Mental Illness in Old Age: Meeting the Challenge/Epidemiological Studies on Social and Medical Conditions of the Elderly/Housing for the Elderly (Book).

The population of the elderly in most developed nations is on the increase. Furthermore, the prevalence of mental disorder amongst elderly offenders is high. The true extent of `elderly' crime is unknown because much of it goes undetected and unreported. This leads to a failure to detect mental illness in such offenders. Court diversion schemes may improve recognition of mental illness but these schemes usually tend to deal with the more severe crimes. This may result in an overestimation of the amount of serious crime committed by the elderly and a failure to detect mental illness amongst those who commit less serious crimes. Efforts to service this hidden morbidity call for multi-agency collaboration. Improved detection and reporting of crimes is essential if mental health difficulties in the elderly are not to go unnoticed. The needs of elderly mentally-disordered offenders are complex and fall within the expertise of old age and forensic psychiatry, without being adequately met by either one. Therefore, consideration should be given to the development of a tertiary specialist forensic old-age psychiatry service.

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Predicament of Disability, Old Age, and Extreme

10.4018/978-1-7998-4646-8.ch011 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 254-278

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Community Participation ◽

Elderly People ◽

Social Exclusion ◽

Old Age ◽

Physical Disability ◽

The Elderly ◽

Living Conditions ◽

Perceived Barriers ◽

Sensory Impairment

The study of poverty explores the experiences of elderly people and people living with disabilities pertaining to the five broad categories of disability, namely physical disability, blindness, deafness, and mental illness, including perceived barriers and remedies. Disability whether physical infirmity, disease, or sensory impairment or perhaps later in life, by the onset of illness or frailty due to aging, is conceptualized as a restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in a ‘normal' or expected manner. By focusing on the African extended family's context and the living conditions among people with and without disabilities, this discussion informs policy everywhere to combat poverty and social exclusion and discrimination, take lifecycle approach to individual needs, eliminate poverty among the elderly and in people living with disabilities, and ensure access to social protections and community participation.

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Alienation and Public Housing for the Elderly

The International Journal of Aging and Human Development ◽

10.2190/u80r-731f-lnq6-948m ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 217-230 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Calvin J. Larson

Keyword(s):

Public Housing ◽

Social Relationships ◽

Low Income ◽

The Elderly ◽

Housing Projects ◽

Elderly Housing ◽

Central Hypothesis ◽

Housing For The Elderly

The respondents in this study are those who entered two independently administered low income elderly housing projects in northwestern Vermont during the summer of 1971. The central hypothesis examined is that the alienating effects of the move will vary inversely with the tenant's ability to maintain established and acquire new social relationships. In general, the results were consistent with hypothesized expectations.

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Old and new reasons for specialization

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.962 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 33 (S1) ◽

pp. S64-S65

Author(s):

G. Stoppe

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Health Service ◽

Old Age ◽

Service System ◽

Psychiatric Patients ◽

The Elderly ◽

Current Evidence ◽

Ageing Population ◽

Old Age Psychiatry ◽

Competing Interest

Mental illness is one of the largest areas of activity in the health service, with mental disorders of the elderly an important part of it. This substantial ageing of the population is a new phenomenon, occurring over the last century. It has given prominence to mental illness in old age. There is a growing interest in making decisions about how many and which services to provide to the older community.The expertise of old age psychiatry services lies in the care and treatment of people with complex mixtures of psychological, cognitive, functional, behavioral, physical and social problems usually relating to ageing. Current evidence suggests specialist old age services are best equipped to diagnose and treat mental illness in our ageing population. However, the specialists should be integrated optimally into a service system to the benefit of the elderly. It will be crucial to improve access of older patients to the services. The service system and the partners in the system differ to those for younger adult psychiatric patients. Thus, not only knowledge and skills underline the necessity of specialization but also the increasingly complex health service structures of modern societies.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

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Mania in Old Age: A Case Report

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(09)70801-6 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 24 (S1) ◽

pp. 1-1

Author(s):

L.C. Castro

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Old Age ◽

Multidisciplinary Approach ◽

Bipolar Affective Disorder ◽

Late Life ◽

The Elderly ◽

Medical Conditions ◽

Holistic Treatment ◽

Co Morbidity ◽

The Impact

Background:Geriatric bipolar disorder is associated with a significant morbidity, mortality and poor psychosocial outcomes. Bipolar affective disorder contributes substantially to geriatric mood disorders and to geriatric hospitalizations. Mania in late-life is often a tremendous treatment challenge because of frequent medical co-morbidity and age-related variations in response to therapeutics.Aim:To report a case of mania in late-life, in order to discuss the impact of bipolar disorder in the elderly, underlining treatment difficulties in the geriatric population.Methods:Case study and review of the literature.Results:A 70 year old woman was hospitalized in a geriatric service of a psychiatric hospital with a maniac episode. She had a history of bipolar disorder diagnosed during her adult life. She had several co-morbid medical conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and psoriasis. There was a successful multidisciplinary approach and intervention, allowing a significant improvement and reintegration in the community.Conclusions:Geriatric patients with bipolar disorder carry a substantial burden of general medical conditions. There are few studies and a lack of specific algorithms concerning bipolar management in the elderly. It is urgent the development of specific interventions that target medical burden in patients with bipolar disorder and further research on the treatment of bipolar disorder in old age. A multidisciplinary approach is essential to allow a holistic treatment and improvement of quality of life parameters in this population.

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The use of Guardianship Orders

Psychiatric Bulletin ◽

10.1192/pb.16.5.292 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. 292-293 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

S. M. Benbow ◽

E. Germany

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Old Age ◽

The Elderly ◽

Full Time

Guardianship Orders (GOs) are being applied more often in care of people suffering from mental illness (Hughes, 1991) and the elderly may have problems particularly suited to their use. Since many individual psychiatrists have little experience of GOs, we decided to examine our use of them. One of us had been involved in six orders over seven years working as a full-time consultant in the psychiatry of old age.

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Comparision of how old age psychiatry and general adult psychiatry services meet the needs of elderly people with functional mental illness: Cross-sectional survey

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.114.145706 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 207 (5) ◽

pp. 440-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Walid Khalid Abdul-Hamid ◽

Kelly Lewis-Cole ◽

Frank Holloway ◽

Ann Marisa Silverman

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Elderly People ◽

Old Age ◽

The Elderly ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Urban Catchment ◽

People With Mental Illness ◽

Adult Psychiatry ◽

Old Age Psychiatry

BackgroundThere is little research evidence as to whether general adult psychiatry or old age psychiatry should look after old people with enduring mental illness.AimsTo compare the extent to which general adult and old age psychiatric services meet the needs of older people with enduring mental illness.MethodA total of 74 elderly patients with functional psychiatric disorders were identified by reviewing the notes of patients over the age of 60 living in a defined inner urban catchment area. Data were collected on the morbidity and needs of the sample. Needs were assessed using the Elderly Psychiatric Needs Schedule (EPNS).ResultsThe participants in contact with old age psychiatry had significantly fewer unmet needs compared with those in contact with general adult psychiatry (2.8 v. 5.6, t = 2.2, P<0.03). Total needs were not significantly different between those managed by old age and general adult services (8.0 v. 6.5 respectively, t = 1.2, P = 0.2).ConclusionsThis study found that old age psychiatry services were better placed to meet the needs of elderly people with mental illness. This finding supports the need for a separate old age psychiatry service.

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Range of Mental Illness Among the Elderly in the Community

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.150.6.815 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 150 (6) ◽

pp. 815-823 ◽

Cited By ~ 262

Author(s):

J. R. M. Copeland ◽

M. E. Dewey ◽

N. Wood ◽

R. Searle ◽

I. A. Davidson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Mental State ◽

The Elderly ◽

Epidemiological Studies ◽

Depressive Illness ◽

Diagnostic Process ◽

Elderly Persons ◽

Neurotic Disorder ◽

Organic Disorder

A sample of 1070 elderly persons aged over 65 living in the Liverpool community was interviewed using the community version of the Geriatric Mental State (GMS) and the findings processed to provide a computerised diagnosis by AGECAT. Levels of organic disorder, probably dementia, reached 5.2%, intermediate between those of London and New York derived from previous studies. Levels for depressive illness overall were below those of other studies at 11.3% while levels for neurotic disorder were much the same at 2.4%. The rise in the prevalence of dementia with age was further confirmed. The GMS AGECAT Package provides a method for standardising both the collection of data and the diagnostic process for comparative epidemiological studies and other research.

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