BJSW Advance Access published online on April 9, 2009
British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcp042
Mental Health and Older Women: The Challenges for Social Perspectives and Community Capacity Building
Barbara Fawcett is Professor of Social Work and Policy Studies at the University of Sydney. Prior to this, she was Head of the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Bradford, UK. Dr Jill Reynolds is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health & Social Care at The Open University (UK), with research and teaching interests in mental health and in managing care. This article is the result of collaboration made possible by Jill Reynolds spending time at the University of Sydney as a Visiting Scholar in 2008. There is no funding source.
Correspondence to Professor Barbara Fawcett, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney. Email: B.Fawcett{at}edfac.usyd.edu.au
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Abstract |
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Older women tend to be either rendered invisible in relation to considerations of mental health or, conversely, constructed as potential mental health problems. In this article, we draw attention to the position of older women with regard to current debates in the mental health field. It is argued that, within the UK and Australia, the prioritization of the management of risk and what an older woman cannot do rather than what she can adversely affects not only her mental well-being, but also the contribution that she can make to the community in which she lives. We argue that the fostering of strengths-based community capacity building, which includes proactive, innovative and flexible underpinning practice principles, has the capacity to expand rather than reduce horizons for older women, to confront restrictive and discriminatory barriers and to enhance quality-of-life factors.
Keywords: mental health, older women, community capacity building, strengths based approach