Erlene Rosowsky - Böcker

It is with great pride that the Psychologists in Long Term Care (PLTC) have sponsored The Professional Educational Long-Term Care Training Manual, and now its second iteration, Geropsychology and Long Term Care: A Practitioner’s Guide. Education of psychologists working in long-term care settings is consistent with PLTC’s mission to assure the provision of high-quality psychological services for a neglected sector of the population, i.e., residents in nursing homes and assisted-living communities. To this end, direct training of generalist psychologists in the nuances of psychological care delivery in long-term care settings has been a major priority. It is a tribute to the accelerating nature of research in long-term care settings that a revision is now necessary. After all, the Professional Educational Training Manual’s initial publication date was only in 2001. However, in the intervening years, much progress has been made in addressing assessment and intervention strategies tailored to the needs of this frail but quite diverse population. It is so gratifying to be able to say that there is now a corpus of scientific knowledge to guide long-term care service delivery in long-term care settings.

The older adult population is booming in the United State and across the globe. With this boom comes an increase in the number of older adults who experience psychological disorders. Current estimates suggest that about 20% of older persons are diagnosable with a mental disorder: Personality disorders are among the most poorly understood, challenging, and frustrating of these disorders among older adults. This book is designed to provide scholarly and scientifically-based guidance about the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of personality disorders to health professionals, mental health professionals, and senior service professionals who encounter personality-disordered or "difficult" older adults.

As the average age of the population rises, mental health professionals have become increasingly aware of the critical importance of personality in mediating successful adaptation in later life. Personality disorders were once thought to "age out," and accordingly to have an inconsequential impact on the lives of the elderly. But recent clinical experience and studies underscore not only the prevalence of personality disorders in older people, but the pivotal roles they play in the onset, course, and treatment outcomes of other emotional and cognitive problems and physical problems as well. Clearly, mental health professionals must further develop research methods, assessment techniques, and intervention strategies targeting these disorders; and they must more effectively integrate what is being learned from advances in research and theory into clinical practice. Inspired by these needs, the editors have brought together a distinguished group of behavioral scientists and clinicians dedicated to understanding the interaction of personality and aging. Offering a rich array of theoretical perspectives (intrapsychic, interpersonal, neuropsychological, and systems), they summarize the empirical literature, present phenomenological case reports, and review psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and pharmacological treatment approaches. This comprehensive state-of-the-art guide will be welcomed by all those who must confront the complexity and the challenge of working with this population.

As the average age of the population rises, mental health professionals have become increasingly aware of the critical importance of personality in mediating successful adaptation in later life. Personality disorders were once thought to "age out," and accordingly to have an inconsequential impact on the lives of the elderly. But recent clinical experience and studies underscore not only the prevalence of personality disorders in older people, but the pivotal roles they play in the onset, course, and treatment outcomes of other emotional and cognitive problems and physical problems as well. Clearly, mental health professionals must further develop research methods, assessment techniques, and intervention strategies targeting these disorders; and they must more effectively integrate what is being learned from advances in research and theory into clinical practice. Inspired by these needs, the editors have brought together a distinguished group of behavioral scientists and clinicians dedicated to understanding the interaction of personality and aging. Offering a rich array of theoretical perspectives (intrapsychic, interpersonal, neuropsychological, and systems), they summarize the empirical literature, present phenomenological case reports, and review psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and pharmacological treatment approaches. This comprehensive state-of-the-art guide will be welcomed by all those who must confront the complexity and the challenge of working with this population.