F15 - Reimagining the Mental Health Workforce: How Older Adults Are Powering the Future of Wellbeing

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM MDT

Location: Bluebird 2G

Communities nationwide are turning to an overlooked workforce asset: older adults whose experience and commitment strengthen care systems. This session showcases how training, support, and policy can empower older adults to bolster the mental health workforce. Early Childhood Service Corps will share its model for preparing older adults for early childhood and family‑support roles. University of Colorado Anschutz will highlight how this model builds clinical and community health pipelines. The Colorado Commission on Aging will outline best practices, and Oregon’s Multi‑Sector Plan on Aging will show how policy—through anti‑ageism training, job redesign, and digital literacy, advances older adult workforce participation.

Learning Objectives:

Identify how older adults’ lived experience, stability, and relational strengths uniquely position them to address workforce shortages across mental health, early childhood, and community health settings.
Describe the Early Childhood Service Corps model for training and supporting older adult volunteers and how it expands capacity while strengthening intergenerational connection.
Explain how the University of Colorado Anschutz adapted this model to build clinical and community health pipelines, including early evidence of workforce, retention, and patient‑experience outcomes.
Examine statewide best practices from the Colorado Commission on Aging’s Workforce Committee that can be replicated across sectors—from behavioral health to long‑term services and supports.
Assess how Oregon’s Multi‑Sector Plan on Aging uses policy levers such as anti‑ageism training, job redesign, and digital literacy to retain, retrain, and reward older adults as a core component of the mental health workforce.

Disclosure(s):

Vani Kapur, MBA: No financial relationships to disclose

Nicole Cadovius, BS, MBA, MSM: No financial relationships to disclose

Jodi Waterhouse, MHA: No financial relationships to disclose

Karen Peffer Brown, MBA: No financial relationships to disclose

Lisa Armao: No financial relationships to disclose

Breakout Presenter(s)

VK

Vani Kapur, MBA

Director, Strategic Initatives
Age+
Denver, Colorado

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Nicole Cadovius, PhD, MBA, MSM

Lead Advisor Strategic Programs | Mental Health First Aid
National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Sherman, Connecticut

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Jodi Waterhouse, MHA

Director, Strategic Partnerships & Programs
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Aurora, Colorado

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
KP

Karen Peffer Brown, MBA

CEO
iAging

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
LA

Lisa Armao

Founder and Executive Director
Early Childhood Service Corps

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose