Older Adults
Mental health support for older adults, at home
Getting older brings good years. It can also bring a run of losses and changes that pile up faster than anyone expected: a spouse dies, a career ends, health gets complicated, friends move away, and the house that was easy to manage at 65 is a lot at 80. For some people, depression or anxiety follows.
Sometimes weekly therapy is enough. Often it helps to have someone who also shows up where the trouble is. Sanare works with older adults in their own homes, in independent and assisted living communities, and out in the community around Denver.
The aim is plain: keep the person as independent and connected as they can be, and give the family confidence that someone experienced is keeping an eye on the whole picture.
What support can include
No two people age the same way, so we start by figuring out what is actually getting in the way. Support might include:
Individual psychotherapy
Help with depression, anxiety and adjusting to change
Grief and loss counseling
Behavioral activation and adding meaningful activity back into the week
Building or keeping daily routines
Reducing isolation and rebuilding social connection
Support through big transitions, like a move to assisted living
Organization and executive functioning help
Going along to appointments and outings in the community
Coordination with family and other providers
Advocacy inside complicated medical and mental health systems
For one person that means a weekly therapy appointment at home. For another, it means a clinician who helps sort the mail on Monday and goes to the senior center lunch on Thursday. Plans change as needs change.
Signs it may be time
Nobody has to be in crisis to get help. Families usually call us because they've noticed smaller things:
A parent who used to have a full calendar now spends most days alone.
Someone who was always organized is missing appointments and falling behind on bills.
Depression set in after retirement, an illness, a move or the death of a spouse.
Anxiety is making it hard to leave the house.
A loved one is "living independently," but the family is quietly doing more and more to keep that true.
The right amount of support at this stage is often what keeps a person in their own home longer.
Why we work in the home
An hour in an office shows a clinician one version of a person. A visit to their kitchen shows a lot more: whether there's food in the fridge, whether the pill organizer is being used, how far the walk to the mailbox has started to feel. Seeing that lets us work on real problems with the person, in real time.
Our team
Several members of our clinical team work with older adults, matched to each client's needs and goals. Nicole Hodges, LCSW, CAS brings particular experience to this work.
Nicole started out as a hospice volunteer and went on to build her early clinical career in hospice care. She developed community grief and loss groups, facilitated an Alzheimer's Association support group, and volunteered in a memory care community. Later she returned to hospice as a medical social worker, working closely with medical teams and supporting families through some of the hardest weeks of their lives. She also has experience with serious and persistent mental illness, trauma treatment and community-based care.
For private-pay clients, we match people with team members based on clinical needs, personality, goals and location.
Support for families
Adult children often find themselves asking questions with no clear answer. Is this depression or normal aging? Is Mom lonely? Does Dad need more help? Is it still safe for them to live alone? And, very often: who is actually keeping track of all this?
With the client's permission, we work with family members, therapists, psychiatrists, physicians and senior living staff so everyone is working from the same picture. We don't replace family. We take some of the weight off.
What guides our work
Independence. Keep what's working and shore up what isn't.
Connection. Stay engaged with people, interests and community.
Dignity. Work with older adults, not around them.
Quality of life. Look past symptoms to whether life still feels worth showing up for.
Continuity. The same clinicians over time, with steady coordination as needs change.
Medicare and private pay
Sanare can provide individual psychotherapy to eligible clients with Original Medicare through our participating Medicare clinicians.
Psychosocial rehabilitation, community-based support and our other wraparound services are not covered by Medicare and are available on a private-pay basis. Private-pay clients can be matched with a wider range of Sanare team members. We're glad to help families sort out which services fit and how to put them together. See our FAQ for more on cost.
Talk with us
Depression, loneliness and slipping day-to-day functioning are not a normal part of aging that has to be accepted. And getting help doesn't have to mean giving up independence.
If you're worried about yourself, a parent, a spouse or another older adult in your life, contact us or call 303.476.1974. We'll talk through what's happening and whether Sanare is a good fit.