Objective to understand the current situation of mental health service needs of the aged people in Jiaxing city, so as to explore the construction mode of mental health service system. Methods: a self-designed questionnaire was distributed to the aged people over 55 in 5 communities of Jiaxing city by random sampling. Results: 184 questionnaires were issued, returned 184, 174 were valid, the effective rate was 94.6%. 146 people (83.9%) did not receive/do not know what is psychological counseling. The primary choice of the aged people for psychological distress was to communicate with contemporary, while only 29 (16.7%) of the aged people sought help from medical staff. There was significant difference in the frequency of communication with medical staff among different educational levels (X2=38.898, P=0.001), and different educational levels in seeking help for psychological distress from medical staff (X2=9.633, P=0.022). Conclusions: the aged people have a poor understanding of mental health services, and they often digest for themselves or seek help from medical staff in psychological distress. In order to improve the mental health of the aged people, it is necessary to strengthen the publicity and raise the awareness of the mental health services among aged people.
