TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has awarded The University of Alabama a $500,000 grant to create a research center focusing on the mental health needs of the nation’s soaring elderly population.

UA researchers are already involved in millions of dollars of federally funded research projects designed to assist the elderly and those who care for them. The new Center for Mental Health and Aging at UA will assist in coordinating and expanding these efforts that range from improving the well-being of caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients, to helping the rural elderly overcome the specific obstacles they face in obtaining mental health care, and to improving the quality of care in nursing homes.

“We’re hoping to develop a focal point on the UA campus where researchers and practitioners of all disciplines concerned with mental health and aging can study, learn and teach together,” said Dr. Lucinda Roff, a professor of social work who will co-direct the center.

Although the Center is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Social Work, faculty and students from various disciplines will be involved, including the College of Nursing, the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration and the College of Community Health Sciences.

The UA Center was designed to complement the existing Center for Aging at UAB which focuses more on biomedical issues in aging. The two Centers are already combining their respective expertise and collaborating on numerous research projects.

Dr. Louis Burgio, professor of psychology and also director of UA’s Applied Gerontology Program, will co-direct the new interdisciplinary center.

“If you want to effectively address problems in aging, you have to understand it from an interdisciplinary approach,” said Burgio. “The issues are multi-faceted.” For example, if a nursing home patient with a degenerative condition begins exhibiting behavior problems, those developing a solution to the problem have much to consider.

“It helps to have a psychology or social work background to understand environmental influences,” Burgio said, “but also medicine and nursing are obviously relevant.”

In America, the population age 65 and older is expected to double by 2030. At that rate, this group is projected to comprise 20 percent of the population while utilizing 50 percent of the nation’s health care resources. Alabama residents 65 and older numbered about 580,000 in 2000. By 2025, that number is projected to be near one million, according to UA’s Center for Business and Economic Research.

This tremendous increase in the graying population of America has led to increased research in all areas of aging, and The University of Alabama has emerged as one of the nation’s leaders for studies on aging.

“We want the center to be very user-friendly and to have real-life applications,” Roff said. “We hope to be able to provide service to, and have interaction with, practitioners in Alabama, so we can be aware of what their needs are, and so we can share what’s known throughout the world about the best practices.

“Also, we’re training and developing new leaders for the future among our own graduate students in social work and psychology and other helping fields who will be strong scholars and practitioners to serve future generations of older people.”

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, often referred to by its acronym SAMHSA, is a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. These funds were provided to assist in the start-up of the new Center. The continuation of the Center will be dependent on a combination of funds from federal grants and private donations.