Clinicians' attitudes to spirituality in old age psychiatry

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 962-973 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Lawrence ◽  
Julia Head ◽  
Georgina Christodoulou ◽  
Biljana Andonovska ◽  
Samina Karamat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older People ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Spiritual Care ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Old Age Psychiatry ◽  
Chaplaincy Service

Background: The aim of this survey is to investigate professional attitudes to the presence and value of spiritual care from Old Age Psychiatrists.Method: All registered members of the Faculty of the Psychiatry of Old Age in the United Kingdom were asked to complete a 21-question semi-structured questionnaire. The first mail shot took place in 2002 and the second mail shot to non-respondents in 2003. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were carried out on the answers received.Results: The response rate was 46%. The majority of respondents (92%) recognize the importance of spiritual dimensions of care for older people with mental health needs and about a quarter of respondents appear to consider referring patients to the chaplaincy service. In contrast, integration of spiritual advisors within the assessment and management of individual cases is rare.Conclusions: Opinions vary as to whether provision of spiritual care should become widely available to older people with mental health needs who are admitted to hospital. Old age psychiatrists recognize that awareness of spiritual dimensions may be important for their patients. They seem less clear about the role of spiritual advisors and how NHS multidisciplinary clinical teams and spiritual and pastoral care services can be best integrated. Much work needs to be done on developing effective training and operational policies in this area.

Principles of service provision in old age psychiatry

2020 ◽  
pp. 281-306
Author(s):  
Tom Dening ◽  
Kuruvilla George
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older People ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Religion And Spirituality ◽  
Liaison Psychiatry ◽  
Memory Assessment ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Old Age Psychiatry ◽  
Consultation Liaison Psychiatry

Globally increasing numbers of older people bring both challenges and opportunities for old age psychiatry services. This chapter outlines the history, underlying principles, and policy context for contemporary mental health services for older people. It discusses components of services, including community health teams, memory assessment services, consultation-liaison psychiatry, and in-patient mental health care, as well as newer types of service, such as crisis teams and outreach to care homes. Other recent developments include various models of case management and emphasis on post-diagnostic support. Equally important are issues of equality and access, and the chapter covers several key areas, such as age, gender, sexual orientation, religion and spirituality, and rurality. Major challenges to old age psychiatry come from limited resources and non-recognition of the distinct needs of older adults, as well as the demands of the growing older population, advances in science and technology, and the need to attract talented psychiatrists into this field.

Everybody's business

2007 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-27
Author(s):  
Jane Gilliard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older People ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Mental Health Needs

Older people with mental health needs are everybody's business, says Jane Gilliard in this article outlining the Department of Health's policy framework for delivering better services to this long‐neglected group.

The mental health needs of older people with learning disability

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 245-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick SG Chance
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Older People ◽  
Learning Disability ◽  
Learning Disabled ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Differential Mortality ◽  
Functional Impairments ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Care Needs

The term ‘older people with learning disability’ refers to a highly heterogeneous group of people. By definition, they all have delayed or abnormal early development, together with significant intellectual and functional impairments, but they differ considerably in terms of cause, developmental profile, nature and degree of impairments and their social and personal backgrounds. Overall, people with learning disabilities make up only a small minority of the population, however it is well recognized that they have increased overall health care needs, including mental health needs. It has been estimated there are 210 000 people living in England and Wales who have a severe or profound learning disability: only 25 000 (12%) of these are older people aged over 60 years. Of the 1.2 million people with mild or moderate learning disability, 265 000 (21%) of these are older people over the age of 60. Life expectancy seems to be influenced by severity of learning disability, the age profile of the mild to moderate learning-disabled population being much more closely matched to that of the general population. As a result of this differential mortality, across the spectrum of disability there is a reduced level of learning disability with advancing age, and older people with learning disabilities, when considered as a group, have higher levels of functional ability (and reduced levels of challenging behaviour) than the younger group.

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