Mental Health Across the Lifespan ─ A Handbook

Mental wellbeing is an integral part of being, and feeling, healthy, and it is estimated that one in four people will suffer from some form of mental illness during their lifetime. In spite of this, it is often overlooked in mainstream healthcare. The overall aim of this book is to provide knowledge and understanding of how mental health affects human beings from conception through to end-of-life, and the challenges that society as a whole has to address in the treatment of mental health.

Beginning with an exploration of historical, social and cultural contexts, the book then goes on to discuss mental health care, and mental health promotion, during pregnancy and early parenthood, childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, adulthood for both men and women, and in older people. Containing reflective exercises, the chapters are designed to provide an easily-accessible and engagingly-written introduction to mental health.

Containing chapters that can be read and reviewed in isolation, or used as an entire text,Mental Health Across the Lifespan: A Handbook provides a solid introduction to mental health for students. The book will also act as a useful reference for doctors, nurses, midwives, health visitors, allied health professionals, and health and social care support workers who have no specialist mental health training but often work in partnership with, and care for, people suffering from mental health issues.

Mary Steen is the Professor of Midwifery at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Division of Health Sciences, University of South Australia (UniSA). She is the Chair of the Mothers, Babies & Families Research Group and facilitates the promotion of research and scholarly activities both nationally and internationally. She has previously been a Professor of Midwifery in the UK and holds visiting professorships at the University of Chester, UK and Port Harcourt University, Nigeria.She has a vast amount of nursing and midwifery clinical experience in both hospital and community settings. She is interested in a wide remit of maternal and family health issues and this has led her to undertake several service development projects and research studies with the overall aim to improve the care and services for women, partners and their families. She has a special interest in maternal mental health and wellbeing. She has published her work widely and has written numerous articles, edited and contributed to a variety of books. She is the editor of another Routledge Book, titled, Supporting women to give birth at home: a practical guide for Midwives. Mary has received several awards for clinical innovation, original research and outstanding services to midwifery.

Mike Thomas is the interim Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Organizational Leadership at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England. He was previously the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Eating Disorders at the University of Chester and has held professorships in eating disorders and mental health at two previous universities. Mike has over thirty-three years’ experience of clinical practice and continues to run his own community-based clinic for severe and enduring eating disorders and is also a specialists in mental health trauma and general mental health conditions. He co-developed the Centre for Veterans Wellbeing in the North-West of England and was the founder of the College for Veterans and Uniformed Services which promotes wellbeing, purposefulness and good mental health for uniformed services and their families. His more recent research interests is in leadership and the application of kindness during uncertainty and he currently supervises twelve doctoral students. Mike has published widely in the field of mental health and continues to present papers across the world. He has been the recipients of many awards for distinguished scholarship, supporting veterans and his work with vulnerable individuals.