One-year outcomes of older adults referred for aging and mental health services by community gatekeepers

One-year outcomes of older adults referred for community aging and mental health services through the Gatekeeper Model were examined in this study. Outcomes included level of social, physical, psychological, and economic isolation, physical health problems, service need, and service utilization. Findings indicate that individuals referred by gatekeepers were more likely to live alone and to be socially isolated but less likely to have physical health problems. They were also less likely to have a physician at referral, but at 1 year this difference was not found. Cognitive problems had a significant impact on the lives of clients referred by gatekeepers at referral but not after one year. At referral, those referred by gatekeepers had greater service needs, but after 1 year they did not use more services than those referred by other sources. Implications of these findings are discussed. The findings from this study indicate that the adoption of the Gatekeepers model does not result in high service utilization. The Gatekeeper model is inexpensive to implement and can benefit communities through increased collaboration among service providers.