Treatment of Late-Life Mental Disorders in Primary Care: We Can Do a Better Job

Abstract

Health care services provided to older adults today are not as effective as they should be. The quality of care for late-life mental disorders often falls short of desired standards. The growth of the elderly population makes it imperative for the health care system to address late-life mental disorders more effectively. Intervention strategies based in primary care settings show the most promise, but effectiveness will depend on solving the geriatric psychiatry workforce crisis. Collaborative care is one promising model for improving geriatric mental health care delivery in primary care. Diffusion of collaborative care into the health care system and integrating geriatric psychiatry into other models such as geriatric medical homes will require redesign of the organization and financing of primary care and psychiatry to overcome current barriers. Public policy should reflect the essential role of psychiatry in geriatrics and promote the integration of geriatric psychiatry with primary care.

Improving mental healthcare for the elderly in Belgium

“…Research also showed that primary care providers can play a significant role in MHCE . Most of the elderly regularly meet their General practitioner (GP), which implies that these professionals are well‐positioned to address MHP in their older patients.…”

“…Most of the elderly regularly meet their General practitioner (GP), which implies that these professionals are well‐positioned to address MHP in their older patients. Moreover, the elderly population prefers receiving their (mental) healthcare in primary care settings instead of in specialised mental healthcare institutions . Some studies, however, show that a lack of knowledge, skills, and confidence in GPs regarding MHCE could substantially impair detection as well as treatment of MHP in the elderly …”

Treating Late-Life Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Primary Care

“…Mental health professionals are expensive and rarely integrated into primary care practices (Moak, 2011). A growing literature finds that expert and nonexpert providers produce comparable results in treating anxiety and depression (den Boer et al, 2005; Montgomery et al, 2010).…”

Late-Life Mental Health Disorders. Data from a Population-Based Study

“…There is a need to improve the awareness about mental disorders in late-life both at the community level and among health professionals and epidemiologic studies demonstrating the improvement of appropriate health care for the elderly with mental illness will open the way to Collaborative care, one promising model for improving geriatric mental health care delivery in primary care. Public policy should reflect the essential role of psychiatry in geriatrics and promote the integration of geriatric psychiatry with primary care [22].…”

“…Two or more disorders occurred in 11.6% of participants and three or more in the 5.3% [21]. Since services dedicated to older psychiatric patients have claimed to be not fully effective [22] and improvements are needed in the screening and prevention of 'Common Mental Health Disorders' [23] more research is needed to provide informative figures of mental disorders occurrence in late-life.…”