Asia Pacific

The goals of the Asia Pacific Regional Initiative Forum include building a network of interested psychogeriatric professionals that identifies major geriatric mental health issues important to this region, working toward the organization of effective clinical, research, and educational programs.

There are unique challenges in the Asia Pacific region for the development of psychogeriatric services. Among them is the marked diversity of cultures and languages in the region. Even in individual countries, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, there are many different languages and cultures, and these conditions can create obstacles in establishing assessment tools, training service providers, making policies, and the implementation of services. In addition, technical barriers in accessing information can impede the development of psychogeriatric services, with the lack of efficient communications making psychogeriatric professionals in this area isolated.

The IPA Asia Pacific Regional Initiative Forum intends to overcome those challenges as a place for sharing, discussing, and interacting for the members of IPA who would like to devote their efforts to the welfare of older people in this region.