Although conceived prior to the recently completed review of the National Health Service (NHS) in England by Lord Darzi (Department of Health 2008), the aim and contents of this book make it a timely contribution to a hitherto neglected area. In this regard, it ticks the boxes of trying to raise the profile in the nursing profession of older people with mental health needs and also the policy priorities arising from Lord Darzi's review, including, for example, the importance of: improving mental health services; promoting high quality person-centred care, and involving family and other supporters in care planning and delivery.

Making its target audience students and practitioners that work in different settings and in various roles, it aims to focus on the knowledge and key skills required when working with older people who have actual or potential mental health needs. Whilst making nursing its raison d'être it nevertheless aims to embrace an inter-disciplinary focus where appropriate. Its contributors, all nationally and in some instances internationally recognised experts in the field, come from backgrounds in practice (for example Heide Baldwin, Gary Blatch, Sarah McGeorge and Tina Naldrett), education (for example Trevor Adams, Angela Cotter, Peter Draper, Steve Iliffe, Wilf McSherry, Tony Ryan and Irene Schofield) and research (Sue Davies, Jill Manthorpe and Roger Watson). They are all, therefore, well placed to provide a rounded perspective.

The book is logically organised in five parts. The first provides an overarching background. The second focuses on general strategies to help people with mental health needs, while the third discusses a number of previously neglected areas. The fourth focuses on some specific mental health issues and the final part suggests some future trends. Case studies are used throughout, although more frequently in some chapters than others, and some chapters are concluded by extremely helpful tables summarising the key knowledge and skills arising from the chapter discussions. To have placed these tables consistently at the end of each chapter would have emphasised the key messages contained in each chapter, and strengthened the ‘skills’ focus of the book.

In Part 1, the authors set the key challenges in providing effective nursing care for older people with mental health needs, including a historical emphasis on physical needs and the limited understanding of the full range of mental health issues that can affect older people. Person-centred and relationship-centred approaches are clear underpinning philosophies. ‘A current challenge for nursing must be to provide therapeutic, stimulating care that looks to maintaining psychological as well as physical well-being regardless of the care setting the older person is in’ (pp. 9–10). This sets up the book's intent. In Part 2, the seven chapters cover several topics that together might be loosely referred to as general strategies for helping older people with mental health needs. These include understanding the experiences of older age, informed by both social and physiological examinations of ageing, exploring the values underpinning approaches to care, examining legal and ethical frameworks, investigating some of the key dilemmas in mental health nursing and finally exploring the complexities of assessment. The last of these chapters was particularly informative.

The four chapters in Part 3 explore some previously neglected and perhaps contentious areas such as: culture, religion and spirituality; intimacy, sex and sexuality; nutrition; and palliative and end-of-life care. Raising the profile of these issues should promote greater understanding and therefore more sensitive and appropriate care. In Part 4, a number of specific mental health issues are explored, such as challenging behaviours, delirium, enduring mental health issues (schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and substance misuse), depression and dementia. Case studies are used in this section with particularly good effect. In the final part, the authors draw on recent policy initiatives to identify future trends in the field. The book sets out with an ambitious aim of enhancing both the knowledge and skills base required by nurses working with older people with mental health needs. Although it has a few limitations – the voice of the carer is, for example, under-developed and there could be a better balance between knowledge and skills acquisition – in my view, the book covers a vast range of topics relevant to both students and practitioners.