Author Description

Just as demographic studies of the human population reveal a steep increase in the number of people living to a very old age, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of people residing in nursing homes. The majority of these residents are suffering from mental or neurobehavioral illnesses and are in need of physicians qualified to deal with the scope of geriatric psychiatry.This book presents a comprehensive survey of the present state of knowledge about psychiatric illness in the long-term care setting. Recognized experts in geriatrics and geriatric psychiatry provide practical recommendations for the evaluation and treatment of psychiatric disorders that complicate the care of nursing home residents. Among the topics covered in detail are the phenomenology, diagnosis, and therapy of depression, anxiety, agitation, sexual dysfunction, sleep disorders, substance abuse, and psychosis. Modern strategies for successful psychopharmacologic and psychotherapeutic measures are examined in detail, and special considerations related to dementia and delirium in the nursing home setting are discussed. Complementing these clinical guidelines are chapters specifically devoted to ethical and medicolegal issues, as well as the special needs of nursing home residents with mental retardation. All professionals in the geriatric mental health field, including internists, family practitioners, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, gerontologists, and social workers, will find this book invaluable.