Late life is a time of transitions, with increased vulnerability to losses and illnesses that can lead to problems in memory and other cognitive abilities, emotion, and behavior. The Geriatric Psychiatry Faculty at the University of Nebraska Center has specialized training in the special physical, emotional, and social needs of older patients aged 65 and older. We provide a comprehensive approach to diagnosis and treatment. Our outpatient evaluation and treatment of older adults with dementia, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and late-life psychoses aims to restore mental health and to discover strategies to enhance resilience against the distinctive stressors of late life. We listen and respond to the concerns of the older adult, discuss them with his or her primary physician and form a plan of care to maximize the older adults’ functional abilities and improve their quality of life.
Inpatient Services in the UNMC Adult Crisis Unit provides short-term management of delirium, behavioral disturbances in dementia, mood disorders, psychoses, and other serious late-life mental disorders requiring hospitalization. Outpatient and inpatient electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is also available, especially for the high-risk geriatric patient. Our Nursing Home Consultation Services brings mental health care to ten Omaha area assisted and long term care facilities. Our Telepsychiatry Consultation Service also currently serves forty long-term care facilities throughout Nebraska.
Our faculty works closely with medical students and residents through clerkships and electives. Our Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Program trains physicians who have completed general psychiatry training and wish to specialize in geriatric psychiatry. Our faculty also provides educational programs to non-psychiatric physicians and other health providers in the community as well as for the general public. Additionally, we are actively involved in research that includes clinical trials of new medications for mood disorders and dementia, gambling disorders in older adults, and management of dementia related behavioral problems in long-term care.
Dennis P. McNeilly, PsyD, serves as the Director of the UNMC Geriatric Psychiatry Services.
Our clinicians include:
Vicki Adolf, RN, BS
Barbara Bayer, APRN, BC
William J. Burke, MD, Professor
Thomas Magnuson, MD, Associate Professor
Dennis P. McNeilly, PsyD, Professor
William H. Roccaforte, MD, Associate Professor
Steven P. Wengel, MD, Professor
Contact Information:
Dennis P. McNeilly, PsyD, Professor
986150 Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, NE 68198-6150
Phone: (402) 552-6007
dmcneill@unmc.edu
