The health care situation of the mentally ill elderly in Germany

The majority of geropsychiatric patients live in the community and are supported by their families or by professional care providers. The multidimensional nature of the problems and the complexity of the professional care system require psychogeriatric-specific planning and regulation of health care services. In the majority of cases, medical care is provided by general practitioners. The belief that the supply of general psychiatric services alone can satisfy the demand for geropsychiatric care is not realistic. As an example, the situation of dementia patients highlights the problems of medical care in the geriatric psychiatry sector. It must be assumed that the patients will only meet demographic and epidemiological expectations where there is a functioning specific psychogeriatric health care. In the long term – due to the installation of efficient care networks – the significance of the inpatient sector will decline. In the meantime, there is a need for psychogeriatric centers and for competent inpatient care as an obligatory part of the regional mandatory care system. In order to keep up with international developments, the adequate and competent medical care of mentally ill elderly people in Germany urgently demands for the establishment of a psychogeriatric focus in the framework of psychiatric professional qualification.