As an old age psychiatrist trained in conventional medical and psychotherapeutic approaches to promoting mental health and treating mental illness in later life, the opportunity to review this book signalled the start of a journey into uncharted waters that has proven informative and enjoyable and greatly broadened my horizons.

This scholarly volume is divided into four parts. The first part usefully defines complementary, alternative and integrative medicine (CAIM) and its interface with the biology of aging and mental illness in older adults. The applicability of the familiar ‘Stages of Change’ model to the development and delivery of preventive interventions for multiple health-risk behaviours impacting on the aging process and severe mental illness in later life is also examined.

The second part looks at the promotion of wellbeing through a range of holistic interventions including herbs and spices, natural remedies and hormones, massage and movement therapies, chiropractic, homeopathy, Ayurveda, and integrative East-West medicine. The effects of cannabis in older adults are also examined.

Part three examines a range of stress-reducing interventions including plant adaptogens, mind-body techniques, yoga, breathing practices, spirituality-based interventions, hypnosis, and creative arts therapies. There are also chapters on accessing mental health resources through the internet and resilience-building interventions.

Part four examines the role of integrative interventions in preventing cognitive decline and dementia, as well as in treating mood and anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, pain (including arthritis and back pain), and cancer-related physical and behavioural symptoms. The role of integrative therapies in end-of-life care (in palliative care settings and residential aged care facilities) is then thoughtfully considered and the concluding chapter on therapeutic gardens and expressive therapies is particularly uplifting.

The editors have successfully assembled a distinguished group of authors who are international experts in their respective fields. As with any multi-author textbook, a range of styles and methodologies have been adopted in preparing different chapters. This variety serves to enhance rather than detract from the impact of this volume, mirroring the broad range of disciplines and interventions that are reviewed. Some authors have undertaken extensive, rigorous systematic reviews of their topics and summarised relevant studies in tabular form. Others have adopted a more narrative approach, describing the history and theoretical underpinnings of their respective therapeutic modalities. I found the interspersed case studies particularly helpful in understanding how CAIM interventions may be implemented alongside the conventional psychogeriatric treatment modalities with which I am familiar.

Some aged mental health practitioners from conventional healthcare disciplines, such as medicine, nursing and psychology, may wonder about the relevance of CAIM to their own practice. Understanding the nature, indications and efficacy of CAIM interventions is important for several reasons. First and foremost, patients are increasingly likely to turn to these methods whether or not they are prompted to do so by psychiatrists or other conventional mental health practitioners. Familiarity with CAIM allows psychiatrists to better respond to queries from patients, families and carers regarding the role of these modalities within the overall treatment plan and also identify potential interactions between psychotropic medications and natural remedies.

As a psychiatrist practicing in a multicultural society, a better understanding of non-Western systems of healing, such traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, is likely to promote improved communication with patients from backgrounds where these models of healthcare originate (or with Western patients who have embraced these approaches). While such systems of healing may resonate more than traditional Western medicine in the minds of some patients, any perception by patients of doctors as uniformed or unsympathetic in relation to these treatments may serve as a hindrance to their discussion in medical settings. This may ultimately impair a psychiatrist's ability to fully engage and manage patients using the widely touted and aspired to biopsychosocial framework.

Through its focus on the underlying biological mechanisms through which CAIM interventions (like conventional medical treatments) exert their actions in age-related mental illness, this book dispels the perception of a gulf between ‘non-chemical’ natural remedies and ‘artificial’ conventional medicines. The promise of greater apposition between conventional medicine and CAIM interventions is raised as both disciplines move forward in undertaking further research in their respective fields aimed at improving basic science knowledge and clinical applications.

Indeed, reflecting on the book's content has made me realise that old age psychiatry has already given much credence to the importance of non-medical approaches to promoting health and wellbeing among older adults with mental illness, such as emphasising the importance of regular exercise in an effort to prevent age-related cognitive decline, the use of ginkgo biloba to enhance cognitive function, or music therapy to help calm patients with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

This book has also challenged my traditional view regarding the composition of the multidisciplinary aged mental health team, as acquired through public sector psychiatry and largely limited to the disciplines of medicine, nursing, social work, occupational therapy and psychology. The possibility of a more diverse and extended team is raised, incorporating a range of CAIM practitioners both within hospital-based practice and beyond.

This book fills an important gap in the literature regarding the relevance of the entire spectrum of CAIM to aged mental health. The editors and authors are to be commended for bringing such a wide-ranging vision to fruition. This volume will find a useful place on the bookshelves of old age psychiatrists as they lead their speciality into the future by planning and implementing increasingly complex and multimodal healthcare interventions for older adults with mental illness. It will also prove useful to geriatricians and other conventional mental health practitioners, as well as CAIM practitioners who are seeking to understand how to apply their expertise to improving the health and wellbeing of older adults with mental disorders.

Beyond the clinical domain, the book offers sound guidance to researchers wishing to develop a future CAIM research agenda in aged mental health, and to policy makes seeking to understand how to best incorporate existing evidence into healthcare delivery models.

Finally, the book's authoritative yet engaging style will be appreciated by patients, families and carers as they seek to make informed decisions about an increasing and potentially bewildering array of available treatments for late-life mental illness.