Attitudes to ageing amongst health care professionals: a qualitative systematic review.

Objectives: Older adults utilising healthcare may be vulnerable to systemic bias regarding ageing potentially affecting care. Primary aim is to systematically review the qualitative literature examining attitudes to ageing amongst health care professionals (HCPs). Secondary aim is to describe and compare attitudes to ageing between different professional groups.

A narrative literature review: the application of video games as therapeutic tools for psychological therapy.

Objectives: Video games (games played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer programme on a screen) are being developed with a specific focus on treating mental health. This narrative review briefly discusses the history of video games and mental health. It then provides a critical discussion on the application of video games as therapeutic tools, then discusses the notion of 'serious games' ( designed for a primary purpose other than entertainment) and their applicability.

Carer Appraisal Scale: Second Edition of a Novel Carer-Based Outcome Measure.

Carers are known to have valuable information regarding patient functioning. It has been repeatedly cited that failure of communication between mental health services and the carers of patients is related to critical incidents and failures in patient care. Despite this, there are no structured interventions for carers to participate in patient care, let alone assist with measuring patient progress.

The role of psychodynamic psychotherapy for the older adult - two contrasting cases.

Objective: To outline the successful psychotherapeutic intervention of two older patients.

Conclusion: Psychodynamic principles should be considered more readily in the treatment of older people.

Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy: a brief history.

Objective: To discuss the development and rationale for different models of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Conclusion: There are a variety of historical reasons for the current climate of short-term dynamic therapies that can help inform upon their application and future directions.

Attitudes to ageing: an overview of Australian perspectives of health support systems for the older person.

Objectives: Older adults utilise health care systems to a higher frequency than younger groups, and are more vulnerable to system bias regarding ageing and expectations of old age. This narrative review attempts to outline the available literature regarding how various health support systems perceive the older adult, with an Australian focus.

Conclusions: Perspectives on ageing are generally negative regardless of health industry.

Carer Appraisal Scale: A Pilot Study of a Novel Carer-Based Assessment of Patient Functioning.

Measurement of patient outcomes is an integral part of mental health service evaluation, as well as guiding clinical practice to ensure best outcomes for patients. Moreover, carers have long held a need for a voice in care outcomes. Despite there existing numerous tools for quantifying patient functioning based on clinician assessments or self-reports, there is a serious paucity of tools available for the carers of patients to appraise their functioning.

Out, out, damned blind spot! The problem of anxiety with dynamic psychotherapy.

Objectives: This article discusses Lady Macbeth's famous sleepwalking scene from the Shakespearean tragedy, and how it became used as a template for the formulation of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Conclusions: Psychoanalysis maintained its role in understanding the condition, despite the lack of evidence base and the repeated finding from many therapists of a failure to control symptomatology. It is suggested that psychodynamic psychotherapy suffered from a failure to recognise what components of its practice were aesthetically attractive concepts rather than evidence-based medicine and outcome measures, and is an important issue in considering its future directions.

Psychotherapy and the older person.

Objective: This article aims to provide a brief overview of the current evidence for psychotherapeutic approaches in older adults, together with clinical practice notes for interventions.

Conclusion: There are a range of appropriate psychotherapeutic options for the older adult that merit further study, and further opportunities for enhancing clinical practice.

Personality disorders in geriatric inpatients in a tertiary hospital.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of personality disorders in general medical geriatric admissions.

Methods: Forty of 508 general medical geriatric admissions screened at a large tertiary hospital, who were eligible as defined by a Mini-Mental State Examination score of over 23 and capable of informed consent, were assessed by direct interview and discussion with the patient's family or close contact to determine personality traits.

Results: Eight (20%) of these patients were found to satisfy DSM-IV criteria for a personality disorder.