UM-NUS Mental Health Across the Lifespan (PSYC90089)

The objective of this subject is for students to develop an understanding of mental health across different stages of the lifespan, from infancy through to older adulthood, with a particular focus on older age given the ageing population in Singapore and the pressing government-identified need for more support and services for the elderly. Two seminars will cover infancy, childhood, and adolescence focusing on developmental tasks of infancy, childhood and adolescence and their relationship to common presenting mental health, emotional and behavioural difficulties during this developmental period, the parent-child relationship and implications of better understanding development for engagement of children and families The remaining 5 lectures will address topics of clinical relevance to older adults. These will include life transitions, typical development and cognitive change in later life, theoretical models of ageing, models for psychological intervention with older adults and how intervention might be modified in light of maturational and contextual variables, and psychological intervention in people with dementia and their families.