نبذة مختصرة : Older persons with mental disorders other than dementia disorders represent a vulnerable group in the health care system. Old age brings inevitable changes and the additional impact of newly developed mental disorders may strikingly alter the life situation. The prevalence of mental disorders is likely to increase with the increase in the older population, and as a result of deinstitutionalization the number of older persons remaining in their own homes with extensive and complex needs is increasing. This entails new challenges for their caregivers in Swedish municipal home help services, mainly nursing aides, and the care they provide may greatly benefit from symptomatic stability. However, treatment of older persons with mental disorders entails complex challenges, with drugs constituting the major therapeutic intervention and adequate treatment calls for knowledge in geriatric psychiatry among the prescribers. This thesis aimed to develop a deeper understanding and enhanced knowledge about the life situation of older persons with mental disorders. Four studies have been included in this thesis (I-IV). Study I aimed to illuminate the meaning of the life situation as experienced by seven dependent older persons with mental disorders and the findings suggest that their life situation involved a struggle for existence. This was understood as a loss of respect and dignity; they longed for a sense of belonging and to be seen as equals with own abilities and knowledge. Study II facilitated an approximation of the prevalence of mental disorders within the older population in Sweden during 2006 to 2008 by estimating their drug use for mental disorders; drug use was thus a proxy for diagnosis. The Swedish Prescribed Drug Register (SPDR) was used for gathering data on anxiety, psychotic and affective disorders, resulting in an estimated prevalence of mental disorders of 6.6% among the older population, lowest among 65 to 69 year olds and increasing with age. Study III illuminated the meaning of caring for older persons ...
Relation: I. Martinsson, G., Fagerberg, I., Lindholm, C. & Wiklund-Gustin, L. (2012). Struggling for existence – life situation experiences of older persons with mental disorders. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being. 7: 18422. ::doi::10.3402/qhw.v7i0.18422 ::pmid::22693537 ::isi::000305456700001; II. Martinsson, G., Wiklund-Gustin, L., Fagerberg, I. & Lindholm, C. (2011). Mental disorders affect older persons in Sweden – a register-based study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 26(3): 277-283. ::doi::10.1002/gps.2525 ::pmid::20665556 ::isi::000288093500008; III. Martinsson, G., Wiklund-Gustin, L., Lindholm, C. & Fagerberg, I. (2011). Being altruistically egoistic - Nursing aides’ experiences of caring for older persons with mental disorders. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being. 6(4): 7530 ::doi::10.3402/qhw.v6i4.7530 ::pmid::22007261 ::isi::000297856100014; IV. Martinsson, G., Fagerberg, I., Wiklund-Gustin, L. & Lindholm, C. Specialist prescribing of psychotropic drugs to older persons in Sweden – a register-based study of 188 024 older persons. [Submitted]; http://hdl.handle.net/10616/41149
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