Age Concern

Lord Morris of Manchester
asked Her Majesty's Government:

What consideration they have given to the report from Age Concern, Promoting Mental Health and Well-being in Later Life; and whether they will take any action as a result of its conclusions and recommendations.[HL6830]

The Minister of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)
The Government welcome the publication of the report of Age Concern and the Mental Health Foundation's jointly sponsored Promoting Mental Health and Well-being in Later Life. The inquiry has been instrumental in raising awareness and creating better understanding of mental health promotion in later life.

The Department of Health has been working with Age Concern and the Mental Health Foundationto give prominence and profile to this importantissue. Key themes that emerged from the inquiry’s findings are described in the mental health promotion chapter in Everybody's Business, the department’s new service development guide for older people’s mental health services, which outlines the elements of a comprehensive older people’s mental health service.