Advocating for Better Mental Health Care for Older Adults

A possible negative consequence of the rapid aging of the world population is the increase of the number of older adults with mental disorders. More than 20% of people aged 55 and more may suffer from mental health problems. Mental health problems have a significant impact on an older adult’s ability to carry out the basic activities of everyday life and reduce the person’s independence, autonomy, and quality of life. Despite the already significant and increasing number of well-prepared professionals, a well-developed body of knowledge, and a large number of caregivers, it is becoming more and more difficult to persuade the authorities to invest in the overall older adults’ mental health. It is the responsibility of all mental health professionals, together with those involved, to advocate and to act to ensure that the distribution of available mental health resources is done in an equitable manner to adequately meet the needs of all. One of the ways to bring about a real change in the older adults’ mental health care is to rely on the local, national, and international associations and organizations of the persons concerned by this theme. This chapter reviews some of these international organizations and their current projects.