Mental Health Literacy Among Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective Mental health literacy refers to people's knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders, their ability to recognize them, and their knowledge of help-seeking decisions. There is a lack of knowledge regarding health literacy in older adults in Turkiye. Aim The aim of current study is to measure the level of mental health literacy of older individuals and to create new grounds about the topic. Methods For this cross-sectional study, 163 cognitively healthy people aged ≥ 65 were included. Demographic characteristics form and “Mental Health Literacy Scale-TR" were used to collect data. Age, marital status, and education were identified as associated with mental health literacy. Results The mean age of participants was 70.71 ± 4.35. 41.7% of them were male and 8.6% of them had Bachelor's Degree. The mean score of Mental Health Literacy Scale-TR was 12.42 ± 3.68. Conclusion Mental health literacy level of older adults was moderate.The findings underscore the ongoing need for communities to support the development of mental health literacy skills among elderly individuals.Additionally, present study emphasizes the importance of further investigating mental health help-seeking behaviors, and the stigma surrounding mental health.