European Psychiatry - Volume 33 - March 2016

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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.
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.
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.
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.