Behavioral Health Bulletin
Issue 5, April 2022
In this issue we continue to focus on anxiety disorders, particularly in older adults. We’re also seeking patient cases for our upcoming Mind Matters Behavioral Health CME Learning Collaborative. Read on to learn more on how you can participate!
What is Mind Matters ECHO?

Mind Matters ECHO is a monthly meeting for healthcare providers to discuss a peer-presented case followed by a didactic presentation from a health system expert.

Register for the next meeting
 
April 13, 2022

Case Presentation: Nikita Barai, MD
Didactic Presentation: Mary Christopher, MD
 
Submit a Patient Case for our upcoming Mind Matters Sessions
 
Do you have a case to present? We're seeking cases related to suspected or diagnosed depression. Presenters have reported they find sharing their cases and the feedback they receive to be a valuable tool in their practice.
 
How it Works

Email Anitha Iyer, PhD and Course Director to discuss your potential case. If selected, you'll complete our online case submission form and our team will use that information to create slides for your presentation. We'll also schedule a 30 minute run through with you ahead of your presentation to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Center for Wellness, Resilience, and Personal Growth
Try Out the New eConsult Program for Help Addressing Your Mount Sinai Employee Patients’ Mental Health Needs

Are you seeing a Mount Sinai employee in need of behavioral health support? The Center for Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth (CSRPG) has developed an eConsult request order in Epic specifically to assist providers treating our employees. You can now use eConsult to request a phone consult with The Center's psychiatrist, Dr. Mary Christopher. Receive guidance on delivering mental health care to your patient within the primary care setting OR request that the patient be seen by the CSRPG for therapy and/or psychiatric care. 

The eConsult order set can be accessed in Epic encounters through the "Orders" tab by entering "ECONSULT/REFERRAL TO FPA RESILIENCE CENTER". 

For any questions, please email Dr. Mary Christopher at mary.christopher@mssm.edu.
Behavioral Health Tip of the Month
Pharmacological Management of Anxiety in Geriatric Patient Populations

When treating a geriatric patient population for anxiety disorders, follow these tips for success:

  • Start LOW and go SLOW
  • SSRIs are generally better tolerated than SNRIs
  • Consider drug-drug interactions: Lexapro is the antidepressant least likely to interact with CYP450 system
  • Beware of QTc prolongation
  • Lexapro: do not dose > 10 mg daily
  • Celexa: do not dose > 20 mg daily
  • Risk of SIADH and hyponatremia in elderly; follow-up closely to minimize this risk
  • Risk of osteoporosis increases with long-term use of SSRIs
Mount Sinai Health Library
Information to Share with Your Patients

Peruse the Mount Sinai Health Library for information to share with your patients related to their diagnoses. With over 100 psychiatry topics presented in patient-friendly language, the Health Library can be a valuable source for your patients to help understand their diagnoses.
Behavioral Health in the Literature
Measuring Anxiety in Late Life: A Psychometric Examination of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory and Geriatric Anxiety Scale

Anxiety disorders represent the most common late-life mental health illnesses (Gum, King-Kallimanis, & Kohn, 2009). Anxiety symptoms are also pervasive, afflicting 15–56% of older adults in clinical settings (Bryant, Jackson, & Ames, 2008). Assessing anxiety with psychometrically sound geriatric anxiety measures is critical given the harmful health consequences of anxiety including increased risk of mortality (Van Hout et al., 2004), high comorbidity with depression (King-Kallimanis, Gum, & Kohn, 2009), and greater disability (Porensky et al., 2009). This study examines the psychometric properties, internal scale reliability and validity, of two geriatric anxiety measures: the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) and Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS), and determines the extent to which memory ability influenced the psychometric properties of these measures.

Behavioral Health Referrals
Nassau and Suffolk County Behavioral Health and Substance Use Referrals List

Use these guides to refer your patients in Nassau and Suffolk county to care, information, treatment programs, and more.

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