[Psychiatry for the elderly--a specialty field in progress]

Abstract

Services concerned specially with elderly people who are mentally ill have developed in response to changing needs and expectations in society. In Norway, more than 600 beds in psychiatric hospitals are allocated to geriatric psychiatry (gerontopsychiatry), and are served by 20 senior registars and 19 psychiatric trainees. There are hardly any outreach programmes. Most of the beds in the hospitals are occupied by long-term psychiatric patients. There is little consensus as to what type of patients these beds should primarily serve. The authors recommend that a special unit to deal with geriatric psychiatry be organized in every county in Norway. Funds should also be allocated for professorships in this field.