Promoting active ageing in older people with mental disorders living in the community: An integrative review.

Aim: To critically synthesize the evidence in relation to the promotion of active ageing in older people, including those with mental disorders.

Background: Approximately 15% of older people aged 60 and above are experiencing a mental disorder. However, they are commonly unrecognized from health care providers.

Design: This study is an integrative review. Articles published between January 2002 and March 2017 in English and in Thai were identified through searches of the databases CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Thai LIS, as well as through manual searching. Methodologically high-quality research articles were included if they addressed the promotion of active ageing and related concepts, the impact of mental disorders on active ageing and related concepts, the perspective of older people regarding active ageing, and issues related to working with older people with mental health problems living in the community.

Results: A total of 18 articles were included. The findings show that there is little evidence regarding the promotion of active ageing in older people with mental disorders. Older people with mental disorders were less likely to achieve successful ageing compared with those without mental disorders, suggesting they need support from health care providers. However, there are several barriers to care and working with older people with mental disorders at the community level.

Conclusion: Of concern is that health professionals focus on the physical health of older people while mental health issues are overlooked.