Mental health articles

mental health older adults syllabus

Specific chronological markers for old age are defined in different ways by different authors. The definition of “older adults” varies, depending on different perspectives and purposes. Whereas gerontologists traditionally focus on individuals aged 60 years and older,the federal government of the U.S.A. uses age 65 as a marker for full Social Security and Medicare benefits.Researchers identify subgroups of “older adults” as“younger old” (ages 65–75), “older-old” (ages 75–85),and “oldest old” (ages 85+). Age ranges vary across studies.

The demographics of the industrial world are wellknown. It is important to understand the needs of olderadults suffering from (and living with) mental disorders.There are age-dependent and treatment-relevantchanges that have to be considered in the elderly. Forexample, _ pharmacokinetic and _ pharmacodynamicvariables can influence the effect of a pharmacological therapy (those changes may occur in the _ absorption,_ distribution, _ metabolism, and excretion of psychotropic medications (_ elimination)) as well as medicalcomorbidities, concomitant medication, cognition of older adults, hyperopia, and less available resourcesthan younger people have.

mental health older adults syllabus Prevalence and Costs of Brain Disorders in Older Adults

Depression and hopelessness are not natural conditions of older age. Many older adults and, unfortunately,health care professionals as well mistakenly assume that depression is a normal consequence of physical,social, and economic difficulties in later life. Older peoplesuffering from chronic or stressful physical conditions(e. g. hearing loss, mobility impairment) are a high risk population for depression. Depressive disorders inthe elderly are both under diagnosed and undertreated.Depression is one of the most frequent conditions associated with suicide in older adults. There is much misunderstanding about thoughts of death in later life. Depression, serious loss(e. g., death of a spouse, loss of a friend), and (terminal)illness trigger the sense of mortality, regardless of age.Periodic thoughts of death do occur. However, whenactual dread of death does occur, it should not be dismissedas accompanying aging, but rather as a signalof underlying distress or depressive disorder. As comparedto older persons whose depression began earlier in life, those whose depression first appears in latelife are likely to have a more chronic course of illness.There is growing evidence that depression beginningin late life is associated with vascular changes in the brain. According to Narrow, about 6% of the U.S. populationage 65 and older suffer from depressive disorders(i. e., major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, orbipolar disorder). Beekmannet al. found in a worldwide review an averageprevalence of major depressive disorders of 1.8%in the elderly. The experience of depressive symptomsand subclinical depression, respectively, is much moreprevalent. The symptoms of depressive disorders and_ dementias in an early state are very similar and oftennot to distinguish.

Some mild degree of memory decline can be normalwith aging. Those normal changes usually mean a slowerpace of learning and the need for new information tobe repeated. However, more severe memory problemsmay indicate dementia or other serious cognitive illnesses.Dementia involves a loss of cognitive (memoryand attention) abilities due to brain damage secondaryto illness. Symptoms of dementia can include memory impairment, and difficulties with language, movement,object or face or word recognition, and difficulty making judgments, regulating emotions or shifting attention from one subject to another. Note worthingly, dementia is not a part of regular aging – it is a physical disease of the brain.

mental health older adults syllabus The prevalence rate of dementiadramatically increases with increasing age. The degree of care that an elder may require due to dementia will be variable, depending on whether dementia is due to Alzheimer’s disease (or similar progressive disease) orstroke, and how affected the elder is by the condition.Older adults’ mild early memory problems maynot require much care at all. While vascular (stroke)dementia will not necessarily get worse (e. g., if blood pressure is kept stable and low), Alzheimer’s dementiais by nature a progressive disorder, which will result in more and more impairment over time. The costs ofvascular dementia might be, especially in the beginning of the disease, somewhat higher than in AD due to the costs of cardiovascular medication. In the European member states (including the new member states)it is estimated that about 5.1 million people suffer fromdementia (about two thirds of people with dementiahave Alzheimer’s disease). Wancata et al. have reported a dramatic increase of the dementia cases in Europe in the next 50 years (to approximately 11.9 million people). There is consistent evidence that costsof care for patients suffering from dementia are very high across European countries (e. g. National Dementia Economic Study NADES in Belgium: Total annual costs of a patient with dementia living et home: e5,346; total annual costs of an institutionalized patient with dementia:e 27,620)._ Parkinson’s disease is also a relevant illness, especiallyin older age. High-quality studies (i. e., use of established diagnostic criteria, inclusion of the entireage range of the population, and screening by an experienced neurologist) estimated prevalence rates of approximately 108 to 257/100,000. The mean total direct costs (e. g., drugs,outpatient visits, inpatient care) per patient per yearare reported between 3360 e  and8160 e.

 

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