The origins of old age psychiatry in Britain in the 1940s

Abstract

In the 1940s, some of the most influential psychiatrists of their day such as David K. Henderson and Aubrey Lewis were taking an active interest in the well-being of older people. Spurred on by the fears of a rising population of older people, overcrowding in mental hospitals, social changes and an awareness of the lack of knowledge of older people’s mental illnesses, they and others began to explore further the mental health needs of older people. There was a marked change from a predominant interest in neuropathology in older mental hospital patients to emphasis on the need to provide clinical care and treatment for people in the community. The establishment of the new specialty of geriatric medicine and inception of the National Health Service gave further impetus to service development.