The mission of the Seniors Advisory Committee is to ensure that the mental health of seniors is addressed through the inclusion of a lifespan perspective across all the work of the Commission, and a focus on seniors’ mental health issues in the Commission’s initiatives.

Committee members wish to emphasize that mental illness is not a normal consequence of aging and that all seniors (persons over the age of 65) have the right to receive services and care that responds to their mental health needs.

Committee members are gathering information related to anti-stigma activities, knowledge exchange and options for services; they are reviewing key documents related to service planning, and exploring barriers that impede service access (stigma, gaps in services).

The Seniors committee is focused on projects to:

• Identify strategies for the component of the public anti-stigma campaign targeting seniors’ mental health issues;
  
  
• Help revise current guidelines for services to seniors with psychiatric disorders.
  
  
• Help identify promising practices for knowledge exchange in seniors mental health and dementia.

Promoting Seniors’ Well-Being
The Seniors Mental Health Policy Lens (SMHPL):

• is an analytical tool developed for the B.C. Psychogeriatric Association and endorsed by the Seniors Advisory Committee, made up of a set of questions intended to promote the mental health/wellbeing of older adults.
  
  
• is intended to guide the analyses of policies and programs from a seniors’ mental health perspective, and to identify any unintended negative impacts on seniors. 
  
  
• It has been developed as a best practice in seniors’ mental health policy design and can be used to design or review  policies and programs that directly or indirectly affect seniors, currently or in the future.
  
  
• The Seniors Advisory Committee has recommended that other MHCC committees use it in their work.