Global Efforts Advance Human Rights Protections for Older Adults' Mental Health

The world's rapidly aging population presents a significant challenge to healthcare systems, bringing the mental health of older adults into sharp focus [1]. While clinical practice has well-established guidelines for many chronic conditions common in this demographic [2, 3, 4, 5], the specific human rights dimensions of geriatric mental health have been less defined. Systemic barriers such as stigma and insufficient mental health literacy, known to affect help-seeking across age groups, pose a particular threat to older adults [6]. For clinicians, understanding how to deliver care that is not only medically sound but also grounded in principles of dignity and human rights is becoming an essential component of modern practice.