The Oxford Handbook of Clinical Geropsychology

Throughout the world, the population of older adults continues to grow. The rise in geriatric populations has seen an increase in research on clinical diagnostic, assessment, and treatment issues aimed at this population. Clinical geropsychologists have increased their interest both in providing mental health services as well as developing approaches to improve quality of life for all older adults.

The Oxford Handbook of Clinical Geropsychology is a landmark publication in this field, providing broad and authoritative coverage of the research and practice issues in clinical geropsychology today, as well as innovations expanding the field’s horizons. Comprising chapters from the foremost scholars in clinical geropsychology from around the world, the handbook captures the global proliferation of activity in this field.

In addition to core sections on topics such as sources of psychological distress, assessment, diagnosis, and intervention, the handbook includes valuable chapters devoted to methodological issues such as longitudinal studies and meta-analyses in the field, as well as new and emerging issues such as technological innovations and social media use in older populations. Each chapter offers a review of the most pertinent international literature, outlining current issues as well as important cultural implications and key practice issues where relevant, and identifying possibilities for future research and policy applications.

The book is essential to all psychology researchers, practitioners, educators, and students with an interest in the mental health of older adults. In addition, health professionals - including psychiatrists, social workers, mental health nurses, and trainee geriatric mental heatlh workers - will find this a invaluable resource.

Older adults comprise a growing percentage of the population worldwide. Clinical psychologists with an interest in older populations have increased the amount of research and applied knowledge about effectively improving mental health later in life, and this book captures that information on an international level. The book addresses how to diagnose, assess and treat mental illness in older persons, as well as ways to improve quality of life in all older persons. It has a great breadth of coverage of the area, including chapters spanning how research is conducted to how new technologies such as virtual reality and social media are used with older people to improve mental health. The book would appeal to all psychology researchers, practitioners, educators and students with an interest in the mental health of older adults. It would also appeal to other health professionals, including psychiatrists, social workers, and mental health nurses who work with older people. It is a valuable resource for trainee geriatric mental health workers because it highlights key readings and important practice implications in the field.

Nancy A. Pachana, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD, Australia, Ken Laidlaw, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Programme Director ClinPsyD and Head of Department of Clinical Psychology, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, UK

Nancy A. Pachana, PhD is Professor of Clinical Psychology and co-director of the Ageing Mind Initiative at The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Dr. Pachana’s research and clinical work focuses broadly in the area of geriatric mental health, particularly late-life anxiety disorders. She co-developed the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI), a published short self-report inventory in wide clinical and research use globally, and translated into over two dozen languages. Her other research interests include novel empirical interventions in residential aged care and for caregivers, measurement of cognitive decline, and general health and well-being in later life. She has published 160+ original articles in peer-reviewed international journals, including 23 book chapters, and 1 authored and 3 edited books. Dr. Pachana mentors graduate and undergraduate student research and teaches courses on clinical geropsychology and leadership and clinical skills at her university.

Professor Laidlaw qualified as a clinical psychologist in 1995. In 1999 he was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship and travelled to the US to meet experts in CBT. From 1999 to 2000 he was invited to spend a year at University of Pennsylvania (PENN) in Philadelphia with Aaron T. Beck. In 2006 he completed his PhD part-time while working academically and clinically. Ken has always maintained a strong clinical commitment in the past and was professional lead for an older adults service in Edinburgh prior to his appointment at UEA. He was the Principal Investigator on the first UK RCT of CBT for late Life depression published in 2008. His manual for this trial has subsequently been used in other clinical trials. He also led the development of the creation of a cross-cultural Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ), that was pilot and field trialled in 20 countries worldwide. His conceptualization framework for CBT with older people is part of the IAPT curriculum materials for HI IAPT workers.