Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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“It’s good for me”: physical activity in older adults with schizophrenia
- Authors:
- LEUTWYLER Heather, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Community Mental Health Journal, 50(1), 2014, pp.75-80.
- Publisher:
- Springer
Physical activity (PA) interventions to improve the physical function of older adults with schizophrenia are necessary but not available. Older adults with schizophrenia may have unique barriers and facilitators to PA. The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of older adults with schizophrenia about barriers and facilitators to engage in physical activities that promote physical function. The authors conducted qualitative interviews with 16 older adults with schizophrenia. Data were collected and analysed with grounded theory methodology. Participants expressed interest in becoming more physically active for a variety of perceived benefits including psychiatric symptom management and maintenance of basic function. Key barriers and facilitators to PA emerged in five broad categories: Mental Health, No longer a spring chicken, Pride and Sense of Well-being, Comfort and Safety, and Belonging. Interventions in this population should address negative attitudes towards aging and promote routine physical activities that enhance well-being and companionship. (Publisher abstract)
Facility organizational and facility resident characteristics in nursing homes serving residents with a mental health history
- Authors:
- FRAHM Kathryn, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Service Research, 37(1), January 2011, pp.61-72.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Nursing homes have been identified as the primary source of institutional care for older adults with a mental health history, and to have a higher prevalence of mental health disorders among their residents compared to older people in the community. The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics among nursing homes serving residents with a mental health history, and to examine the characteristics of the facilities that serve this population. A retrospective, cross-sectional design was conducted using the 2003 national Online Survey, Certification, and Reporting facility data merged with the resident-level Minimum Data Set resulting in 2,499 nursing homes. Across these facilities, 22% of the total residents had a diagnosis of a mental disorder not including any form of dementia. Among those with a mental health history, 53% of facility residents had depression, 37% had schizophrenia, 19% had anxiety disorder, and 15% had manic depression. Nursing homes serving people with a mental health history are more likely to be for profit, have a greater number of beds, have lower occupancy rates, and have more residents with Medicaid as the primary payer. This information can be used to inform nursing home practice and policy to ensure adequate mental health care provision.
Older people with schizophrenia: a community study in a rural catchment area
- Authors:
- RODRIGUEZ-FERRARA Silvia, VASSILAS Christopher A., HAQUE Sayeed
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 19(12), December 2004, pp.1181-1187.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
An increasing number of older people with schizophrenia are living in the community but we still have little data on their clinical presentation, service use and functioning. All patients over the age of 60 years with a primary diagnosis of a non-affective psychotic disorder who were known to health services were identified in a rural area of East England. Subjects were interviewed with the Present State Examination and other standardised interview instruments. Seventy-two subjects fulfilled study inclusion criteria. Forty-six of these had first become ill before the age of 60 years and 26 after (the very late onset group (VLO)). Eighty per cent were women and 26% had never married. Eighty-seven per cent lived in their own homes and 51% alone. In the preceding month, 41% of the sample had experienced psychotic symptoms and 15% depressive symptoms. Twenty-seven per cent of the sample were cognitively impaired. The earlier onset group had significantly higher rates of tardive dyskinesia and negative symptoms of schizophrenia and were treated with higher doses of neuroleptics. The VLO group had higher rates of hearing impairment (54% vs 15% p = 0.001) and of partial or no insight (93% vs 55% p = 0.004). Despite significant differences in presentation, elderly patients with schizophrenia and very late onset schizophrenia-like psychosis have much in common. Both groups are vulnerable with high levels of psychopathology, poor insight, sensory impairment and social isolation. The needs of older people with schizophrenia must be taken into account when services for older adults are planned.
Care management for older people with serious mental health problems
- Author:
- GREAT BRITAIN. Department of Health
- Publisher:
- Great Britain. Department of Health
- Publication year:
- 2002
- Pagination:
- 3p.
- Place of publication:
- London
The Care Programme Approach (CPA) should be applied to older people with severe mental illness due to schizophrenia or other psychoses. The assessment of their needs should be based on the Single Assessment Process (SAP) for older people. SAP, plus critical aspects of CPA, should be applied to other older people with severe functional or organic mental health problems, who were they younger would be provided for under CPA. When individuals subject to CPA reach old age, switches to SAP are not inevitable.
A fear that knows no name
- Author:
- WOOLLER Rachel
- Journal article citation:
- Community Care, 3.2.00, 2000, pp.28-29.
- Publisher:
- Reed Business Information
The author argues that the lives of older people are often blighted because may psychiatrists do not recognise paraphrenia, a condition often diagnosed as schizophrenia.
Effect of the adapted virtual reality cognitive training program among Chinese older adults with chronic schizophrenia: a pilot study
- Authors:
- CHAN Christopher L. F., et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25(6), June 2010, pp.643-649.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
One emerging development in cognitive rehabilitation in recent years is the application of virtual reality (VR) based technologies, used to produce a relatively lifelike situation. This paper examined the effect of an adapted virtual reality cognitive training programme, the Interactive Rehabilitation Exercise System (IREX), in older adults with chronic schizophrenia. Twelve older people with chronic schizophrenia were recruited from a long-stay care setting and were assigned into VR intervention, and a further fifteen assigned to a control group. The intervention group received 10-session of VR programme that consisted of 2 VR activities using IREX. The control group attended the usual programmes in the setting. Findings showed that after the 10-session intervention, older people with chronic schizophrenia preformed significantly better than the control group in overall cognitive function, and in two cognitive subscales – repetition and memory. These participants engaged in the VR activities voluntarily. No instances of cyber-sickness were observed. In conclusion, the authors suggest that the results of the current study indicate that engaging in the adapted virtual reality cognitive training programme offered the potential for significant gains in cognitive function of older people with chronic schizophrenia.
An introduction to the mental health of older people: common mental health problems amongst older people
- Authors:
- SOCIAL CARE INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE, MILNE Alisoun, GEARING Brian, WARNER Joanne
- Publisher:
- Social Care Institute for Excellence
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Place of publication:
- London
**This learning resource was removed in March 2023.** This learning object introduces you to some of the key facts and statistics about depression, dementia and long standing mental ill health. It explains who might be at risk of developing a mental illness as they grow older and why. It also includes information about people who have experienced serious mental illness such as schizophrenia throughout their lives and the main issues facing them as they age.
Utilization of emergency center services by older adults with a psychiatric diagnosis
- Authors:
- CULLY J. A., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 9(2), March 2005, pp.172-176.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Information regarding older adult emergency center (EC) patient characteristics remains limited, despite its increasing importance in health care delivery systems. This retrospective study encompasses all EC visits over an eight-year period (n?=?825,682) to a large urban county hospital. Only participants with a primary psychiatric diagnosis were examined, and included a total of 53,894 adults, 18–64 years old and 1,478 adults, =65 years old. Despite an increasing aging population, EC visits for older adults with psychiatric disorders did not increase over time. Within the older adult sample, cognitive, psychotic, and bipolar disorders were associated with higher rates of admission to the hospital, while substance use, depressive, and anxiety disorders were associated with lower numbers of inpatient admissions. African-Americans were over-represented in the EC and admitted to the hospital at higher rates, compared to other ethnic groups. Caucasian patients were the group most frequently diagnosed with a substance use disorder. In conclusion, differences in race, and diagnosis support the idea that such variables directly relate to utilization rates, presentation, and disposition within the EC.
Positive illusions and mental and physical health in later life
- Authors:
- GANA K., ALAPHILI PPE D., BAILLY N.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 8(1), January 2004, pp.58-64.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
There are three competing conceptions concerning the relationship between positive illusions and mental health: the 'traditional' mental health model, according to which an accurate perception of the self and the world is a cornerstone of psychological well-adjustment; Taylor and Brown's Social Psychological Model on mental health, which assumes that positive illusions promote good mental health; and Baumeister's Optimal Margin Theory, which states that too much accuracy is harmful to mental health, as are exaggerated illusions. These three models were evaluated in the elderly (n = 857 retirees ages 60-95) using the youthful bias, which is the illusion of being younger than one's real age. As a whole, the Social Psychological Model obtained the strongest support. Retirees who harboured an exaggerated youthful bias (more than 15 years) reported more satisfaction with leisure time, higher self-esteem, better perceived health, and less boredom proneness than those who felt as old as they were or who, except for perceived health, entertained a moderate youthful bias (between 1 and 15 years).
Modelling late-life depression
- Authors:
- PARKER Gordon, SNOWDON John, PARKER Kay
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 18(12), December 2003, pp.1102-1109.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article seeks to find support for a three-class depression sub-typing model (and identify differentiating constituent clinical features) in a sample of elderly depressed patients. Depression is currently modelled dimensionally, with little concession to descriptive psychopathology and distinction of meaningful clinical depressive sub-types. The authors proposed a three-class hierarchical specificity model for sub-typing the depressive disorders (comprising psychotic, melancholic and non-melancholic depression), with specificity referring to two clinical features (psychotic symptoms and psychomotor disturbance or PMD) separating the first two classes from a residual non-melancholic class. Subjects were aged 65 years or more, non-demented and being treated for depression. Extensive clinical assessment was undertaken, while several standardised measures were administered. Bottom up analyses were data driven, while top down analyses respected DSM-III-R decision rules. Dimensional and categorical multivariate analyses sought to identify features differentiating psychotic depression (PD), melancholic depression (MEL) and a residual non-melancholic (NON-MEL) class. Of the 123 referred patients (having a mean age of 75.6 years), 46 had DSM-defined PD, 46 had MEL and 31 were assigned as NON-MEL. Mean total CORE scores (measuring PMD) more clearly distinguished the groups than scores on two depression severity measures. Psychotic depression was best distinguished from melancholic depression by psychotic features, as well as more severe PMD and anhedonia. Melancholic depression was best distinguished from non-melancholic depression by PMD, terminal insomnia and pathological guilt. The specificity of PMD to the definition of the psychotic and melancholic depression was confirmed in our elderly depressed sample. Clinical features identified as distinguishing psychotic, melancholic and non-melancholic depression were broadly consistent with findings from our previous studies involving younger subjects and with our three-class hierarchical model.