As formal consultation on the National
Dementia Strategy for England begins, key organisations are calling
for action from the Government in addressing a full range of 'later
life' mental health problems.
The key organisations involved in the new
consensus statement A Collective
Responsibility to Act Now on Ageing and Mental Health are:
the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Age Concern, the British
Psychological Society, Psychology Specialists Working with Older
People (PSIGE), Primary Care Mental Health and Education (PRIMHE),
the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College General
Practitioners, and Staffordshire University Centre for Ageing and
Mental Health.
The organisations endorsing this call for
action firmly believe that this should just be the beginning of a
comprehensive commitment to investing in our future. With
depression affecting three times as many older people as dementia,
we believe that dementia cannot and should not be seen in isolation
from the rest of mental illness in older people.
We call for mental health issues in later
life to be accorded the highest priority in terms of sustained
vision, leadership and policy ownership, and must not fall through
gaps between mental health and older peoples' policies.
Dr Dave Anderson, chair of the Royal
College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of the Psychiatry of Old Age,
said: “If the messages of this consensus statement are not heeded,
health and social care services in the UK are in trouble. Increased
ageing is the single most important challenge facing health and
social care for the next four decades. That five out of six
depressed older people receive no treatment is a scandal. That
older people have the highest suicide rate and are the only age
group where suicide has not declined is a disgrace.”
Dr Anderson continued: “Older people with
mental disorders have been denied access to services and investment
by commissioners failing to implement national policy honestly and
equitably. Now these commissioners are treating older people with
complete contempt by dismantling their specialist services in a
cynical claim to be tackling age discrimination.”
Professor Paul Kingston from Staffordshire
University's Centre for Ageing and Mental Health, added: "This
issue affects each and every one of us - there is a clear
imperative to act and make older people's mental health a national
priority. We call for concerted action from the government,
responsible health and social care agencies and professional and
third sector organisations, to address the issues contained in this
evidence based statement before it is too late."
For further information, please contact Liz Fox or Deborah
Hart in the Communications Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127
References:
A Collective Responsibility to Act Now on Ageing and Mental Health: A Consensus Statement