814 - 878-2169; Fax (814) 878-2150
Email: ryoukers@Stairwaysbh.org - Southwest Regional Coalition -- Heather Sedlacko
Southwestern Pennsylvania Partnership for Aging (SWPPA)
201 Smith Drive, Suite 2D, 6
Cranberry Township, PA 1606
Phone: 724-779-3200; Fax: 724-779-2131
Email: swappahm@zoominternet.net
Although in its infancy, the PA BH&AC website hopefully will grow into a valuable resource, given the members who already participate in the organization. For an example of the content & links that such a website might someday display, see the website of another state's similar organization, the Iowa Coalition on Mental Health & Aging.
If you are interested in the combination of issues of mental health and aging, you should sign up for the email alerts already provided by Linda. You can do so using the new website here.
Update: 06/26/07:
Linda Schumaker sent me an email today, in which she provided updated & more detailed contacts for the regional components of PA BH&AC, which have been incorporated above.
Updated: 05/27/08:
The new contact information for PA BH&AC is:
Pennsylvania Behavioral Health and Aging Coalition
525 South 29th Street
Harrisburg, 17104
Ph: 717 541-4219
Fax: 717 541-4217
Info@olderpennsylvanians.org
www.OlderPennsylvanians.org
