“Deeply entrenched and systemic” ageism means the elderly can miss out on mental health care, a report has said, with symptoms of mental illness dismissed as “just your age”.
A study by the Center for Mental Health has called for older generations to be shown the same concerns as young people, warning the discrimination suffered currently affects not only the older person, but also families, communities and public services.
The centre’s report, commissioned by Age UK, was based on a review of literature published in the past five years, and pointed to a “pervasive sense of pessimism and inevitability that normalises poor mental health” among older people.
Issued on Tuesday, it identified a “pressing need to address ageist assumptions and expectations about mental health in later life”.
Part of the problem, the authors say, was older people tended to be invisible in both mental health care services and policymaking, noting there was little in the way of “research and policy development”.
With no national strategy or blueprint to help public services prevent mental ill health in later life and an aging population, they say it will be “increasingly important for health and care services to address [elderly mental health] effectively”.
Andy Bell, chief executive at the Center for Mental Health, said: “Recent reports have pointed to a deeply worrying rise in poor mental health among young people.
“We want to see similar concerns for older generations, so that their experiences of poor mental health are no longer dismissed as an inevitable part of aging.”
Ageism, he said, is “deeply entrenched and systemic, and it is causing people to miss out on a mentally healthier later life”.
He said: “The absence of later life from successive national mental health plans means there has been little investment in support for older people’s mental health. This is a form of discrimination that leaves older people without effective help.”
Paul Farmer, chief executive at Age UK, said poor mental health in later life was not an inevitable part of aging.
He said: “There is a paradox at the core of mental health support for older people; under-recognized on the one hand and low mood and depression treated as ‘just your age’ on the other.
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“In either case, the outcome is the same, too many of us going without the care we need to maintain good mental wellbeing as we age.
Research funders should prioritize projects looking at mental health in later life, while integrated care boards (ICBs) review their provision of mental health support for older adults, and staff trained to address ageist attitudes, the report said.
And if NHS England reviewed the effectiveness of the 2019 Community Mental Health Framework for Adults and Older Adults, it should ensure that new planning provides for mental health care in later life.