Abstract
This is an excellent text, for the first time bringing together the essential elements of community psychiatry. Thornicroft and Szmukler demonstrate their ability by truly ‘providing of my own only the string that ties them together’.
Community psychiatry has undergone major development over the past four decades with the move from institution-based care for the mentally ill to community-based care. The haphazard development of services has meant they do not always match the needs of people with mental illness. The challenge of developing community psychiatry and good mental health services is shared by many countries. Countries with health service structures as diverse as Italy, the UK, the US and Australia all share the problems of under-funding, the homeless mentally ill and neglect of the seriously mentally ill. This book carefully ties together the components of community psychiatry and for the first time presents a coherent and clear overview of this developing discipline.
While this book has a strong base in the research and practice of community psychiatry in the UK, it draws on experts from Australia and the US and provides a strong grounding in the discipline relevant to all countries. This is a difficult task as community psychiatry, by its nature, is reliant on the social and health system within which it exists.
The book covers a wide range of topics relating to the principles and practice of community psychiatry and does not shy away from the issue of patients and carers as partners and training for competence. The latter is essential for improved delivery of care. The problem, clearly outlined, is how to train and encourage staff to learn and use effective interventions.
Community psychiatry has witnessed many advances, including attention to the evidence base for intervention, a focus on community input into services and a strengthening of the relationship with the wider health agenda. Community psychiatry is truly a complex discipline and this textbook does well to capture the innovation and development in the field.