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

2015 ◽  
Vol 207 (5) ◽  
pp. 440-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walid Khalid Abdul-Hamid ◽  
Kelly Lewis-Cole ◽  
Frank Holloway ◽  
Ann Marisa Silverman

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.

2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
I O Nnatu ◽  
F Mahomed ◽  
A Shah

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.


2022 ◽  
pp. 254-278

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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S433-S433
Author(s):  
O. Adekunte ◽  
C. Oliver ◽  
B. Owen

BackgroundThe quality of care provided to psychiatry patients by doctors can be influenced by attitudes towards mental illness. Equally important is the attitude of medical students as future treating doctors towards mental illness. This survey compares the differences in the attitudes of pre-clinical and clinical years student to mental illness.AimsTo compare attitudes of pre-clinical and clinical medical students’ to mental illness.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 212 clinical students (CS) and pre-clinical students (PS) at Newcastle University. Each responded anonymously to an electronic questionnaire. The responses take the form of: Yes/No, free text, order of preference, and Likert scale. Results were analysed based on basic statistical analysis.ResultsLittle differences exist between the 2 groups in their beliefs that psychiatric patients are not difficult to like, mental illness can be a result of social adversity, psychiatry patients often recover and that people with mental illness should be offered a job with responsibility. However, 54% PS disagreed that mental illness often leads to violence, compared to 66% CS and 87% of PS identified that mental illness can be genetic in origin compared with CS of 91%.ConclusionThis survey did not identify any significant difference between the attitudes of pre-clinical and clinical students in most of the domains. However, a higher percentage of clinical students associate violence with mental illness and are unwilling to consider an elective period in psychiatry.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 330-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Treloar ◽  
Dimitrios Adamis

Aims and MethodIn a cross-sectional survey, we assessed the attitudes of older patients and their carers towards receiving copies of letters about them and the effects upon outcomes of sharing letters. We also studied the opinions of consultants on letter-sharing.ResultsFew old age psychiatrists shared letters with patients or carers, and many had concerns about this practice. In contrast, letters were considered ‘very welcome’ by 87% of patients and carers who received them, and 81% of those who did not would be ‘very pleased’ to receive them. Patients and carers who had received letters had significantly better knowledge of their care plan, whom to contact and ways of making contact with services.Clinical ImplicationsDespite concerns expressed by psychiatrists, our findings support the sharing of letters with patients and carers of patients with dementia in old age psychiatry services.


1992 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 421-422
Author(s):  
Karl Rice ◽  
Eamon Mulkerrin

Skill in physical medicine is an often neglected area in psychiatric training. It is nonetheless very important, particularly in the care of the elderly. The need for reciprocal training in geriatric medicine and old age psychiatry was highlighted in Care of Elderly People with Mental Illness (1989), the Joint Report of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Psychiatrists on services for the elderly and medical training. It recommends that, “Higher professional training for specialisation in the psychiatry of old age should include at least two months experience in geriatric medicine”, and suggests that this previously optional experience should become an obligatory part of specialist training. It indicates the alternative ways of gaining such experience: a short secondment, a weekly sessional commitment or a direct exchange of posts.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S64-S65
Author(s):  
G. Stoppe

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.


2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 145-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margo Wrigley ◽  
Bernadette Murphy ◽  
Martin Farrell ◽  
Brendan Cassidy ◽  
Jim Ryan

AbstractObjectives: There has been no specific planning for older people with enduring or recurrent severe mental illness in Ireland. This survey aims to identify the number of affected over 65 year olds (graduates) and 55-64 year olds (prospective graduates) in the Health Service Executive, Eastern Region, their diagnoses and their use of psychiatric services.Method: A comprehensive survey of the ten general adult psychiatry and four old age psychiatry services in the (HSE) Eastern Region was undertaken for the year 2003 to determine the number of patients, their diagnoses and service utilisation.Results: 649 people over 65 years old were identified within the general adult psychiatry services and a further 279 within the old age psychiatry services giving a total of 928. (This number rose to 1141 after correcting for missing outpatient data.) 1,397 people between the ages of 55-64 were identified. (This number rose to 1,916 after correcting for missing outpatient data.)Conclusions: There are substantial numbers of ‘graduates’ and ‘prospective graduates’ in the Eastern Region. It is essential that services for this population are specifically planned for and further qualitative research is required to inform this process.


2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Kazantzis ◽  
Amber Wakefield ◽  
Frank P. Deane ◽  
Kevin R. Ronan ◽  
Malcolm Johnson

AbstractArchival data from a cross-sectional survey of two cohorts of community-residing New Zealand adults (n = 157; n = 141) was analysed to examine social attitudes towards people with mental illness in a historical period associated with the establishment of a community mental health facility. Participants completed the Opinions about Mental Illness (OMI; Cohen & Struening, 1959), and the Comfort in Interaction Scale (CI, Beckwith & Mathews, 1994); the latter a measure of level of prior contact with people with mental illness. Across cohorts, the OMI Mental Hygiene subscale and the CI scale had significant variability. Older participants endorsed more Authoritarian, Social Restrictiveness and Interpersonal Ideology attitudes in their perception of people with mental illness than younger participants. Data supported the hypothesis that attitudes towards people with mental illness were influenced by social attitudes, and by opportunities to interact with people with mental illness in work settings.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document