Severe Domestic Squalor

John Snowdon is Clinical Professor at the Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, and Old Age Psychiatrist for Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia. Graeme Halliday is Senior Specialist in Psychiatry, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia. Sube Banerjee is Professor of Mental Health and Ageing, Section of Mental Health and Ageing, Health Service and Population Research Department, The Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.

• Preface; 1. Defining squalor and hoarding; 2. A review of the literature on squalor; 3. Hoarding: its relevance to severe domestic squalor; 4. Animal hoarding; 5. Assessment of squalor and hoarding; 6. Interventions in cases of squalor; 7. Use of the law when intervening in cases of squalor; 8. Guidelines for intervention; 9. Ethics of intervention; 10. There is much to be done; Appendix; Index.

'The authors, supported by four other specialists who have contributed to four of the book's ten chapters, have done a great service to health professionals, environmental health workers, community services providers, emergency services and a host of other staff who encounter people living in domestic squalor from time to time, by publishing this concise and well written text.' International Psychogeriatrics