Psychogeriatrics Research Assignment Medicine Research Proposal

Psychogeriatric Research
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Psychogeriatric Research
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as the state of the complete mental, physical and social well-being and not necessarily the absence of any disease. Mental health is equally as important as physical health. It should be treated with the urgency that physical health is treated with. Therefore, mental health, especially for old people, is pointed out as a priority in the health sector. WHO promotes governments in their goals of enhancing mental health in older people and the integration of policies that address old people's mental health issues. The term old people refer to those people who are aged 60 years and above (WHO, 2017). The majority of people in this age bracket have good mental health but they are at risk of developing mental health problems. As the age of people increases, they become more susceptible to other diseases such as diabetes, hearing disorders, and osteoarthritis. The issue of adult health problems is supposed to be addressed fully. The world population is rapidly increasing, which means even the numbers of old people are also increasing. The world population of old people is expected to double: from 12% to about 22% (WHO, 2017). In actual figures, this is an expected increase from 900 million to 2 billion old people. This portrays how dire the situation of old people's mental health is thus demanding appropriate interventions.
The article, “Four common mental illnesses in the elderly: learn the risk factors and symptoms to watch for” is written by Adinah East. The article cites from the CDC report that over 20% of the adults who are over 55 years of age have mental health complications. According to WHO, mental disorders are estimated to affect 15% of the population of those people who are above the age of sixty (East, 2018). The organization predicts that the percentage will increase as the world population ages. The article also points out that about 20% of the people who are above 60 years have at some point in their lives experienced mental disorders. Depression is estimated to affect about 5% of the older adults but the figure skyrockets to 13.5% for those under home health care. According to the article, men who are above 75 years commit suicide than any group. It is projected that out of 100,000 men above 75 years, 38 are likely to commit suicide (East, 2018). Old age is a global phenomenon that is accompanied by a plethora of problems. The article provides statistical evidence of the challenges that are faced by old people all over the globe. Dementia and depression are the most common among old people. From the article, almost half of the elderly people are reported with depression.
Depression among the elderly is a serious condition as they are likely to commit suicide at the age of 75 and above and old age comes with a lot of problems (East, 2018). While there has been an increase in the old age population, the facilities to tackle those problems associated with the old age are inadequate. Out of three adults with mental problems, only one gets treatment and the others do not receive the treatment. Henderson, Evans-Lacko, and Thornicroft (2013) attempt to highlight this proble...