This book is a practical resource that will support the delivery of holistic mental health interventions in the primary and community care setting for older people. Primary care delivery is discussed in relation to both functional mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, and psychotic and personality disorders, and acquired organic mental disorders of old age, such as dementia, cognitive impairments, and delirium. Careful consideration is paid to the complex relationship between mental and somatic health problems, as well as the impacts of multimorbidity and polypharmacy. Further topics include, for example, epidemiology, wider determinants of health, different care models, history taking, neurocognitive and capacity assessment, and pharmacological, psychological, and physical interventions.

The wider goals of the book are to support the development of community resilience and self-care in older people; to promote universal access and equity for older people in order to enable them to achieve or recover the highest attainable standard of health, regardless of age, gender, or social position; and to promote pathways to care for older people with mental health problems respecting their autonomy, independence, human rights, and the importance of the life-course approach. This book will be an invaluable resource for all professionals who work with older adults with mental health problems and those training in these fields including physicians, psychiatrists, family doctors, geriatricians, general practitioners, nurses, psychologists, neurologists, occupational therapists, social workers, support workers and community health and social care workers.

Part I: Aims and Concept

Epidemiology and the scale of the problem
Wider determinants of health
Part II: Health promotion and self-care
Frailty
Stepped care, integrated care, collaborative care and skill mix
Part III: History taking and assessment
Neurocognitive assessment
Capacity assessment
Making the formulation
Ethics of care in older adults (to include advance directives and end of life care)
Part IV: Pharmacological interventions in older adults
Psychological interventions in older adults
Physical interventions in older adults
Part V: Social Interventions in Older adults
Part VI: Anxiety disorder in older adults
Bereavement in older adults
Bodily distress syndrome in older adults
Depressive disorders in older adults
Suicide in older adults
Psychosis in older adults
Substance misuse in older adults
Sexual disorder in older adults
Part VII: Delirium in older adults
Neurocognitive disorders in older adults: Alzheimer's disease
Vascular dementia
Lewy body dementia
Frontal lobe disorder
Prion diseases
Dementia secondary to infective disorder
Part VIII: Comorbidity and  multimorbidity including stepped care & skill mix
Psychosocial rehabilitation and the importance of a multidisciplinary approach
Part IX: End of life care in older adults
Case studies in system redesign: High-income country
Medium-income country
Low-income country.