Mental Health and Wellbeing in Later Life
Mental Health and wellbeing has been identified as a major priority within the Later Life programme and constitutes a main strand of the programme’s activities.
Quick links on this page:
Mental health and ageing
Programme partners
Programme aims
Research and dissemination
Stirling workshop, 10-11 March 2003
‘Stirling Revisited’ workshop, 28-29 March 2006
Research into older people’s perceptions
Inquiry into Mental Health and Wellbeing in Later Life
Older Women and Domestic Violence in Scotland research
Capacity building: Health in Later Life Regional Interest Groups (HILLRIGs)
Capacity building: Local Small Projects Awards Scheme
Education for Participation courses
Resource development
Mental health and ageing
People’s experience of mental health in later life is influenced by many factors. These include personal beliefs and societal attitudes, culture and ethnicity, class, geographical location and marital or family status, as well as physical and mental health, financial security and access to support and services.
Programme partners
The Mental Health and Wellbeing in Later Life programme works in close collaboration with the Scottish Government's National Programme to Improve Mental Health and Well-being, the Older People’s Unit and Care of Older People’s Division to improve the health and well-being of older people across Scotland by developing a comprehensive programme of work to highlight good practice, raise awareness of the issues and support innovative initiatives.
Programme aims
The programme aims to:
- Bring together evidence of effective promotion of mental health.
- Disseminate evidence.
- Act as a catalyst to promote changes in practice and policy at national and local level.
Research and dissemination
The programme has been informed by research, in consultation with older people, practitioners, academics and policy-makers at national and local level. It is essential that information from relevant research is disseminated effectively to the wider population of policy-makers, practitioners and older people.
A number of pieces of work have addressed key factors that influence mental health and well-being as perceived by older people.
Stirling workshop, 10-11 March 2003
A two-day workshop on mental health and wellbeing in later life was held in Stirling on 10-11 March 2003. The workshop was attended by older people, health professionals, academics, researchers and policy-makers who brought to the event their own particular expertise and experience and worked together as equals.
The main aim of the workshop was to identify and prioritise the key issues necessary to guide local and national policy and initiative development. Over two days, participants explored the factors that influence mental health and well-being as people age and identified the components of good mental health from the perspective of older people.
More information is contained in the following document:
‘Stirling Revisited’ workshop, 28-29 March 2006
A second, ‘Stirling Revisited’, workshop was hosted by Health Scotland on 28-29 March 2006. Participants were drawn from the same constituencies as the previous Stirling workshop, with many attendees also having participated in the earlier event.
The Stirling Revisited workshop aimed to:
- Review and showcase the Mental Health and Wellbeing in Later Life Programme, 2003-2006.
- Review recommendations of the Age Concern and Mental Health Foundation Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-Being in Later Life, supported by the Scottish Executive and Health Scotland.
- Plan the 2006-08 programme of work for the Mental Health and Wellbeing in Later Life strand of the Health in Later Life programme.
- Contribute to and inform the Scottish Executive’s Strategy for an ageing population, Age and Experience.
Research into older people’s perceptions
Following the Stirling workshop, a report based on research jointly commissioned by the Scottish Government and Health Scotland – Mental Health and Well-being in Later Life: Older People’s Perceptions – further investigated what older people believe to be the key factors that affect mental health and wellbeing in later life. A key element of the research was the use of methods to enable older people to define the factors most likely to help and hinder their achievement of good mental health and wellbeing.
The research was undertaken in two stages during June and August 2003, with the report published the following year.
Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-being in Later Life
Health Scotland and the Scottish Executive have worked closely with Age Concern England and the Mental Health Foundation in an Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-being in Later Life. The inquiry, which was launched in 2003, is taking a UK-wide focus on:
- Raising awareness of mental health and wellbeing in later life.
- Involving and empowering older people.
- Creating better understandings of the issues associated with older age and mental health and wellbeing.
- Influencing policy and planning throughout the UK.
- Improving services for older people.
For more information, visit the Mental Health in Later Life website (external link).
Older Women and Domestic Violence in Scotland research
The programme has worked with the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships on an investigation into older women and domestic violence in Scotland. The report Older Women and Domestic Violence In Scotland, published in May 2003, set out to discover:
- Who are 'older women' experiencing domestic violence, and what distinguishes their experiences from those of younger women?
- What do we know about prevalence in Scotland?
- What data gaps most need to be addressed?
- What are the most promising interventions in the field, and who is providing them?
- What recommendations can be put forward for policy or programme strategies and for further research?
Capacity building: Health in Later Life Regional Interest Groups (HILLRIGs)
One of the main strands in the programme was to support the development of a sustainable regional network of HILLRIGs to:
- Enable local groups to develop and share learning.
- Develop a useful body of knowledge about achieving health and well-being in ageing that can be disseminated widely.
- Enable the experiences and voices of older people to contribute to learning and development of good practice to improve health in later life.
- Develop a culture of evaluation.
- Inform and influence policy development at local and national level.
- Support and assist in dissemination of information on health in later life activities.
- Inform the research agenda.
HILLRIGs focus on a holistic approach to health and well-being in later life, supporting people in their communities and improving social inclusion and health. They promote and facilitate sharing, learning and linking between older people, practitioners, carers, academics and policy-makers.
The work and impacts of HILLRIGs were explored in a series of seminars held in different parts of Scotland in April-May 2004. The seminars took place in the West (Paisley), East (Edinburgh) and North of Scotland (Nairn) and were organised by Health Scotland in partnership with (respectively) the University of Paisley, the Royal Bank of Scotland Centre for the Older Person’s Agenda at Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, and Age Concern Scotland.
For more information see: Mental Health and Well-being in Later Life: Report of regional seminar programme, April – May 2004
Capacity building: Local Small Projects Awards Scheme
The programme developed a Small Projects Award Scheme to support groups involved in encouraging mental health and well-being in later life.
Eight projects were supported, each with older people strongly involved in their development:
- Shetland (Shetland Welfare Trust), with care staff being trained to provide aromatherapy massage techniques for older people.
- Orkney (Age Concern Orkney), involving a roadshow showcasing activities for older people.
- Banff (Alzheimer’s Scotland), aiming to increase self-esteem among carers of people with dementia by providing support and activities.
- Greenock (Phoenix Community Health Project), carrying out intergenerational work and providing opportunities for isolated older people.
- Cumbernauld (Cumbernauld Action for Care of the Elderly [CACE]), promoting positive mental health and well-being in older men.
- Haddington (Active for Life Ageing Well Project, East Lothian), which has a remit to promote physical activity among people aged over 50.
- Edinburgh (Pilmeny Development Project), promoting the health and well-being of older men.
- Edinburgh (Edinburgh Chinese Elderly Support Organisation), providing activity and support for older Chinese people to enhance health and boost self-esteem.
Health Scotland provided ongoing support to the projects through the Health in Later Life Programme Officer and through training initiatives. In addition to the provision of one-to-one support and email and phone advice, two training events were held in January 2004 and November 2005 focusing on:
- Project development (setting aims and objectives).
- Developing awareness of evidence and sources of evidence.
- Data collection, monitoring and evaluation skills.
- Monitoring and evaluation strategy development.
The monitoring and evaluation framework adopted for the scheme is an adaptation of the LEAP (learning, evaluation and planning) for Health model, which aims to help people working in community health settings to plan and evaluate their work with one another and community members. The Small Projects Award Scheme funding ended in October 2006 and a final report was published in 2007.
Education for Participation courses
The programme’s Education for Participation courses aimed to develop, implement and evaluate education to maximise older people’s contribution to partnership working and encourage their confidence, participation and a feeling of community belonging.
The courses brought together people who were committed to participating and who wanted to:
- Become more involved in the development of services for older people.
- Become more confident in participating in and influencing the development of services.
- Learn from each other.
Education for Participation courses have been funded by Health Scotland in Inverness and Newtown St Boswells in the Scottish Borders. Four modules were offered – Drama for Democracy, Reviewing Documents to Enable the Older Person’s Voice to be Heard, Having a Voice in Formal Arenas, and Helping People to Tell their Stories – with participants being able to choose to do as many as they wished. The modules were developed in partnership with participants, and continuous evaluation and feedback were important elements.
The final part of the course involved attendance at a one-day event which focused on further evaluations of participants’ experiences and provided an introduction to existing research, education and policy opportunities. The latter offered an opportunity for participants to put into practice the skills they had learned during the course.
Resource development
Coping with dementia: a practical handbook for carers
This essential resource for carers of people in the middle-to-later stages of dementia has been recently updated. Aimed primarily at family carers, the book gives practical advice on coping with the problems carers may face and on how to look after their own well-being. It aims to reduce carers’ feelings of isolation and help them find greater rewards and less stress in their caring role.
For more information see: Coping with Dementia: A practical Handbook for carers
Good for you – Good for your Brain, Dementia – How to reduce your risk
In partnership with Alzheimer Scotland, this leaflet has been developed and published. This leaflet will be distributed to local councils, NHS boards and into primary care settings.