Mental Health Nurses Supporting the Routine Assessment of Anxiety of Older People in Primary Care Settings: Insights from an Australian Study.

This article reports on research led by mental health nurses and a primary care nurse that supported primary care practitioners to undertake a routine assessment of anxiety in older people in Australia. The Geriatric Anxiety Inventory-Short Form was incorporated into the annual, in-depth 75 years and older, health assessment that is undertaken in primary care settings and funded by Australia's Medicare. An initial feasibility study demonstrated good acceptance levels of the routine assessment by the primary care practitioners. These findings suggest fertile ground for the everyday use of the routine assessment in primary care settings in Australia, with transferability internationally in low-, middle- and high-income global communities. Mental health nurses can play a key role in supporting primary care nurses to recognise and respond to anxiety in older people. Illness prevention and health promotion activities are low cost and have the potential to make a difference worldwide to the health of people across the lifespan. PMID: 30605357 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Issues in Mental Health Nursing - Category: Nursing Tags: Issues Ment Health Nurs Source Type: research