This welcome new addition to the field is bravely published in the same year that two of the main heavyweight contenders have published new editions (Jacoby et al., Reference Jacoby, Opponheimer, Dening and Thomas2008; Woods and Clare, Reference Woods and Clare2008) and is much more reasonably priced. It is multi-authored and written, in the main, by leaders in their field. The first part begins with three chapters setting the context, the first of which is an overview of lifespan developmental perspectives and intellectual changes by Schaie. Then follows an excellent chapter by Woods on normal and abnormal ageing and an update of Knight's (Reference Knight1996) contextual/cohort based model of psychotherapy to include the consideration of the needs and presentations of people from minority ethnic backgrounds.
The following three parts are about psychotherapy treatment approaches, assessment and treatment of common emotional disorders (i.e. depression, anxiety, insomnia and bereavement) and special problems (including suicide, issues with stroke and Parkinson's disease and caregiver distress). In these latter three parts there is a wide range of, and differing levels of, content between chapters.
Some chapters give an excellent overview of the area and of recent developments, present clear guidelines on assessment and treatment, and then outline future challenges – most notably, the chapters on cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), insomnia, bereavement, suicide, and continuing psychosocial intervention as a function of memory clinics. Some chapters state they are not going to give another review of the area – instead they refer the reader to recent comprehensive reviews and give a clear and interesting overview of the current challenges facing that particular area (e.g. intervention with distressed caregivers). Inevitably there is some repetition and overlap between chapters and unfortunately some authors do tend to focus on their own work rather than give an overview of the particular area. These chapters would benefit from expansion to include such an overview and the range of interventions and different modalities of interventions available. There was some bias towards CBT interventions, and even the recommended family therapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy interventions had a CBT feel to them. However, this is perhaps not surprising at a time when CBT is in its ascendancy, especially in the U.K.
Possible shortcomings are that, for a handbook, it was not as comprehensive as it could have been and that some of the repetition and overlap could have been avoided. In addition, apart from the contributions by Woods, Logsdon et al. and Moniz-Cooks, diagnoses of dementia have a rather low profile in this volume, with only two chapters directly relating to it and two others more obliquely via “caregivers.” Also, I could find no mention of cholinesterase inhibitors – their strengths or weaknesses. However, there are many chapters which are outstanding, helpful and timely additions, and these will be of interest and useful to all professionals working in general health and mental health settings with older people.
