This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

CMH5005 - Mental health of the elderly

6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Postgraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Organisational Unit

School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health

Coordinator(s)

Dr Chris Plakiotis

Offered

Clayton

First semester 2016 (Off-campus)
Second semester 2016 (Off-campus)

Synopsis

This unit encompasses a broad range of topics within the area of aged mental health, including depression, anxiety, dementia, delirium, delusional disorders as well as other conditions. The central elements to psychiatric assessment are covered including presentation and history taking, symptom recognition, cognitive and neuropsychological testing as well as treatment and management principles. Various case scenarios provide examples of key issues that can arise, the course of an illness as well as the application of appropriate therapeutic strategies. This unit also draws attention to aspects of successful ageing, as well as indigenous mental health, service delivery, psychopharmacology and protection issues surrounding the vulnerable elderly person.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

Demonstrate a basic understading of aged mental health;
Demonstrate a knowledge of recent developments in this area;
Identify service delivery, examining treatments and management issues in the mental health of the elderly; and
Demonstrate an understanding of research findings in the literature.

Assessment

Participation in a minimum of 5 x Moodle discussions (Hurdle)
Essay (3,000 words) (45%)
Applied learning exercise (3,000 words) (45%)
On-campus workshop / Alternative assessment (10%)

All assessments must be passed to pass the unit.

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Graham Meadows

Off-campus attendance requirements

Two day on campus workshop.