Description

In this learning object you are introduced to the importance of seeing later life as one phase of an entire course of life from birth to death shaped by earlier life stages and experiences.

Meaning and identity are important to mental health in later life and require that we can connect past, present and future in our lives. A highly influential theory of the life course which embodies these themes is the psychosocial theory of Erik Erikson, which you will consider in Section 2.

A life course approach suggests that in order to understand and work effectively with older people we need to see them in the context of their past lives, taking a life story or biographical approach, or through reminiscence. You will consider these approaches in Section 4.

Please note that this object also contains a self-assessment section where you can test how far you have assimilated the key messages from this learning object.

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About the authors

Alisoun Milne is a senior lecturer at the Tizard Centre in the University of Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research. Prior to this, she was a Research Fellow at the Personal Social Services Research Unit and has an extensive background in social work. Her key research interests are: mental health in later life, older carers, carers of people with dementia and early diagnosis of dementia. Recent research projects include: a review of the needs and roles of older carers; GP attitudes to early diagnosis of dementia; an evaluation of the support needs of older Asians; and a review of dementia screening instruments. Alisoun contributed to the 2006 Social Care Institute for Excellence Guide to ‘Assessing the Mental Health Needs of Older People’ and is regularly involved in training health and social care staff working with this group of users. She is a member of the SE Dementia Collaborative Oversight Group and the National Patients Safety Agency, External Mental Health Reference Group. She has published widely and presented papers at national and international conferences.

Following a decade of social work practice, Brian Gearing worked for twenty years at the Open University where he was senior lecturer in Gerontology, developing a wide range of courses on ageing and the care of older people for health and social work professionals and carers. He has also carried out and published a number of biographical research studies which focus on older age and age care, and (as series editor) developed the successful Open University Press series, Rethinking Ageing. 

Joanne Warner, senior lecturer in Social Work, School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent took up her post there in 2005. Prior to this she held posts as lecturer in health and social care at the Open University - where her main responsibility was writing course materials on mental health - and lecturer in applied social studies at Oxford. She has a background as a practitioner in community development and social work and continues to act as a Mental Health Act manager in an NHS trust. Joanne’s main research interests are in mental health and risk, in particular the role of inquiries in shaping professional practice. She serves on the editorial board of the international journal Health, Risk and Society.

Acknowledgements

SCIE would like to thank the four peer reviewers of the materials: Rachel Fitton, Robert Johns, Jo Moriarty and Nasreen Hammond.

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