Offers a look at the mental health and well being issues that affect adults in later life. Taking a holistic approach to mental health and mental health promotion, this book explores the debates around what is meant by mental health and mental illness and the wider social determinants of mental health.

Focusing on mental health rather than mental illness, this book adopts a lifecourse approach to understanding mental health and wellbeing in later life. Well-respected author and scholar Alisoun Milne explores the influences of lifecourse experiences, structural inequalities, socio-political context, history, gender and age related factors and engages with new ways of thinking about preventing mental ill health and promoting mental health in later life. Drawing together material from a number of different fields, the book analyses the meaning and determinants of mental health among older populations and offers a critical review of the lifecourse, ageing and mental health discourse for students, professionals, policy makers and researchers.

"This booklet offers commissioners an easy guide to services that promote good mental health and well-being in later life. It describes a broad range of examples of low-cost, high-impact services from around the regions, with a brief service description and contact details for each service. It offers clear and simple ideas for services that meet older people's needs and aspirations and the corresponding benefits. Service-user quotations bring to life ways in which mental health policy can be translated into positive, practical action. The guide will be a useful resource when planning preventive and personalised services for older people and will strengthen the commissioner's 'toolbox' of information." -- Introduction.

Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an individual's circumstances and perceptions. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that social isolation presents a major risk for premature mortality, comparable to other risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. As older adults are particularly high-volume and high-frequency users of the health care system, there is an opportunity for health care professionals to identify, prevent, and mitigate the adverse health impacts of social isolation and loneliness in older adults. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults summarizes the evidence base and explores how social isolation and loneliness affect health and quality of life in adults aged 50 and older, particularly among low income, underserved, and vulnerable populations. This report makes recommendations specifically for clinical settings of health care to identify those who suffer the resultant negative health impacts of social isolation and loneliness and target interventions to improve their social conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults considers clinical tools and methodologies, better education and training for the health care workforce, and dissemination and implementation that will be important for translating research into practice, especially as the evidence base for effective interventions continues to flourish.

To establish prevention of mental illness and promotion of mental health firmly in primary care many practical issues need to be addressed. Drawing on the extensive experience of outstanding, international authors, this unique volume presents an evaluation of action programs to date. It illustrates the significance of primary care in mental health promotion and the way in which it optimizes the resources of the community to serve best the wide range of mental health problems. No other volume covers the topics prevention of mental health illness and promotion of mental health in such detail, with descriptions of: * Universal strategies * Application in primary care * Guidelines for practice * Education of the primary care team and the community * Early identification-case findings and screening instruments * Specific areas for attention This book addresses a medical area that is experiencing rapid expansion and will, therefore, be of value to all academics and practising health and social care professionals in primary care.