SAGES Coalition is a working alliance made up of community
agencies servicing the needs of older adults, city government,
substance abuse and mental health agencies, rehabs, hospitals
and local institutions of higher learning. The coalition is
open to new members who can contribute positively to the well
being of older adults in our community. As the name implies, we
are concerned with educating older adults, as well as agencies
providing services to older adults, in the area of substance
misuse/abuse and mental health.

Our mission is to facilitate comprehensive community education
and development of quality services related to substance misuse
and mental health in the older adult.

A part of our services is to provide training in substance
abuse and mental health to our members, who then can go out
into the community and/or their particular agency or business,
and provide information on substance misuse and mental health
issues in older adults.

We meet monthly and have ongoing projects which must be
monitored by the co-administrators of the coalition, Susan
Shulman and Annette Kjeer. Some of our projects are: A yearly
symposium offering CEU training to people in the field of drug
abuse, agency employees providing services to older adults,
mental health associations, hospital employees, city government
employees, students in the field of health and gerontology and
anyone with an interest in the wellbeing of older adults;
brochure (printed in English on one side and Spanish on the
other) to hand out to the public with SAGES information and
where to get help if you have a problem with substance misuse,
trainings for caregivers of older adults; participation in
Florida School of Addictions by creating an "older adult track"
for training individuals in the substance abuse field and our
most current project called "Red Medicine Bag" project. This
project is a medium sized red bag with sturdy handles in which
we place a SAGES brochure and a Residential Emergency
Identification card (where older adults can write down all the
medications they are taking as well as where their directives
are located). This bag (provided to older adults at health
fairs and senior centers) is to be used to put ALL their
medications in (prescription, over the counter and herbals IN
THEIR ORIGINAL CONTAINERS) to be taken to their physician at
the time of their appointment so that their physician can see
all the medications they are taking and decide if they should
be taking any particular medication or if any of their
medications are interacting negatively. This project has gotten
much support in the community and especially among our older
adults.

The administrators of the coalition also serve on various
committees in the community such as the Mayors Task Force on
Mental Health for Older Adults, SAINT (Senior Advocacy
Information Network Team), NEFCADA (North East Florida Council
on Alcohol and Drug Abuse), volunteer for MOB (Mayor's Old
Buddies) and SAGES as a coalition is a member of the Florida
Coalition for Optimal Mental Health and Aging which is located
at the University of South Florida in Tampa. As a member of
that coalition, SAGES has been asked to host their 2006-2007 in
the city of Jacksonville. Not only is it an honor to be
selected but we will be providing to our community education
from the best in the United States in the field of aging. This
conference yearly hosts hundreds of people who are interested
in the welfare of older adults everywhere. This is a large
undertaking by our SAGES Coalition but we feel we are up to the
task.