Older adults are under-represented in Primary Care Mental Health. Potential barriers include the perception that common mental health problems are an inevitable part of growing old, social isolation preventing older people accessing psychological therapy services, older people’s views, behaviours and attitudes may get in the way of them receiving psychological therapy and health professionals may inadvertently prevent older people from accessing psychological therapy.
Whilst many older people enjoy an active and fulfilling life, many may develop physical and psychological problems. In long term physical conditions, psychological factors have an important role in helping or hindering people’s responses to the treatment of such conditions.
Failure to address psychological elements hinders rehabilitation, leads to unnecessarily poorer outcomes and overloads hospitals and health care systems.