Perceived Need for Mental Health Care Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

• Published in: The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2009-11, Vol.64B (6), p.704-712
• Main Authors: Garrido, Melissa M., Kane, Robert L., Kaas, Merrie, Kane, Rosalie A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living - psychology; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Adult. Elderly; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging - psychology; Alcoholism - psychology; Alcoholism - rehabilitation; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders - psychology; Anxiety Disorders - rehabilitation; Anxiety-Depression; Attitude to Health; Attitudes; Beliefs; Biological and medical sciences; Chronic Disease - psychology; Community health care; Community living; Comorbidity; Culture; Depression; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Depressive Disorder - rehabilitation; Developmental psychology; Elderly people; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geriatric psychology; Geriatrics; Health Services Needs and Demand; Humans; Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences; Male; Medical sciences; Mental Disorders - psychology; Mental Disorders - rehabilitation; Mental health; Mental health care; Mental illness; Mood disorders; Multivariate Analysis; Odds Ratio; Older people; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - psychology; Perceptions; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Regression analysis; Socioeconomic Factors; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation; Unmet needs
• ISSN: 1079-5014; 1758-5368
• DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbp073

Only half of older adults with a mental disorder use mental health services, and little is known about the causes of perceived need for mental health care (MHC). We used logistic regression to examine relationships among depression, anxiety, chronic physical illness, alcohol abuse and/or dependence, sociodemographics, and perceived need among a national sample of community-dwelling individuals 65 years of age and older (the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys data set). Less than half of respondents with depression or anxiety perceived a need for care. Perceived need was greater for respondents with more symptoms of depression regardless of whether they met diagnostic criteria for a mental illness. History of chronic physical conditions, history of depression or anxiety, and more severe mental illness were associated with greater perceived need for MHC. Future studies of perceived need should account for individual perceptions of mental illness and treatment and the influence of social networks.