New book aims to help address the issue of long term care and older people

A new book co-edited by Dr Alisoun Milne, Reader in Social Gerontology and Social Work at the University of Kent's School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, aims to help address the issue of long term care and older people.

Combining clinical and research perspectives, the book - titled Mental Health and Care Homes (Oxford University Press) - offers a coherent and evidence based text exploring current issues. Contributors include residents, family carers, staff, researchers and clinicians. 

The book has four sections: 'the inside view' which includes several first-hand accounts of care home life; 'the outside view' which discusses the regulatory, funding and legislative context in which care homes operate; 'mental health and care', a detailed review of the major mental and other health issues that arise in care homes, as well as interventions and services to offer support; and a section exploring the 'promotion of health and wellbeing' including examples of good practice. It concludes by synthesising key themes and setting an agenda for further enquiry.

Dr Milne, who has worked at the University of Kent for over 15 years and has a background in social work, said: 'The care home sector is large, with over 400,000 residents in the UK. It is  an area of great social and economic importance. Care home residents are often very old and many have multiple physical and mental health needs. This means that their care poses particular challenges. They are a profoundly marginalised group who are often invisible in the wider debate on quality of care.'

Dr Milne also explained that the provision of good quality long term care needs to be recognised as complex, skilled and important work and care home residents as individuals with rights to personalised, sensitive care delivered in a way that encourages involvement with daily life and meaningful relationships. 'After all, it is likely that most of us either have an elderly relative who may need long term care or we may need it ourselves one day,' she said.