Little progress has been made in improving
mental health services for black and minority ethnic (BME) older
people over the last eight years, according to a
new report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
The report examines what changes have occurred
in services offered to BME older people since the College’s
original report was published in 2001. Although a few examples of
good practice have emerged, the 2009 review report claims progress
in developing and improving services “has been slow”.
Professor Ajit Shah and Dr Simon Adelman, the
authors of the report, said: “With a growing BME elderly
population, the time is now right to build on previous work to
further develop culturally appropriate and sensitive mental health
services for older people from BME groups.”
Dr Dave Anderson, chair of the Royal College
of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry, added: “With an
ageing population the numbers of people with mental health problems
is rising rapidly. It is vital to improve access to specialist
older people’s mental health services equipped to meet the needs of
this neglected group of older people. By 2030 there will be
twice as many people over age 65 as there will be teenagers. The
time has come to actually deliver equality.”
Over the last decade, the mental health of BME
groups has become a national priority in the UK. In 2001, estimates
put the proportion of BME older people over the age of 65 at 8.2%
of the total population in England and Wales – up from just 3% in
1991.
Research suggests dementia and depression are
as common, or more common, in older people from BME groups in the
UK than among older white British people. However, BME older people
have poor access to mental health services.
The report, CR156: Psychiatric Services
for Black and Minority Ethnic Older People, makes six major
new recommendations, including:
- Projects to evaluate the effectiveness of
professional interpretation services and new ways of providing
information to BME older people e.g. cassettes, CDs, videos and
DVDs.
- Funding to develop diagnostic tools for
dementia and depression in languages spoken by BME older people
that can be administered by an English-speaking mental health
practitioner with the aid of a professional interpreter.
- Widening the existing annual census of
psychiatric services to examine BME older people’s access to
services in all settings, including the community.
- Establishing a new RCPsych working group, as
part of the College’s Faculty of the Psychiatry of Old Age, to
address this neglected area.
For further information, please
contact:
Liz Leicester
or Deborah Hart in the Communications
Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127
References:
Shah A, Adelman S and Ong YL (2009) CR156: Psychiatric Services for Black and Minority Ethnic Older People, Royal College of Psychiatrists
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/publications/collegereports/cr/cr156.aspx