Access all ages campaign

Mental health needs in later life must be met, not marginalised.

Mind's Access all ages campaign was launched in October 2005 to work towards addressing the often inadequate provision for older people using mental health services.

Facts and figures:

• Two thirds of NHS beds are occupied by people age 65 or over and up to two-thirds of these already have, or will develop, mental health problems.
• People over the age of 55 account for a third of suicides each year.
• One in six people develop clinical depression after they reach 65, and this figure can rise to more than one in three for people living in care homes.
• Dementia affects one in 20 people aged over 65 years, one in five people over 80 and one in four people over 85.
• Approximately a third of the 5.7 million UK carers are aged over 65; over 340,000 of this group provide 50 hours or more of unpaid care per week. Many older carers support spouses with dementia and intensive caring places carers at significantly higher risk of experiencing poor mental health. 
• In the next 10 years, the population of over 65s will increase by 15 per cent, and the population of over 85s by 27 per cent.

Campaign Successes

• 7,000 copies of the Mind in Action campaign special issue, 19,500 postcards, 4,600 copies of the campaign report distributed to Primary Care Trusts, Strategic Health Authorities, Health Boards, psychiatrists specialising in old age, civil servants, service users and older people's organisations.
• Training on 'Access all ages' delivered to service users in local Mind associations
• The Early Day Motion (no 705) supporting the 'Access all ages' campaign has been signed by over 170 MPs.
• Mind addressed the Parliamentary All Party Group on Mental Health on the campaign
• Staff from Rural Minds addressed the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Rural Stress Action Plan Working Group on the campaign.
• Involvement in the development of the Department of Health's Service Development Guide for Older People's Mental Health, which took on board many of the recommendations in the Access all ages report.

Local Mind association projects

View the winners of our Access all ages art and creative writing exhibition

Access all ages report pdf

Access all ages report summary (Welsh) pdf

Access all ages Mind in Action special pdf

To order hard copies of Access all ages posters, postcards or end of campaign report (Mind in Action special unavailable), please contact the Campaigns Team on 020 8215 2424 or email action@mind.org.uk.