Age UK’s latest briefing highlights the long-standing neglect of older people’s mental health, emphasizing that health professionals often dismiss poor mental health as an ‘inevitable’ consequence of aging. Despite the notable success of NHS Talking Therapies in achieving higher-than-average recovery rates among those over 65, this service is disproportionately less likely to be offered to older individuals.
Commissioned by Age UK, the briefing compiles evidence shedding light on the mental health of older people in England. It identifies ageist attitudes as the foundation of a discriminatory system, where fatalistic assumptions about mental health in later life hinder the provision of effective support to promote well-being, prevent mental illness, and address mental health challenges.
The document underscores that, while older people may possess numerous protective factors for good mental health, they also face various risk factors, including diminished physical health, reduced mobility, and, for some, issues such as poverty and racism. By addressing these risk factors and bolstering protective factors, well-being in later life can be enhanced, and the escalation of mental health problems can be prevented or mitigated.
One alarming finding is the absence of a national plan or blueprint for mental health support in later life, an increasingly urgent concern as the population ages. The briefing aims to initiate a conversation that has long lingered on the fringes of policy and practice, presenting key recommendations on how to improve mental health for older people. It calls for a collective effort to dismantle ageist attitudes, challenge fatalistic assumptions, and implement targeted strategies that prioritize the mental well-being of the older population.
