Search Tips

Court system to offer education on mental health and the elderly Tuesday, October 13, 2020

The state court system is pleased to announce three upcoming trainings related to assisting vulnerable adults.  All three sessions are via Zoom, and require advance registration at no cost. Two of the seminars feature education on mental health in the elderly, and the third training focuses on dealing with unusual or difficult-to-manage assets.

For more information. email Rose Nichols at RNichols@ndcourts.gov

Via Zoom, Tuesday mornings: 9:30 – 11:30 Central Standard Time.

You must register for each session separately.

11/10/2020
“It’s not Just Dementia!” What everyone needs to know about mental health in the elderly.
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OR8g7MoFTG6zAWRFhQ_BVw
Steven A. Weisblatt, MD, FAPA

11/17/2020
“It’s not Just Dementia!” Part II, case studies - real life guardianship scenarios relating to mental health issues.
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nZS8QVeuS0OuI93uZPW_Qg
Steven A. Weisblatt, MD, FAPA

12/1/2020
“Lawyers, Guns, and Money”: Legal ins and outs of dealing with difficult assets and individuals.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItcuysrT0sHNG_HgTBLYc9OUO6DgsfUaV9
Frank R. Acuña; Acuña Regli

Education Credits:
At the end of each 2-hour session, a poll will be launched for attendees to note whether or not they would like to have a certificate of attendance. You must complete the poll to receive a certificate.
• The State Bar Association of ND has approved all of the above sessions for education credits.
• Both sessions of “It’s not Just Dementia!” have been approved for credits by the ND Board of Social Work Examiners. “Lawyers, Guns, and Money” attendees may determine if it is appropriate for social work credits.
• Info for ND Board of Nursing credits: “Contact hours approved by any other health care regulatory board (example: board of social work examiners) will be accepted as meeting the NDBON requirements.”

Abstracts and Faculty Bios

“It’s not Just Dementia!” What everyone needs to know about mental health in the elderly.
Most often, mental health assessment in the elderly is simply whether or not the person is suffering from dementia and prescribing drugs to moderate behavioral symptoms. Medicines may be given for complaints of poor sleep, depressed mood, agitation, etc. without sufficient attention to the potential causes for the presenting problem. Often, this process places further limitations on already-limited mental and behavioral function. Dementia is irreversible, but comorbid mental health symptoms can be reversed!
Objectives:
1) Identify common causes of behavioral change and decreased cognition not due to dementia.
2) Understand how to evaluate an elderly person for a comorbid, sub-syndromal mood disorder.
3) Recognize when a patient may be receiving medication that only palliates symptoms.
Dr. Steven Weisblatt received his medical degree from SUNY Downstate and completed his residency in Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He served for fifteen years on the psychiatric teaching faculty at Einstein and for eight years on the faculty at SUNY Downstate. He is boarded in General and Geriatric Psychiatry and served on the Consultation Liaison Service, consulting on elderly medical and surgical patients while at Einstein. He has spoken widely on the topic of accurate diagnosis and effective treatments especially in complicated patients with mood disorders.

“Lawyers, Guns, and Money”: Legal ins and outs of dealing with difficult assets and individuals.
Many estates contain unusual or difficult assets. This course examines some of the most common with which fiduciaries should be acquainted: Pets and Other Animals; Firearms and Gun Trusts; Art and Other Collectibles; Intellectual Property (Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks); Vacation Homes and Other Property; Farms, Ranches, & Vineyards; and more if time allows.
Frank R. Acuña is a founding partner of ACUÑA REGLI. He is a California State Bar certified estate planning, trust, and probate law specialist. His practice includes estate planning; inheritance litigation; business succession planning; special needs trusts; and farm, ranch, and vineyard succession planning. Mr. Acuña has taught tax seminars for the National Tax Practice Institute, the California Society of Enrolled Agents, the California Society of Tax Professionals, and a number of state and local chapters of the National Association of Enrolled Agents and the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts. Mr. Acuña also is a featured speaker for the Professional Fiduciary Association of California and the California Public Administrators, Public Conservators, and Public Guardians.