Older adults face special health challenges. Many of
the very old lose their ability to live independently
because of limited mobility, frailty or other physical
or mental health problems and require some form
of long-term care. Early on, in the beginning of the
millennium, it became clear in the USA that about
20% of adults aged 55 and over suffer from a mental
disorder (5). Subsequently, global statistics showed
this to be an almost universal problem (6). Mental
health problems of older adults are under-identified
by health care professionals and older people themselves,
and older people are often reluctant to seek
help.