Senior Citizens Expressing Acute Mental Symptoms: Urgent Need for Support and Treatment is Not Identified in the Community

Abstract

Background: The intention was to study the reactions to mental symptoms in older people in a rural community and assess how such people would obtain appropriate support in the local service system. Methods: A postal questionnaire study was conducted in the rural Suupohja area in Finland. The target groups were a randomized sample of residents aged 15–84 (n = 1200), local social and healthcare personnel (n = 463) and politicians (n = 148). The response rates were 45%, 61% and 55% respectively. A case of an elderly woman with mental symptoms was described. People were asked about alternatives in identifying the need for treatment as well as the urgency of the treatment and the location where the intervention should take place.Results: Of residents, 69%, of politicians 76% and of health and social staff 76% recognized that elderly citizens needed urgent support and treatment. According to logistic regression, a significant association was found in the resident cohort between the need for urgent support and age over 50 years (OR 2.7). A total of 70% of the inhabitants, 90% of the social and healthcare staff and 69% of the politicians estimated that appropriate care would be obtained in the home care unit.Conclusion: In this study, nearly onethird of the residents were found to be unaware of the urgent need for treatment of senior citizens. It is a challenge to increase the alertness and sensitivity of the population to recognize acute mental symptoms. The healthcare system should improve understanding and cooperation between the community, the healthcare professionals, and local politicians.