Tracey Thompson-Franson
Purpose:To describe how tertiary mental health rehabilitation works for seniors with complex mental health issues aged 75 years or older.
Method:Phenomenology methods guided focus group exploration of how tertiary seniors’ mental health rehabilitation is experienced, understood and practiced by one interprofessional team. Data generated by sixteen participants was analyzed using thematic networks, a tool for analyzing qualitative research.
Findings:Three global themes describe team members’ views of tertiary senior’ mental health rehabilitation: (1) Emotional well-being influences the client’s journey towards permanent housing, (2) living careplans guide interprofessional team support of client improvement and (3) team manages complexity reflects a need for continuous attention to team collaboration and information exchange.
Conclusion: Living care plans and collaborative teamwork are central to how tertiary seniors’ mental health rehabilitation is understood and practiced by team members, and may influence a client’s emotional well-being and housing options.