Mental health and older people

World Mental Health Day was initiated by World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) in 1992 to highlight the importance of mental health. This year, the WFMH Board of Directors decided on the theme of “Mental Health and Older Adults”. Running on 10 October, the day focused on highlighting the mental health issues experienced by older people in their communities, and encouraged people to consider their needs for support and services. There is no denying that people are gradually living longer, as improved healthcare and standards of living have made this possible. In fact, the current number of people aged 60 years and over is more than 800 million, and projections indicate that this figure will increase to over two billion by 2050 (World Federation for Mental Health, 2013). It is thought that people aged 60 years can now expect to survive an additional 18.5 to 21.6 years (United Nations Population Fund, 2012). According to this statistic, soon the world will have a higher number of older adults than children.