Feeling down or worried happens to everyone, but for some people these feelings are very strong, long-lasting, and can be damaging to them and their families. Mental illnesses, such as depression or anxiety, may include feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, guilt, or even suicide.
Worldwide, mental illness affects one in five people aged 60+. However, problems faced by older adults impacting their mental health are often overlooked, such as loneliness, loss of a spouse, or ill-health. We need to change the way we treat mental illnesses, with services that consider older adults' specific needs and situations.
“Precision medicine” means using information we learn about someone, such their diet or lifestyle, to provide treatment/care specific to them as an individual. This has been successful with physical illnesses, such as early-diagnosis and treatment for cancer. We want to apply precision medicine ideas to help improve older adults’ mental health.
Our project will create an “early-warning system” to detect when an older person might be at risk of poor mental health, so that help and support can be given to them quickly. First, we will create a computer system where health-service providers can input their patients’ information and older adults vulnerable to mental illnesses can be identified. Next, we will see what sorts of services, and technologies, like virtual reality, are important to improving mental health. To ensure our system and services/technologies meet older adults' needs and are easy-to-use, older adults will be involved at all stages of the project from early ideas, to building/testing the services/technologies.
Our early-warning system will help older adults get support earlier - before things get worse - and our services/technologies will help improve their mental health. In turn, this will help health-service providers improve the care they give and get better value for money.