Mental health disorders are a leading cause of disability and ill health, affecting an estimated 15% of older people worldwide. Depression, often accompanied by anxiety, affects an estimated 10% of the Irish population although it is often overlooked and undertreated in older people.

Furthermore, mental health problems are not equally distributed across society, with individuals from a lower socioeconomic position being at the greatest risk of poor mental health. Mental health problems place a huge demand on health and social care services, so there is an urgent need to identify cost-effective strategies to promote mental health and wellbeing in older people.

AIM4HEALTH explores the influence of nutrition, lifestyle, genetic and socioeconomic factors on mental health problems in older people. The team of researchers from the North and South of Ireland have used state-of-the-art scientific approaches, including Artificial Intelligence techniques to analyze data, to investigate risk factors contributing to depression and anxiety, and the dietary and lifestyle changes that should be implemented to help to improve mental health in older people.