Module 2: Direct Comprehensive Primary Care in the LTC Setting

23 2.2.5 Caring for Individuals Experiencing MH & Addictions

Content Warning: The following lesson includes a discussion of mental health and addictions. This content is disturbing, so we encourage you to prepare yourself emotionally before proceeding. If you believe that the reading will be traumatizing for you, then you may choose to forgo it.

Mental health disorders affect up to one in five Canadians every year. Among older adults specifically, this number decreases to approximately 17%. Most common mental illnesses in LTC:

  • Mood and anxiety
  • Cognitive disorders: Dementia (major neurocognitive disorder), delirium
  • Substance misuse
  • Persistent psychotic disorders
  • Age-related changes in physiology render older adults more susceptible to experiencing harms associated with substance use.[1][2][3]

Additional Considerations:

  • Social
  • Medical
  • Support/Consultation[4]

 

  1. Flint et al., 2018 ↵
  2. Canadian Coalition on Seniors’ Mental Health, n.d. ↵
  3. Cosco et al., 2022 ↵
  4. Canadian Mental Health Association, 2010 ↵

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Nurse Practitioners Delivering Primary Care in the Long Term Care Setting Copyright © 2024 by Erin Ziegler, Carrie Heer and Adhiba Nilormi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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