A C L I N I C A L J O U R N A L O F T H E A M E R I C A N G E R I A T R I C S S O C I E T Y he psychiatric needs of older adults in residential care settings are significant. While increasing attention has been given to the mental health needs of elderly nursing home residents, other facilities, including assisted living facilities, board and care homes, and adult foster care programs, present ...

Large-scale genomic investigations have just begun to illuminate the molecular genetic contributions to major psychiatric illnesses, ranging from small-effect-size common variants to larger-effect-size rare mutations. The findings provide causal anchors from which to understand their neurobiological basis. Although these studies represent enormous success, they highlight major challenges reflec...

BACKGROUND Assessment of the health of men aged 60 and over in English and Welsh prisons. METHODS 203 men were interviewed from 15 prisons, comprising one-fifth of all sentenced men in this age group in England and Wales. Assessment included semi-structured interviews covering chronic and acute health problems, and recording of major illnesses from the medical notes and prison reception healt...

BACKGROUND Persons with long-term psychiatric disorders have greater deficits in living skills as well as greater problems in employment and relationship to their social environment. Thus, chronic psychiatric illnesses have psychosocial consequences such as disability and impaired quality of life (QOL) due to their symptomatology and chronic course. OBJECTIVES Assessment and comparison of dis...

Many of the current drug treatments in psy chiatry were discovered without any knowledge of the under lying ‘disease processes’ concerned. Theories of the mechanism of drug action were all devel oped post hoc and are predominantly concerned with mono amine neurotransmitter modulation. How­ ever, not all patients are treated successfully by these means and rates of full remission are frequently ...

Finding and maintaining competitive employment is a cornerstone of the recovery of many persons with severe psychiatric illnesses. Participation in supported employment programs, in which vocational and mental health services are fully integrated in the mental health service setting, has been found to significantly increase the likelihood that persons with severe psychiatric illnesses can obtai...

ôbjectivity, reliability and validity of examinations in psychiatry have always been one of the major concerns of experts in this discipline. recently, objective structured clinical examination (ôsçë) for its unique approach and by providing the requirements of psychiatric examinations has been a topic of interest. ïn ïran, an ôsçë has been replaced the individual patient assessment (ïpâ) for e...

The underlying causes of most mood and anxiety disorders remain unknown. There is a strong heritable component to psychiatric illnesses that, when coupled with environmental influences, results in increased vulnerability. Intensive research efforts have been expended to better characterize the genetic underpinnings of mental illness. However, most psychiatric disorders, including mood and anxie...

Psychosis, as the first presentation of thyrotoxicosis, is extremely rare. Consequently, it is often misdiagnosed as a primary psychiatric disorder, especially in developing countries with poor healthcare facilities. Owing to the high level of illiteracy and lack of knowledge, it is fairly common to ascribe many illnesses to spiritual attacks in Nigeria and other African countries, especially w...

Joint geriatric/psychiatric wards are a potential solution to improving care of older patients with both psychiatric and medical illnesses in acute hospitals. A literature search using Medline, PsycINFO, Embase and CINAHL between 1980 and 2010 was carried out for information about joint wards for older people. Thirteen relevant papers were identified. These wards share common characteristics an...