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Doctors want more mental health care for elderly patients

Doctors at a geriatric conference in Taipei yesterday said that despite the fact that advancements in the medical field had helped extend the average life expectancy of people, there was still room for improvement in care for the elderly, especially in the field of mental health.

Chen Liang-kung (陳亮恭), Chief of Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s Division of Geriatric Medicine, told the conference that in the past, when Taiwan’s average life expectancy was below 70 years, the average person needed to be personally looked after for about five to seven years. Now, that number has risen to seven to nine years despite a higher life expectancy of about 80 years, he said.

“This shows that even though we’ve successfully extended people’s lives, we haven’t been able to ensure that patients spend the last years enjoying a high quality of life,” said Chen, adding that Taiwan should follow the WHO’s goal of ensuring physical and mental health for those over 80 years old, with an average life expectancy of 85 years.

Shiu Ruei-shiang (徐瑞祥), Director of the Bureau of Health Promotion’s Division of Adult and Elderly Health, said Taiwan would strive to answer WHO calls for “active aging” with a series of projects focused on elderly physical and mental health, coupled with community involvement.

Several doctors who spoke at the conference also pointed to the rising suicide rate among elderly people, which has climbed to an all-time high, as one of their top concerns and called for more to be done to lower.
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