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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| GPs' perceptions of the barriers to referring older adult patients to mental health services in NHS Dumfries & Galloway | | Author(s) | Rebecca Cathers, Fionnuala Edgar |
| Journal title | Faculty for the Psychology of Older People (FPOP) Newsletter, no 124, October 2013 |
| Publisher | British Psychological Society, October 2013 |
| Pages | pp 44-50 |
| Source | www.bps.org.uk |
| Keywords | General practitioners ; Attitude ; Referrals ; Psychiatric treatment ; Social surveys ; Dumfries and Galloway. |
| Annotation | Older people have been found to be under-represented relative to working-age adults in referrals received by Dumfries & Galloway's psychology service. Previous research has suggested various reasons why older people may not be referred on to psychology services which can be grouped into two main categories: those not discussing their problems with general practitioners (GPs); and GPs failing to refer on. Given GPs' important role as gatekeepers to services, this study aimed to investigate this under-representation by exploring GPs' opinions of the barriers to older people accessing mental health services locally. An outline survey was distributed to all GPs in the region, to investigate presentation rates and routine treatment options for memory problems, depression and anxiety and the perceived barriers to onward referrals to mental health services. The survey was completed by 31% of GPs. The majority reported being "unlikely" to refer to mental health services if the main complaint was anxiety and "somewhat likely" or "unlikely" to refer on if this was depression. "Preoccupation with physical explanations for symptoms" was perceived to be the main barrier to older people accessing services. "Waiting lists" also seen as a significant barrier. Overall, the results suggest that improved communication between GPs and mental health services may have a positive influence on access to mental health services for older people. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-131018222 A |
| Classmark | QT6: DP: L5R: LP: 3F: 9SW |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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