Mental health and older people

---

ePolitix.com Stakeholders comment on a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) which has said the mental health and wellbeing of older people has been neglected.

The report suggests there is a strong association between poverty and mental wellbeing and that policy has tended to focus on the health of young people.

Stakeholder response: Homeless Link

A spokesperson told ePolitix.com: "We welcome the IPPR report, Marginalised and Depressed: Britain's Older People, which suggests that levels of emotional wellbeing among older people are linked to a number of factors including poverty, isolation, ill health and poor-quality housing.

"The Coalition on Older Homelessness, based at Homeless Link, works to raise the profile of older homeless people in the UK, as policy around homelessness also tends to focus on younger people and older people are often less visible.

"Recent work by the Coalition collected data on 389 older homeless people, the majority in some form of temporary accommodation. It found that 25 per cent of these individuals were reported as having severe and enduring mental health problems and that 36 per cent had other mental health problems.

"These difficulties are often compounded by other problems, such as chronic physical health difficulties and substance dependence.

"Like IPPR, Homeless Link and the Coalition believe that measures can be taken, particularly through social and community participation, to increase emotional wellbeing for older people.

"However, these actions need to reach out to older homeless people, who are among the most vulnerable and marginalised, as well as the wider population. Research shows that loneliness and isolation are the biggest risks to successful resettlement in the community of older people who have been homeless.

"The Coalition is currently working with Help the Aged to evaluate a series of meaningful occupation projects for older homeless people across the country.

"Communities and Local Government's Places of Change programme, which has invested £160m in homelessness services, also supports homelessness services to engage individuals and help them to successfully integrate back into the community."

For more information on the Coalition's work please contact sarah.gorton@homelesslink.org.uk

Stakeholder response: Help the Aged

Lizzie McLennan, senior policy officer, said: "Mental health in older people has for too long been a secondary concern, acting as the ‘poor relation’ to other physical health problems or mental health problems in younger people.

"Quality of life, dignity and personal wellbeing must always be the focus of the care and support someone receives. Social care needs to focus on outcomes – people may receive care which meets their physical needs, but their emotional and mental wellbeing are too often overlooked completely.

"In some care homes there is little understanding of dementia or depression, meaning that both conditions go unrecognised and untreated, even though it could improve quality of life and wellbeing. Being depressed is often wrongly assumed to be a normal part of growing older.

"Given the strong link between emotional wellbeing and loneliness, it’s incredibly important that local communities have services for older people that go beyond social care. Older people, like people of all ages, need to be able to take part in activities and meet new people."