Family therapy for older adults: a survey of professionals' attitudes

Faced with a limited number of referrals to a newly established family therapy team for older adults we conducted a survey of doctors', nurses' and social workers' views concerning the value and limitations of a family therapy approach to the problems of later life. The results suggested that, despite generally positive attitudes towards the idea of family therapy with older adults, there was a mixture of ignorance about the service in particular and the approach in general, as well as some reservation concerning the potential for change in the families of older adults. We describe some of the actions we took in the light of these findings.