Improving services and support for older people with mental health ...

Improving services and support for older people with mental health problems
programmes. Crucially it should be developed as a discrete sub-specialty, with a ringfenced
budget and clear protocols for accessing other programmes of care.
The Review recommends the establishment of a Policy and Practice Development
Centre for Mental Health Services for Older People. Further announcements on
implementation plans are expected pending the reorganisation of public bodies resulting
from the Review of Public Administration (2006).
2.10.4 Scotland
Current policy on older people’s mental health in Scotland is set out in Delivering for
Mental Health (2006), which updates the Framework for Mental Health in Scotland
(1997). The Delivery Plan identifies the need to take a population based approach to
diet, exercise, alcohol use and other issues that are often linked to depression and
anxiety. It also prioritises peer support and suicide prevention. It states that older
people will be properly taken account of in the work on depression and in respect of
their physical health needs. Work to develop dementia services will also be put in place.
The policy in Scotland is to make mental health provision for adults of all ages, including
older people. For example, Delivering for Mental Health includes a commitment to
increase the availability of evidence-based psychological therapies for all age groups.
This age inclusive approach to mental health policy makes Scotland unique within the
UK. However, the following concerns have been voiced:
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Where mental health policies specifically target older people, they tend to focus on
dementia to the exclusion of other mental health problems in later life.
Older people may not be well served by an age inclusive approach, given the
widespread ageist attitudes that exist in society and the fact that services remain
loosely structured around the distinction between ‘adults of working age’ and
‘older people’.
There is a lack of detailed and reliable data on the extent to which older people
in Scotland experience mental health problems. 171
Scotland has placed greater emphasis on mental health improvement or ‘public mental
health’ than the other UK nations. The country’s National Programme for Improving
Mental Health and Well-Being funds innovative work including the award-winning
anti-stigma campaign see me; the public education and training programme Mental
Health First Aid; the suicide prevention programme Choose Life; the Scottish Recovery
Network; and Breathing Space, a helpline that specifically targets men.
In the spirit of age inclusivity, older people are meant to be integrated throughout, with
support from a dedicated programme on later life. However, this has proved difficult to
achieve in practice and action is needed to strengthen the links.
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