Older Adult Community Mental Health Teams

What we do

We provide mental health services in the community to people who are over 65 years old, who are experiencing functional or organic mental health problems. We also support younger people with dementia.

Our services include:

• Assessment and diagnosis
• Psychological intervention
• Medication management
• Memory clinics for the diagnosis of dementia, and treatment and support for people newly diagnosed with dementia
• support, advice and health information
• Support and education for primary care teams, social and community services, and other statutory, voluntary and private organisations providing care to older people with mental health needs

Therapies

Therapies available include:

• Medication
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), including CBT for carers
• Interpersonal therapy
• Family therapy

Individuals who are already receiving mental health care from one of our adult services will normally remain with that service when they reach 65 years, unless their needs change.

Our teams

The team includes people from many different backgrounds: doctors, nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers. Everybody has specialist training in caring for people with dementia.

These teams work closely with other services such as GP surgeries, care agencies and the voluntary sector, and they also support families, carers and loved ones.