Does Residential care for Older people with mental health needs have a place in the future?

Yes, there is a furture health need for older people with mental health issues. The need will be for understanding people who know mental health problems and who LIKE older people. So many times, I see the elderly treated as last year's newspaper, and not listened to at all. The mentally disabled elderly have it even worse. "Oh, he's just crazy!" is not something I ever want to hear in a care situation.....but, I hear it. People are living longer and longer......that creates a need in itself. Famiies are, usually, too busy trying to work, take care of children, pay the bills, and all of that, these days to care for their own elderly relatives, in a kind, understanding way. There is the real fear that a child could be hurt, or that the elderly person could just wander off down the road, as well. Finding good health care workers for a residential care home is really a hard job. Since the mental institutions have been just all closed down in CA, the need has become increasingly higher and higher. If you are considering going into the business of care provider, remember you will need the patience of Job, the medical background to understand when the client needs a Dr., and it doesn't hurt to know how to play a musical instrument, as well. I mention this, as I know that music really seemed to relax my clients, when I directed care homes for mentally disabled adults. This IS a hard occupation, and you really need to WANT to do this to do it well. We will always need caring people in this profession, and remember, it is not a sin to be mentally disabled, or to be old...................put together, it creates a need for a special type personality to really help.

Definitely, mental health is a problem and it is not going to go away. Although a lot of the residential care available for older people with mental health is not the best but it's better than nothing. What alternative is there? I would hope when I'm old and grey and a bit mad that there might be somewhere for me if my family can't look after me or I have no family.

I work in an NHS older adults mental health challenging behaviour unit. We care for clients long term. There is definatly a future, and older adult mental health care is evolving all the time. Although we try and keep people at home with their families for as long as possible that is not always possible when psychiatric and physical needs become too demanding. They are slowly opening more and more older adult beds and the population is getting older.Elderly mental health NHS units are improving a great deal since reports like the Rowans review and the Avonside reprt. Since those investigations our units are very strictly regulated.

RCFE'S (residential care facility for the elderly) do provide for those needs....as in dementia and alzheimer. The administrator just needs additional training and certification, state approved......

I hope so too. Where else can we live when we're old and mental? There aren't many options if you haven't got family or dosh.

It has a place in the present - never mind the future!

What? Is that supposed to be the name of a provider? No such place. This makes no sense.

They are needed now.

Definately,why do people post stupid answers.

of course thay do thats a stuped question