S17-01 - Quality of Life and Psychiatric Consultation in Elderly

Abstract

Aging is a process that affects bio-psycho-social functioning. When people reach upper age groups, the definition of normal and abnormal aging are confounded by the presence of multiple diseases, injuries and losses. As the people leave longer, physical, psychological and social losses may affect the quality of life. In geriatric population, one indicator of quality of life is the ability to perform required activities of daily living. The absence of that feature create negative efects on the psychology of the elderly.

In the consultation process, the geriatric psychiatrists must know the major events which influence elderly's quality of life in late life. Those events are pharmacology, end of life issues and suicides, and clinical syndromes such as delirium, dementia, depression, anxiety, etc. It can be said that life events are closely connected to quality of life and health.

To offer a high quality health and social care to the older patients, we need the knowledge about the conditions, the values and the quality of life of these people which influence their lives.