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Susan M. Benbow
(United Kingdom), Board of Directors
Dr. Benbow’s psychiatry training was in
North West England where she took up her
first consultant post at Manchester Royal
Infirmary in 1984. She then trained as a
systemic therapist at the Cardiff Family
Institute and has practised family therapy
since gaining her Diploma in Family Therapy.
Dr. Benbow is currently a Consultant
Psychiatrist (Old Age Psychiatry) in
Wolverhampton City PCT from 2001 (formerly
Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist in Central
Manchester from 1984-2001); and since 2005 a
Professor of Mental Health & Ageing at
Staffordshire University.
She gained experience while working with the
Department of Health as a member of the
Standing Medical Advisory Committee. This
was the start of a continuing effort to
understand the workings of government and
how to influence change.
From 2003-2006 she was seconded part-time as
National Institute for Mental Health England
Fellow in Ageing & Mental Health and has
been a leader at the national level for the
development of a programme of work in the
field of older people’s mental health. Dr.
Benbow was part of the editorial group that
developed Everybody’s Business, a document
setting out policy for older people’s mental
health which was launched in 2005 by the
Department of Health and she has contributed
to other national initiatives.
From 2002-2006 Dr. Benbow was Chair of the
Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry at the Royal
College of Psychiatrists, an elected
position at the national level. She chaired
a working group which published a report,
Raising the Standard (http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/PDF/RaisingtheStandardOAPwebsite.pdf),
about older people’s mental health services
and, in 2006, was elected to the Royal
College of Psychiatrists Central Executive
Committee.
Dr. Benbow regularly reviews books and
papers for a wide range of journals and is
frequently invited to present at regional,
national and international meetings. She is
currently an Associate Editor for International
Psychogeriatrics, IPA’s peer-reviewed
journal.
Her university work is based at the Centre
for Ageing and Mental Health at
Staffordshire University, where she is a
partner / clinical advisor to a number of
grant-funded research projects, and is the
clinical lead for the West Midlands Older
People’s Mental Health Collaborative. Dr.
Benbow is also part of a team which has
developed a Masters course in Ageing and
Mental Health, and leads a module on
assessment and care planning, which she is
currently converting into a distance
learning course. In addition, Dr. Benbow is
leading an innovative initiative (supported
by a grant from the Higher Education
Academy) to develop a module on user and
carer experience.
Dr. Benbow’s published output consists of
more than 50 peer-reviewed papers, and
nearly 20 chapters, on four major themes:
(i) Clinical / service studies: many
of which are based on her experience as
an NHS consultant and in in-service
development in older people’s mental
health.
(ii) Electro-convulsive therapy: one of
her early areas of interest; Dr. Benbow
is regarded as an authority on its use
in older people.
(iii) Family therapy: this is an ongoing
interest for Dr. Benbow, which, in turn,
has led to local service development and
a series of publications.
(iv) Stress and burnout in old age
psychiatry: this ties in with her work
at the Royal College of Psychiatrists on
training and workforce planning.
Dr. Benbow has been active in IPA since
1993 and was elected to the Board of
Directors in 2007. She can be reached at
drsmbenbow@aol.com.
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