Elderly patients and the Mental Health Act 1983

✍ Scribed by C. Gilmore; G. C. Wood; J. C. Rigby

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 899 KB
• Volume: 9
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/gps.930091007

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A retrospective casenote review was performed on all patients over 65 years of age in one health district who were detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 during the first 6 years of its operation. There were 132 episodes of detention affecting 120 patients. Fifty‐three percent were for organic illness and 47% for functional illness. The organically ill were detained most commonly because the carer was no longer able to cope or, for those living alone, because of self‐neglect. The functionally ill were most commonly detained in the interests of their health only. The majority (52/64) of patients with dementia were not discharged to their previous address after being detained, most of these (29/64) being discharged to residential care. Twenty‐seven percent of the whole sample died within a year of being detained, a rate higher than that in the general population. Only nine tribunals were held in the study period.