Commentary: Dignity of Older Persons with Mental Health Conditions: Why Should Clinicians Care?

Hideki Muramatsu ^*

• The Open University of Japan, Chiba, Japan

Banerjee et al. (1) have highlighted the importance of dignity as a central component of mental health care for the elderly. They have also emphasized the need for research addressing mental health interventions (including Dignity Therapy; DT), in the context of ageism, rights, respect, and equality. This paper builds on the work of Banerjee et al. (1) by introducing the culturally sensitive framework of flat recovery process (FRP) (2) into recovery-oriented and person-centered practices to further the dialogue regarding the necessity for service providers to consider and incorporate human dignity into the care of their clients. This paper is also an educational resource for mental health care professionals working with geriatric populations. This commentary serves as innovative material for fostering constructive discussions on human dignity through the lens of cultural diversity.An increasing proportion of the elderly experience mental illness, including chronic medical conditions, geriatric depression (3,4), anxiety (4), and poorer cognitive functioning (4, 5). Concepts such as independence, respect, autonomy, and rights are crucial for functional recovery and optimal management, most of which originate in Western paradigms (1). The need for a global paradigm of mental health care for the elderly that supports their universal human dignity is growing (1), in support of their dignity as universal dignity. Interventions such as DT, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 (6), may address this need.The definitions of ageism are broad and cover interdependent and distinct qualities from ableism (7). Disability is cast as a diminished state of being human (8) whereas ableism is discrimination against diminished human abilities. Furthermore, as ageing is associated with a change in mental and physical abilities, the connotations of being elderly tend to be negative (9). Accordingly, this study focuses on the non-able nature of ageism and ableism.To protect universal human dignity while respecting cultural diversity, the current article introduces 34 the concept a FRP for mental disorders (2), a framework to serve an educational (1)