Book Reviews: Beyond the Water Towers: The Unfinished Revolution in Mental Health Services 1985-2005

BEYOND THE WATER TOWERS: THE UNFINISHED REVOLUTION IN
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 1985-2005
Andy Bell and Peter Lindley (eds), The Sainsbury Centre for Mental
Health
ISBN 1870480643, £10

STAR RATING: 3/5

Mental health care has been transformed in the past 20 years.
Drawing on the contributions of experts from several fields, this
book charts this transformation, examines some of the challenges
facing mental health services today and discusses ways in which
they may be resolved, writes Elaine
Argyle.

In doing so it highlights the way in which the transition to
community-based services has increased the significance of social
factors in the lives of service users and the problems of stigma,
discrimination and inequality that can arise from this; problems
which practitioners are often ill-equipped to tackle.

Similarly, it argues that the broadening remit of mental health
services to incorporate prevention as well as cure has led to the
need to create a balance between these potentially conflicting
roles.

While the detailed coverage of its subject matter is likely to
limit its appeal to those with an in-depth interest in mental
health policy and practice, for those with such an interest, this
reasonably priced and authoritative book will be an invaluable
resource.

Elaine Argyle is Economic and Social Research Council
postdoctoral research fellow, University of Sheffield