We are on the verge of a crisis in mental health. Over the next 30 years the number of chronically mentally ill people 55 years of age and older will double. With multiple disorders relating to mental illness and old age, these people will require unique services from a health care system that is ill prepared to deliver them. Schizophrenia Into Later Life: Treatment, Research, and Policy is the first major multidisciplinary reference on this important topicAa landmark work for researchers, service providers, and policy makers. Broad in scope, it discusses the demographic and clinical characteristics of older schizophrenic persons, details treatment approaches, suggests research strategies, and covers the relevant economic and health policy issues. -Unique. The most up-to-date, comprehensive source of information on this understudied group will help community psychiatrists, gerontologists, psychologists, policy makers, and social scientists meet a growing demand for services. -Multidisciplinary. Contributors have backgrounds in both aging and in biological psychiatry, social psychiatry, sociology, anthropology, social work, psychology, and neuropsychology to help professionals plan and deliver integrated services for the best outcome. -Comprehensive. Will serve as the key resource on the subject of schizophrenia in older people, covering epidemiology, biological aspects, psychosocial features, clinical care, and public policy. Today there is a distressing lack of age-appropriate clinical, rehabilitative, or residential programs for older patients with chronic mental illness. Schizophrenia in Later Life: Treatment, Research, and Policy will guide researchers, service providers, and policy makers in creating innovative new programs to help this underserved and growing population.
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Introduction. Part I: Epidemiology, Historical Background, Illness Phenomenology, and Diagnostic Issues. Patterns of care for persons age 65 years and older with schizophrenia. Changes in schizophrenia across time: paradox, patterns, and predictors. A comparison of early- and late-onset schizophrenia. Differential diagnosis of psychotic disorders in the elderly. Part II: Biological and Medical Aspects. Biological changes in older adults with schizophrenia. Cognitive functioning in late-life schizophrenia: course and correlates. Medical comorbidity in older persons with schizophrenia. Part III: Gender and Sociocultural Aspects. Gender differences in schizophrenia across the lifespan. Social vicissitudes of schizophrenia in later life. Part IV: Treatment and Service Issues. What are the service needs of aging people with schizophrenia? Use of novel antipsychotics in older patients with schizophrenia. Community-based treatment of schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses. Biobehavioral treatment and rehabilitation for older adults with schizophrenia. Changing caregiving needs as persons with schizophrenia grow older. Mental health policy and financing of services for older adults with severe mental illness. Part V: Future Directions. Toward the development of theory and research in aging and schizophrenia. Index.
