Sect. 1. Mental health, old age and society. 1. The demography and mental health of elderly people. 2. Psychosocial approaches to ageing and mental health. 3. Biological approaches to ageing and mental health --Sect. 2. Understanding mental health problems in later life. 4. Developmental problems in later life. 5. Learning disability in later life. 6. Assessment of older people. 7. Anxiety in later life. 8. Depression and mania in later life. 9. Suicide in later life. 10. Acute and sub-acute confusional states (delirium) in later life. 11. Dementia. 12. Substance misuse in the elderly. 13. Schizophrenia in later life. 14. Struggling with services. 15. Mental health promotion in old age -- Sect. 3. Therapeutic intervention. 16. Counselling: maintaining mental health in older age. 17. Speech, language and communication. 18. Reducing challenging behaviour of elderly confused people: a behavioural perspective. 19. Cognitive therapy with older people
20. Reality orientation (RO) in the 1990s. 21. Beyond validation. 22. Approaches to reminiscence. 23. Pharmacological treatments and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) -- Sect. 4. The organisation of care for elderly people with mental health problems. 24. The development of service provision. 25. Supporting elderly people and informal carers at home. 26. Supporting paid carers. 27. Supporting residents in long-stay settings. 28. Legal and ethical issues in mental health care of elderly patients. 29. Reflections