Ethnic elders and their needs

The proportion of ethnic minority individuals over the age of 65 years is increasing in the UK. This will result in a concomitant increase in the absolute number of cases of dementia and depression among ethnic elders. From the evidence so far, the prevalence of dementia and depression among different ethnic elderly groups in the UK is either similar to or higher than the indigenous population. Despite this data on prevalence and high general practice registration and consultation rates among ethnic elders, the prevalence of ethnic elders in secondary care old age psychiatry services is low. Several factors may explain this discrepancy, including those related to the patients and their families, general practitioners and secondary care clinicians. There is a need to develop valid and reliable diagnostic and screening instruments for disorders like dementia and depression for use with different ethnic elderly groups. This can be further facilitated by improving communication with the help of bilingual clinical staff and professional interpreters. Old age psychiatry services for ethnic elders could be integrated with existing ethnocentric services and should be flexible, have the ability to adapt to changing needs, be culturally sensitive and be available, accessible and acceptable to ethnic elders.