The acceptability of the Fire and Rescue Service working with primary care to improve identification of mental health problems in older adults. A mixed-method qualitative study

Mental ill-health in older adults (aged 60 years and over) is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Older adults are less likely to access mental health services owing to perceived stigma and fear of being a burden. Non-traditional providers of health care, such as the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	BJGP open Vol. 7; no. 4; p. BJGPO.2023.0059
Main Authors:	Fisher, Tamsin, Chew-Graham, Carolyn A, Corp, Nadia, Farooq, Saeed, Kingston, Paul, Read, Ian, Southam, Jane, Spolander, Gary, Stevens, Dean, Walchester, Mark, Warren, Carmel, Kingstone, Tom
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England Royal College of General Practitioners 01-12-2023
Subjects:	aged anxiety depression fire and rescue services firefighters non-traditional providers older adults primary care referral and consultation anxiety non-traditional providers Fire and Rescue Services aged referral and consultation older adults primary care depression firefighters
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Summary:	Mental ill-health in older adults (aged 60 years and over) is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Older adults are less likely to access mental health services owing to perceived stigma and fear of being a burden. Non-traditional providers of health care, such as the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS), provide a possible solution to facilitate early detection of problems and help-seeking among older adults, especially in the context of pressured statutory services. To examine whether and how FRS Home Fire Safety Visits (HFSV) could be optimised to include detection and signposting for mental health problems - particularly anxiety and depression - in older adults. This mixed-method qualitative study took place in the West Midlands, UK in 2022. This study involved focus groups ( = 24) and interviews with FRS staff ( = 4) to develop an in-depth contextual understanding of he acceptability and feasibility of expanding HFSV to include identification of anxiety and depression. FRS staff were open to expanding their HFSVs to include mental health, provided they had sufficient training and support from partner agencies in primary and social care settings to accept referrals for service users presenting with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. The positive reputation of FRS staff and engagement with older adults suggests that HFSV could support the detection of anxiety and depression in older adults, and appropriate signposting to other services including primary care.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2398-3795 2398-3795
DOI:	10.3399/BJGPO.2023.0059