To flee, or not to flee, that is the question for older asylum seekers

As psychiatrists, we assess, diagnose, and manage psychiatric problems in older adults. We also have an important role as their advocates and in promoting positive attitudes toward this group. Only in the 1950s was there increasing recognition that older age did not necessarily equate to senility, that treatment of psychiatric disorders in this group was possible, and could have good outcomes (Roth, 1955). There is, however, still an undercurrent of pervasive negative attitudes toward the elderly, and their psychiatric needs continue to be marginalized, with less attention from the media, funding bodies, and even from our medical and surgical colleagues (Penson et al., 2004).