Search results for ‘Subject term:"older people"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 1 of 1
Meeting the mental health needs of older women: taking social inequality into account
- Authors:
- MILNE Alisoun, WILLIAMS Jennie
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 20(6), November 2000, pp.699-723.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Whilst there is increasing acceptance that social inequalities have implications for mental health, there is minimal acknowledgement of their effects on the development and treatment of mental ill health in older people. This article focuses on older women, as they are the majority sufferers of mental illness in later life, and are particularly vulnerable to the cumulative effects of lifelong and age-related inequalities. Draws on literature from the fields of gerontology and mental health and argues that for effective care to be developed, older women's mental ill health needs to be seen within the context of their past and present experience of social inequalities. Evidence particularly relates to socio-economic disadvantages as well as to the consequences of discrimination. Argues that psychological vulnerability is further compounded by the gendered effects of social policy, and by care system which constructs mental health needs as unrelated to oppression, and dislocated from their economic, social and historical roots. Finally outlines the key components of care and service system which takes account of social inequalities, and which accords centrality to the experiences, views and women opinions of older women with mental health problems.