Launch of the new UAB-Fundació Hospitalàries Chair of Psychogeriatrics

The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Fundació Hospitalàries presented the UAB-Fundació Hospitalàries Chair of Psychogeriatrics, which was created to respond to the challenges of mental health in older people, in a context of exponential growth of the elderly population and the needs of care in this area of health. 

The creation of this chair is part of the urgent need to offer quality care to older people with mental disorders, who have insufficient and poorly integrated care resources, and a shortage of research in this population sector. It is the first of its kind in Catalonia, and in Spain only the University of Murcia has a similar chair in the field of gerontology; it is therefore a pioneering experience to promote Geriatric Psychiatry.

Generation of expert knowledge

The specific objective of the UAB - Fundació Hospitalàries Chair of Psychogeriatrics, promoted by the Department of Psychiatry and Medicine of the UAB and the Catalan centres belonging to the Fundació Hospitalàries, is to generate expert knowledge in Psychogeriatrics by promoting research, training, scientific collaboration, development and dissemination activities in this scientific field. In this sense, among the activities that will be carried out is the development of research programmes aimed at the mental health of older individuals, as well as the generation of knowledge and dissemination of it in its specific field of action. The chair will also participate in and promote cultural and educational activities (seminars, conferences, courses and lecture series) to disseminate advances in research and training. Teaching activities will be linked to the Master's Degree in Psychogeriatrics UAB - Fundació Hospitalàries Martorell, created in 1998.

The new chair will be directed by Dr Manel Sánchez, head of the Knowledge Management Area of the Fundació Hospitalàries Martorell, coordinator of the Geriatric Psychiatry Unit of this centre and director of the master's degree in Psychogeriatrics at the UAB. It will reinforce the commitment of both institutions to research and training in a field of great social relevance such as Psychogeriatrics, and in a context of paradigm shift.

On behalf of the UAB, the person who promoted the creation of the chair was Professor Antoni Bulbena, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine at the UAB and member of the Board of Trustees of the Fundació Hospitalàries. “The volume of people aged over 65 who suffer from a mental disorder represents a very large space that is still not covered today; therefore, from the University, we sought an institution that would be a reference for training and care in this area,” says Dr. Bulbena. “With the creation of this chair, we also intend to promote the much-needed creation of the speciality of geriatric psychiatry,” he adds.

Likewise, the Joint Commission that will monitor and evaluate the activities developed in the chair is composed of Dr Pedro Roy, head of care of the Fundació Hospitalàries in Catalonia, and Dr Diego Palao, director of the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Change of model towards a holistic social and health care 

The creation of the UAB - Fundació Hospitalàries Chair of Psychogeriatrics also represents a step forward in the change of model towards a more comprehensive social and health care, a transformation of the system that is already taking place in some regions and that will improve the quality of life of frail people, based on greater coordination and communication between the health and social intervention systems.

The proportion of people over 65 years of age (which will represent approximately 25% of the population of Catalonia in the near future) has a significant impact on social and health care, and on health spending and social resources, and is an important social determinant for families. Among the health problems, the role of mental disorders is a major problem. It is estimated that 12% to 14% of the older population in Spain suffer from some type of mental disorder. This proportion reaches 90% in elderly people admitted to nursing homes.

More than 25 years of teaching Psychogeriatrics and leaders in this field

“The launch of this chair is a unique opportunity to recognise the work done for many years by the current Fundació Hospitalàries Martorell, formerly Sagrat Cor Hospital, in favour of care and teaching in geriatric psychiatry, and to contribute from the academic field to increase clinical knowledge and scientific evidence in an area of mental health that has not stopped growing and that occupies an increasingly important place in day-to-day care,” says the director of the new Chair of Psychogeriatrics. In this sense, the Fundació Hospitalàries Martorell and the UAB launched more than 25 years ago a Master's Degree in Psychogeriatrics, which has already trained more than 600 professionals from all over the world.

At the same time, the Fundació Hospitalàries is a leader in the field of Psychogeriatrics in Spain, with an outstanding volume of care centres that offer this line of care with leading professionals in this field.

Presentation and conference

The presentation ceremony of the first Chair of Psychogeriatrics in Catalonia took place yesterday afternoon at the Fundació Hospitalàries Barcelona, and was attended by Pedro Roy, head of care of the Fundació Hospitalàries in Catalonia and member of the Joint Committee of the Chair; Diego Palao, director of the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB); Antoni Bulbena, professor emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine of the UAB and member of the Board of Trustees of the Fundació Hospitalàries; and Manel Sánchez, director of the Chair and head of the Knowledge Management Area of the Fundació Hospitalàries Martorell.

Dr Manuel Martín Carrasco, psychiatrist, president of the Board of Trustees of FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, and former president of the Spanish Society of Psychiatry, gave the lecture "Mental health and the elderly. An integral vision". The event was closed by Javier Lafuente, rector of the UAB, and Francisco del Olmo, corporate director of care and education of the Fundació Hospitalàries.