Ethnic Minority Elders in the UK

Abstract

This article looks at the current literature on minority ethnic elders and mental health problems in the UK. It raises fundamental problems in definition, since the literature contains great variations in definitions of ethnicity and old age. It relates issues concerning ethnicity with gender, geography and family structure. In the second part of the article, the authors review the influential theory of triple jeopardy and discuss the interplay of views about cultural factors and medical responses to health and illness in this context. Communication is used as an example of a commonly held problem but it is argued that language problems are often over-simplified and over-generalized. The authors consider broad questions of access to psychiatric services for minority ethnic elders, then focus on diagnostic difficulties with dementia and depression to illustrate particular problems. The article concludes that there is a general lack of research from the UK about ethnic elders and mental health, in particular about coping strategies and strengths among individuals, families and communities. The authors argue that attention to definitions may also be fruitful for policy-makers and researchers.