Evaluation of a Rural-Based Community Aged Intensive Recovery Program for Older Adults With Severe Mental Illness

Community Aged Intensive Recovery (CAIR) programs are an integral part of Aged Persons Mental Health Services (APMHS); however, no study has investigated whether a rural-based intensive program benefits older clients with severe mental illness. The current sample comprised 119 older adults who were being managed by a CAIR program from July 2011 to June 2013. Three key results were found: (a) approximately three quarters of clients admitted to the CAIR program remained treated in the community; (b) the program assisted in significantly reducing the level of psychiatric symptom severity from CAIR entry to CAIR exit; and (c) the APMHS team with the CAIR program had a lower psychiatric inpatient rate compared to the APMHS team without the program. The current study highlights the importance of delivering effective rural-based CAIR programs to older adults experiencing severe mental illness.