Abstract
In this paper we sought to explore health and social care professionals’ self-rated confidence in helping older adults with mental ill-health in non-psychiatric care settings. A cross-sectional survey study was performed exploring the participants’ (n = 480) confidence in helping. Confidence in helping was analyzed together with background characteristics and selected explanatory variables, such as the workplace and work experience of the participants, their personal experiences of and attitudes to mental ill-health, as well as their knowledge in mental ill-health among older adults, by means of descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis. We found that approximately half (55%) of the participants were confident in helping older adults with mental ill-health. The odds ratios for being confident in helping were significantly associated to the workplace of the professionals, professionals’ attitude to and experience of mental ill-health, and knowledge of mental health among older adults. To increase confidence in helping older adults with mental ill-health, we recommend confidence-building interventions, for example, educational programs, through which knowledge of mental health among older adults is increased and negative attitudes are challenged, especially within the context of specialist somatic healthcare.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine |
| Volume | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2023 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by Åland University of Applied Science, Ålands Self-Board’s 75th Anniversary Fund, Ålands kulturstiftelse, Åbo Akademi University and the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation as well as the Gösta Branders Research Fund, Åbo Akademi Research Foundation.
