Mental health.

This book sets out to demystify primary mental health care. It looks at the major mental health problems encountered by doctors and community nurses in general practice, health centres and other primary care settings. It provides a down-to-earth guide for effectively meeting the needs of patients and clients and is based on both current research and practical experience. Written for primary care nurses this book will also be invaluable for health promotion officers, facilitators, FHSA advisers, GPs and anyone wishing to improve the primary care contribution to meeting the Health of the Nation mental illness targets.

A comprehensive guide to this emerging field, fully updated to cover clinical, policy, and practical issues with a user-centred approach.

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.

Psychiatric and Mental Health Essentials in Primary Care addresses key mental health concepts and strategies for time-pressured practitioners in various healthcare settings serving diverse populations. It offers theoretically sound and succinct guidelines for compassionate, efficient, and effective service to people in emotional and physical pain and distress, capturing the essentials of mental health care delivered by primary care providers. The text provides a theoretical overview, discussing mental health assessment, crisis care basics, alternative therapies, and vulnerable groups such as children, adolescents and older people. It includes chapters that focus on the following topics in Primary Care Practice: Suicide and Violence Anxiety Mood disorders Schizophrenia Substance Abuse Chronic illness and mental health. This invaluable text is designed for primary care providers in either graduate student or practice roles across a range of primary care practice, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Companion to Primary Care Mental Health is the result of a major collaboration of an international group of general practitioners, psychiatrists, policy-makers, mental health professionals and mental health advocates. This extraordinary guide provides the best available evidence for the management of patients with mental health conditions in primary care. It draws on the wisdom of a range of experts from primary and secondary care, who have translated information from the literature and their own clinical experience to apply it across the globe to everyday family practice. With the emphasis on practical application it presents family doctors and their teams with the evidence-based knowledge necessary to support the development of fully integrated systems to promote good mental health using tables and figures to illustrate complex matters. This includes the need to harness the wider determinants of health and mental health and to tackle stigma through advocacy, spirituality and ethical practice. The role of public health and the management of the many interfaces associated with providing good mental health are also covered. It includes tools for assessment, including classification and risk assessment, and the general principles required to enable a biopsychosocial approach to care. The book also considers the individual mental health conditions that family doctors and their teams are likely to encounter. As comorbidity and the management of complexity are very common in primary care mental health, these are also explored in the final chapters of the book.

This text helps general practitioners, health visitors and other professionals working in primary care to assess, manage and refer children and adolescents with mental health problems. It supports service provision in the new primary care environment.

Up to a third of patients obtaining primary care services are suffering from psychological problems and the primary health care team deals with the majority. In this volume, experts from a wide range of mental health care disciplines discuss issues ranging from primary prevention with identification of risk to early identification of problem symptoms and the effective management of long-term mental illness. With full reference to the current state of research, emphasis has been given to practical measures that can be readily utilized in the primary care setting. This handbook will serve as an invaluable resource for all those with interests in the protection and conservation of mental health.

This case-based book offers primary care practitioners support in managing older people with difficulties due to mental health problems, emphasising the importance of integrating health and social care. The full range of disorders is covered, including anxiety and depression, delirium, psychosis and the dementias. The discussion of anxiety and depression encompasses diagnosis and management, assessment of risk, evidence for both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, and models of care. Clear guidance is provided on the identification and management of symptoms of delirium and different forms of psychosis in older people. The coverage of the dementias includes presentation, initial management, risks to self and others, referral to specialist care and care of older people in residential and nursing homes. Each chapter is co-written by authors from different professional backgrounds and draws on up-to-date national and international research and guidelines. The book will assist greatly in the commissioning and delivery of evidence-based practice.