Mission Hospital is changing the focus of its mental health programs to better address the needs of south county residents, hospital officials said.
The Mission Viejo-based hospital is expanding its mental health program for teens to also include under-served young adults ages 18 to 26, especially those who attend Saddleback College across the street, officials said. But that means older patients in the Mind & Memory Program will be referred elsewhere in the county.
The hospital has seen success helping teenagers cope with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues and wants to fill that void for young adults. Specialized treatment programs for new mothers are also being designed.
There are fewer programs in south county targeting help at young adults and mothers, but there are alternatives for seniors, hospital officials said.
The Mind & Memory Program, which provided care to seniors who suffer from memory loss and mental health issues, is being phased out at the end of the year.
“This program is like a gift from God,” Lois Goren, 74, of Newport Beach, said. Her husband David had been attending since September. “His life will be very empty after this.”
Memory loss from dementia and similar conditions can trigger depression and other mental health issues for seniors.
The hospital, partnering with the Alzheimer’s Family Center, launched the Mind & Memory Program in 2018 to bring seniors to the campus for three- to four-month sessions. They engaged in group therapy, socialized and engaged their brains through puzzles and activities.
Mission Hospital was the first in the country to offer such a program in a hospital setting, Chief Administrative Officer Michael Beck said. At its peak months ago, the program had about 90 people enrolled; that number was down to 28 as of this week.
“The hope we had was that it would create a synergy where participants would be able to see their primary care physicians, urologists and others because they are already on campus,” he said.
David Goren is strong physically, but his memory loss had stopped him from seeing friends or getting out of the house much, his wife said. The program helped him find new friends, she said.
“He had just found himself again,” she said. “He feels important. He feels worthwhile.”
But the synergy officials hope for never materialized and hospital officials had to make “a difficult decision,” Beck said.
“What we learned was while a person can benefit from therapy, there’s no benefit of them receiving care in a hospital setting, compared to a community setting” like one of the adult day care facilities available around the county, he said. Alzheimer’s Family Center offers a similar program at its facility in Huntington Beach.
Given the hospital’s physical capacity, Beck said, staff simply could not serve the seniors while also addressing south county’s growing needs for mental health care programs for adolescents, young adults and new moms. The region doesn’t have hospital-based mental health care programs geared toward those populations, he said.
The hospital’s After-School Program Intervention and Resiliency Education, or ASPIRE program, helps teenagers identify and manage the triggers that may be causing their depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. It is being expanding to also help young adults. Through the hospital’s partnership with Saddleback College, education, networking and support services will also be provided on the college’s campus.
The hospital is also launching its maternal mental health program for new moms, providing group therapy to help them cope with mood and anxiety disorders.
Meanwhile, the hospital staff is helping the Mind & Memory Program participants access other resources in the region such as adult daycare and psychiatry facilities, Beck said.
“We can’t be all things to all people,” he said. “The hospital made the decision as to where we can best serve our community.”
