OLD PEOPLE ARE a major challenge for the mental health system due to risk for certain age-related mental disorders, and failure or delay to make treatment contact with mental health services. In Epirus, Northwestern Greece, the Mobile Mental Health Unit of the prefectures of Ioannina and Thesprotia delivers generic mental health services in rural, remote, mountainous areas for a population of approximately 100 000 inhabitants.Data on elderly care during a 3-month period (from December 2011 to March 2012) were extracted by reviewing the medical records of all treatment-engaged patients during this period. From a total of 132 service-engaged patients during the aforementioned period, 58 (44%) were aged 65 years or older. The majority of these elderly patients (n = 34 or 58.6%) were very old (>75 years). Main diagnoses were dementia and other organic mental disorders (27.6%), schizophrenia and related psychoses (15.5%), and affective disorders (46.5%). More than half of the elderly patients (51.7%) were first assessed for their psychiatric symptoms and received treatment by our unit. Another 41.4% were receiving psychotropic medication without mental health care during the year prior to engagement with our service.
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