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Clinical guidelines in old age psychiatry

By A Burns, T Dening, and B Lawlor (Pp 208, £29.95). Published by Martin Dunitz, London, 2002. ISBN 1-84184-0297

Keywords: psychiatry; geriatrics

Do we really need a book on clinical guidelines for old age psychiatry? Read this book and I think you will agree with me the answer is yes! I suspect many clinicians, like myself, have an innate dislike of guidelines. They are perceived as constraining clinical freedom, are generally (inevitably) reductionist in their approach, and may be used as a stick with which to beat us. Furthermore, the provenance of some guidelines is dubious but once published they garner a mantle of authority that is difficult to neutralise.

This excellent book summarises 129 guidelines, statements, official reports, and policy documents on an enormous variety of issues including diagnostic criteria and treatment of most disorders an old age psychiatrist is likely to encounter, service standards, and legal and ethical issues. Some of the more interesting, and important, areas are genetic testing for Alzheimer's disease, advice on capacity and decision making, electronic . . . [Full text of this article]