UBC Press Depression in Later Life book Paperback 160 pages

This accessible and authoritative book provides an invaluable guide to identifying, treating and preventing depression in later life.Jill Manthorpe and Steve Iliffe take a multidisciplinary approach and employ both medical and psycho-social models of depression. The medical model is used to identify symptoms, make diagnoses and work towards optimal treatment. Psycho-social perspectives provide insight into the scale and complexity of the condition and point to its social causes. The authors identify different levels of depression through in-depth analysis and consider the condition in relation to, but distinct from, dementia, psychosis and anxiety disorders, helping professionals to make the correct diagnosis. Supporting case studies show that depression, and the physical symptoms often linked to it, are amenable to treatment. The authors provide practical guidance for health and social care practitioners and suggest numerous coping strategies.This comprehensive book is essential reading for health and social care practitioners working with older people, their carers and families.

Jill Manthorpe is a professor of social work at King's College in London. She is also co-director of the Social Care Workforce Research Unit and has wide experience of work with older people, researching into areas such as adult protection, community care and mental health. She has published, edited and co-authored numerous texts on social work and mental health topics. Steve Iliffe is an academic general practitioner with an interest in physical and mental health in later life. He is Reader in general practice at both the Royal Free University College and London Medical School. Co-author of Health Care for Older People and Dementia and Primary Care (also published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers) he is also co-director of the Primary Care for Older People programme.