Online resources for older people with mental health issues
Older people struggling with their mental health will be able to seek advice via a new resource published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
MindEd for Older People is an online educational resource. It explains those mental illnesses commonly experienced by older people, and gives advice on dealing with them.
This new online resource is designed to help older adults, families and volunteers working with older people and offers free, clear, accessible advice written by experts.
MindEd covers a range of common problems including:
The resources are a vital crutch at a time when demand for mental health services is increasing whilst supply of the mental health workforce for older people is falling.
In the community, 1 in 5 older people have depression, whilst the condition affects 40% of those in care homes. It was also revealed last month by Public Health England that 30% of all hospital admissions in 2016-17 were for alcohol related illnesses in the over 65s. The mental health risks of a growing older population have become increasingly apparent.
Whilst there are a range of resources about mental health available, there are few dedicated to mental health in older people.
Dr Amanda Thompsell, chair of the old age psychiatry faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists said:
“Older people are affected by mental health problems but experience them very differently to the rest of the adult population. Multiple physical illness or the side effects of medicine are more likely to result in mental ill health.
“But conditions like depression are highly treatable and no patient should be left to suffer simply because they are ‘old’. MindEd for Older People sends the right message that older people have a right to have a good quality of life and that there is support out there.”
Keith Chambers, Programme Manager for MindEd for Families said: “We are delighted to build on the success of our existing site and launch these new resources for older people.
“Working with older people to produce these resources was vitally important to us to ensure they were accessible. There is a growing need for information like this and we hope that older people struggling with their mental health, or families worried about a loved one, will be able to get the support they need from MindEd.”
