Psychiatric service delivery for older people in hospital and residential aged care: An updated systematic review.

To review studies reporting on the effectiveness of psychiatry service delivery for older people and people with dementia in hospital and residential aged care. A systematic search of four databases was conducted to obtain peer-reviewed literature reporting original research published since June 2004 evaluating a psychiatry service for older people (aged 60 years and over) or people with dementia in inpatient or residential aged care settings. From the 38 included studies, there was consistent low-to-moderate quality evidence supporting the effectiveness of inpatient older persons' mental health wards ( The scarcity of high-quality studies examining the effectiveness of old age psychiatry services leaves providers and policy-makers to rely on low-quality evidence when designing services. Future research should consider carefully which outcomes to include, given that staff skill and confidence, length of stay, recommendation uptake, patient- and family-reported experiences, and negative outcomes (i.e. injuries, property damage) are as important as clinical outcomes.