The first edition of this book was suggested by Tom Arie, Professor of
Health Care of the Elderly at the University of Nottingham. The seven
years since the first edition of this book have seen a revolution in the
way that Health Services in the United Kingdom are organized. One of the
original co-authors, Mike Church, has moved on through several NHS posts
to independent practice in the area of management consultancy. He has
been replaced by Carol Martin, a lecturer in the Psychology of Old Age
in our department. In addition to the changes in the NHS there has been
an explosion in the knowledge base of old age psychiatry, with several
journals now devoted to the subject. A new diagnostic classificatory
system (ICD10) has also been launched. In preparing this second edition,
we have tried to remain true to the spirit of the first edition, whilst
incorporating new knowledge and the changing context of our practice.
Throughout the text we have used the terms 'patient' and 'client'
interchangeably. The people we serve are the same whatever we call them!
We have also, generally, but not always referred to patients in the
female gender, since this reflects the fact that more women than men
survive into old age. We have ordered the book so that the basic
background information and skills in approaching the problems of old age
are dealt with first.
