Promotion

206 MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION
Box 7.10 Questions to reflect on when considering mental health promotion for older
people
• Consider what the main influences are on older people’s mental health
• Why can diversity among older people impact particularly adversely on older people’s
mental health?
• What particular issues of inequality in later life should be taken into account when
planning mental health promotion interventions for older people?
• How might older people’s own perceptions of mental health and mental ill health be
utilized when interventions are developed?
• What are the main gaps in the evidence base of effective mental health promoting
interventions for older people?
• How might policy be drawn on to ensure acceptable, effective mental health promotion
interventions for older people?
• What role might theory have in ensuring that mental health promoting activities for
older people are meaningful?
Conclusion
In this chapter we have considered the factors that impact on mental health and wellbeing
of older people, their mental health promotion needs and some of the theory
that might help explain these factors (in addition to those presented in Chapter 2) and
help develop effective interventions. Because the population is ageing there is
increased interest nationally and internationally, in developing appropriate services
and activities to promote and maintain mental well-being among older people. As we
have seen, however, older people are not a homogenous group and therefore their
needs and expectations vary across age groups, cultures, ethnic groups and gender. One
of the most important aspects of ageing and mental health is that older people are
people first and older second. What unfortunately often seems to happen is that older
people are discriminated against two-fold: first because they are ‘aged’ and second
because of who or what they are as a person. By considering the wider factors that
impact on older people’s mental health, the research evidence, examples of ‘good practice’
and the theoretical framework for mental health promotion we should be able to
develop effective, appropriate projects, services and activities that older people actually
want to take part in.
References
Aboderin, I. (2004) Intergenerational family support and old age economic security in
Ghana, in P. Lloyd-Sherlock (ed.) Living Longer: Ageing, Development and Social Protection.
London: Zed Books.
Abrahamson, T.A., Trejo, L. and Lai, D.W.L. (2002) Culture and mental health: providing