A Population Overlooked: the Combination of Elderly Care and Mental Health

          

Mental health issues and aging are two separate issues that have been extensively and thoroughly researched, with thousands of organizations and professionals dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge within these domains.  However, the combination of how the intertwining of mental health and aging affect the individual is a subject much overlooked.  Researchers at the University of Michigan and University of Illinois at Chicago conducted a study that investigated the quality of life of aging individuals diagnosed with Bipolar Personality Disorder (BPD) as compared to healthy individuals.  What they found is that the cognitive and psychomotor decline that is naturally associated with aging is compounded at least two-fold or more by the individual suffering with BPD.  If elderly care is an issue our society is concerned with, these results should initiate change.

            However, many elderly who are placed in nursing homes or who receive care services do not receive adequate treatment specified for their disorder.  According to a New York Times article entitled, “Aging: Mental Health Overlooked in Care of Elderly Patients,” when an elderly patient speaks with a professional, an average of only 2 minutes is spent discussing their mental health per session.  This includes individuals who have already been diagnosed with Depression, BPD, and other mental conditions.  In combination with the findings of the previously mentioned study and the current quality of care for the elderly that is highly insufficient, changes need to be made.  In the pursuit of preserving and caring for our elderly, the organizations dedicated to these services must begin to realize that elderly is not a collective, general term, and each individual requiring specialized mental health treatment should receive such in order to secure the best possible quality of life. 

Research article: Weisenbach, S.L., Marshal, D., Weldon, A.L., Ryan, K.A., Vederman, A.C., Kamali, M., Zubieta, J., McInnis, M.G., Langenecker, S.A.  (2013).  The double burden of age and disease on cognition and quality of life in bipolar disorder.  International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 29, 952-961. 

NYT article: Nagourney, Eric. “Aging: Mental Health Overlooked in Care of Elderly Patients” The New York Times.  The New York Times, 6 January 2009.  30 April 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/health/research/08agin.html?_r=0