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A volunteer project for elderly people with mental health problems

United Medical and Dental School, Guy's Hospital, London

Hetty Kaanders, Clinical Psychologist

Lewisham and Guy's Mental Health Trust, London

June Moulton, Volunteer Coordinator and Support Worker

Community Team for Mental Health in the Elderly

Joe Herzberg, Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist and Honorary Senior Lecturer^*

Royal London Hospital (St Clement's), 2a Bow Road, London E3 4LL

^* Correspondence

A volunteer project for elderly people with severe mental health problems and social isolation was developed with close links with a community mental health team. The functioning of this service is described from 1988 — 1995. The volunteers benefited from training and supervision from the professional community team, while the volunteers took over the role of monitoring, allowing the earlier discharge of these patients by the community team.