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S64

24th European Congress of Psychiatry / European Psychiatry 33S (2016) S56–S71

W25

The negative image of psychiatry in

the medical community

R.J. van der Gaag

University Medical Centre Nijmegen, Utrecht, Netherlands

It is a very unfortunate matter of fact that mental problems and

diseases are matter to societal stigmatization. In the slipstream

psychiatry has a negative image in the public eye. Fighting stigma

should be at the core of all professionals involved in mental health

care. Self-reflection should be a primary reaction of any psychia-

trist when confronted with a sensitive issue like stigmatization and

negative image. It is painful to realize that the negative image of

psychiatry is also present to the community to which psychiatrists

belong, namely themedical community. This is strange and hurting.

Psychiatrists (then closely linked to neurology) have, worldwide

strongly contributed to the birth and strengthening of medical

associations. Yet psychiatrists have estranged themselves from the

medical community, thus, in my view, contributing themselves

to stigma on patients with mental conditions and the negative

image of psychiatry. So time for action, starting by self-awareness

of psychiatrists that they are medical specialist, urging oneself as

a psychiatrist to behave as a medical specialist by relating to col-

leagues in a helpful way and keeping one’s ownmedical knowledge

and skills up to standards. Psychiatrists have so much to offer in

helping their colleagues in somatic medicine.

Disclosure of interest

The author has not supplied his declaration

of competing interest.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.959

Old age psychiatry – towards the future

W26

Training in old age psychiatry: The 30

countries’ perspective

M. Orrell

University of Nottingham, Institute of Mental Health, Nottingham,

United Kingdom

To improve the care of older people with mental health prob-

lems it is necessary to have a highly skilled workforce who is

very well-trained in the diagnosis and management of the range

of the psychiatric problems affecting older people including the

dementias. Key to this is the need to have an adequate num-

ber of specialists in geriatric psychiatry and a wider recognition

of geriatric psychiatry training across Europe including a broad

agreement on training requirements. In 2012 the European Asso-

ciation of Geriatric Psychiatry (Toot et al.) published the results

of a Europe wide survey on geriatric psychiatry training to scope

current practice and develop recommendations to begin a debate

on harmonization. Representatives from 30 out of 38 (79%) rep-

resentatives responded including many from countries where old

age psychiatry was not formally a specialty. Training programs

and duration varied between countries. Eleven countries reported

that they had geriatric psychiatry training programs and most of

these required geriatric psychiatry trainees to completemandatory

training for two years within old age psychiatry. Representatives

fromten countries reportedhaving specific Continuing Professional

Development (CPD) for old age psychiatrists at consultant level.

The recognition of geriatric psychiatry as a specialist discipline in

Europe is on the rise. The training procedures and processes in

place vary considerably between and sometimes within countries.

There are several options for harmonizing old age psychiatry train-

ing across Europe with advantages to each. However, support is

required from national old age psychiatry bodies across Europe

and an agreement needs to be reached on a training strategy

that encompasses supervision, development, and appraisal of the

knowledge and skills sets of old age psychiatrists. This workshop

will look at options for harmonization and take first steps towards

a consensus.

Disclosure of interest

The author has not supplied his declaration

of competing interest.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.960

W27

Harmonization of European training

R. Oude Voshaar

University Medical Center Groningen, Psychiatry, Groningen,

Netherlands

Mental health disorders, especially dementia, mood- and anxiety

disorders, are among themost prevalent diseases in later life. Due to

a greying European society, numbers are expected to increase over

the next decades. Consequently, there is a pressing need for well-

trained specialists in geriatric psychiatry across Europe in order to

meet the mental health needs and to deliver a high standard of

care to the aging population. In the past decades, some countries

have set up specific training programs for specializing in geriatric

psychiatry, whereas others did not. In order to stimulate the devel-

opment of high-quality services, harmonizing specialty training

across Europe will be a first step forward.

The EU stresses the need for standardizing qualifications of medical

professionals to enable them to work across the EU. This workshop

aims to work towards a consensus on the minimum training level

required for geriatric psychiatry. We state that being able to work

as an old age psychiatrist requires specific training in geriatric psy-

chiatry and old age over and above general training in psychiatry.

Therefore, discussion of opportunities to develop minimal criteria

for training and practice across Europe is crucial. Taken the dif-

ferences between countries into account (many countries do not

provide specific training in old age psychiatry), we should finally

agree on the minimal level of education and supervision, the min-

imum level of work experience and finally the minimal level of

supervision in peer groups as a starting point.

Disclosure of interest

The author has not supplied his declaration

of competing interest.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.961

W28

Old and new reasons for specialization

G. Stoppe

MentAge, MentAge Consulting, Practice, Research, Basel, Switzerland

Mental illness is one of the largest areas of activity in the health

service, with mental disorders of the elderly an important part of

it. This substantial ageing of the population is a new phenomenon,

occurring over the last century. It has given prominence to mental

illness in old age. There is a growing interest in making decisions

about how many and which services to provide to the older com-

munity.

The expertise of old age psychiatry services lies in the care and

treatment of people with complex mixtures of psychological, cog-

nitive, functional, behavioral, physical and social problems usually

relating to ageing. Current evidence suggests specialist old age ser-

vices are best equipped to diagnose and treat mental illness in our

ageing population. However, the specialists should be integrated

optimally into a service system to the benefit of the elderly. It will

be crucial to improve access of older patients to the services. The

service system and the partners in the system differ to those for

younger adult psychiatric patients. Thus, not only knowledge and

skills underline the necessity of specialization but also the increas-

ingly complex health service structures of modern societies.