Much is written now arising from the pandemic about mental wellbeing which is important for all of us. However, Faith in Older People was conscious that many older people experience enduring mental health challenges and need to find support from those around them including their faith community if they are part of one.
“Engagement with people living with mental illness has been shown to be one of the most important and challenging areas of work for the churches to be involved with … we are talking about our own congregations, clergy, our families and neighbours, our friends and colleagues. Yet mental health work in the church is given a pitifully low profile and priority at national or local level”
Mental Health – The Inclusive Church Resource (2014 and reprinted in 2018) Publishers Darton, Longman, and Todd
Understanding mental health in older people
Faith in Older People wanted to understand the situation for people as they aged in relation to an enduring mental health challenge, and we worked with Voluntary Health Scotland and Support in Mind in 2019 to consider the evidence to raise awareness of the issues and to try to improve policy and practice