Mental Health Among Seniors

Aging & Mental Health: A Growing Crisis

With the aging population on the rise, more Canadian families will be affected by Mental Health Illnesses in some way. Caring for an aging loved one that is experiencing a mental health illness often creates emotional physical, financial and social burdens for caregivers. As we tackle the question of care for the elderly we must also consider that many caregivers are also aging adults themselves.

In Canada, age should not be a barrier to accessing quality mental health care, yet it is. Access to community – based services will play an important role in helping people stay mentally well while managing a wide range of mental health illnesses and problems. As people age, the stigma they face is two-fold: the stigma of living with a mental illness as well as the stigma of aging – not to mention the additional stigma of being from a marginalized group or community such as, LGBTQ or being part of a different cultural background.

* More than 1.8 million people over 60 years of age were living with a mental health problem or illness in Canada in 2016.

* 70 percent of all caregivers are women

* 60 percent of caregivers are employed

* 20 percent provide care both to a person with a mental illness and to another ill or disabled person

* 47 percent have been providing care for more than five years. Family caregivers for people with any type of illness were found to feel a sense of responsibility:

* 72 percent felt that there was no other option but to provide care; half felt that there was a lack of home care or mental health services, and most expected to be providing care for many years to come.

Providing caregivers with adequate support can often help to minimize the stress of caregiving. The unpaid care they provide is a major contribution to the health and social system. This would be very costly to replace with paid services. It is estimated that caregivers are saving the Canadian health and social service system upwards of $50 billion dollars per year.