People are living longer than ever before in human history.  Life expectancy from birth in the USA reached a high of 79 years in 2020, though it has dropped somewhat due to the COVID pandemic.  The proportion of people 65 and older in the population has reached 16%.  The oldest old, defined typically as 85 and older, is growing faster than the rest of the population.  Despite these increases, most academic mental health programs do not address aging except in a cursory manner and the number of trained clinicians is not adequate to meet needs in many communities.  In part, that lack of interest is due to mistaken assumptions that older people are not interesting and cannot benefit from treatment. 

The goal of this presentation is to provide clinicians with a foundation for understanding changes that are associated aging, how to identify problems that are found in the older population, and how to provide effective treatment.  Dr Zarit and Dr Zarit emphasize practical strategies that have been developed in clinical settings. Even when working with people who have chronic conditions, they find there are often treatable aspects of the situation which help them functioning better.