| REVIEW ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2018 | Volume
: 5
| Issue : 1 | Page : 16-29 |
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Geriatric mental health: The challenges for India
Pragya Lodha1, Avinash De Sousa2
1 Research Assistant, Desousa Foundation, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
2 Founder Trustee and Consultant Psychiatrist, Desousa Foundation, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Correspondence Address:
Avinash De Sousa
Carmel, 18, St. Francis Road, Off S.V. Road, Santacruz West, Mumbai - 400 054, Maharashtra
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jgmh.jgmh_34_17
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Geriatric mental health has yet to receive its due recognition in India. Geriatric mental health is plagued by many challenges that prevent the development and progress of its services. The present article is a narrative review that looks at the various challenges faced by geriatric mental health in India. The article describes different specific and general unique challenges faced by geriatric mental health and discusses in detail the nature of each challenge and what must be done to overcome it. The challenges range from demography of Indian aging to sexual issues in the elderly, geriatric depression, dementia care, and the aging lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Various issues related to policy and research that challenge geriatric mental health are also discussed. The need to incorporate geriatric mental health into primary health care along with the need to train primary care workers and preventive work aimed at suicide prevention in the elderly is stressed. The article addresses these challenges with the aim of positing before the clinician the various challenges faced by geriatric mental health in India in the current era.
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