Psychological therapies, older people and human rights

Abstract

SummaryAdditional funding has recently been made available by the government for the treatment of anxiety and depression. However, this is targeted towards people of working age, to reduce expenditure on incapacity benefit. That older people with the same mental illnesses do not receive equitable access to psychological therapies contradicts other recent government recommendations. Economic data appears to hugely influence provision of services for this group of users, but is this appropriate and humane? the Human Rights Act 1998 (Chapter 42) has been largely ignored in the provision of mental health services for older people, and the centrality of this legislation needs further consideration.