Ajit Shah

Professor Ajit Shah joined the Institute for Philosophy, Diversity and Mental Health within the the then Centre for Ethnicity and Health on 1st April 2007 as Professor of Ageing, Ethnicity and Mental Health.  He also works as a Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry at the West London Mental Health NHS Trust in London. His research interests include elderly suicides, Mental Capacity Act, transcultural psychiatry for the elderly, behaviour disturbance in dementia, illicit drug use in the elderly, service deveveloments, health economics and senile squalor syndrome. He is the Deputy Editor of the Bulletin of the International Psychogeriatric Association and appointed member of the Board of International Affairs at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

His recents publications are listed below.

1. Transcultural and ethnic minority psychiatry

Shah AK (Editorial) Can the recognition of clinical features of mental illness at clinical presentation in ethnic elders be improved? International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2007; 22: 277-282.

Shah AK, Oommen G, Wuntakal B. Cultural aspects of dementia. Psychiatry. 2008; 7 (2): 94-97.

Shah AK, McKenzie K (Editorial) Count me in even if I am old. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2007; 100: 352-353.

Shah AK. Demographic changes among ethnic minority elders in England and Wales. Implications for development and delivery of old age psychiatry services. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. 2007; 3: 22-32.

Shah AK, Sarkhil A, Thomas C. Mental health of elderly refugees and asylum seekers. In: To Improve Mental Health Services for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Survivors of Torture (Eds. Lane P, Tribe R). Deaprtment of Health, London. In Press.

Shah AK, MacKenzie S. Disorders of ageing across cultures. In: Textbook of Cultural Psychiatry (Ed. Bhugra D & Bhui K). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 2007. Pgs 323-344.

Shah AK, Heginbotham C. (editorial) The Mental Capacity Act 2005: some implications for black and minority ethnic elders. Age & Ageing. 2008; 37: 242-243.

Okonji M, Njenga F, Kiima D, Ayuyo J, Kigamwa P, Shah A, Jenkins R. Traditional healers and mental health in Kenya. International Psychiatry. 2008; 5 (2): 46-48.

Shah AK, Doe P, Deverill K. Ethnic minority elders: are they neglected in published geraitric psychiatry literature. International Psychogeriatrics. 2008; 20: 1041-1045.

Thornton T, Shah AK, Thomas P. Understanding, testimony and interpretation in psychiatric diagnosis. Medicine, Healthcare and Philosophy. In Press.

Oommen G, Bashford J, Shah AK. Ageing, Ethnicity and Mental Health Services. Psychiatric Bulletin. In Press.

Shah AK. Ageing, Ethnicity and Mental Health. A Triple Whammy. In: Knowledge, Values and Power: Transforming Mental Health. International School for Communities Rights and Inclusion. University of Central Lancashire. 2008. Pgs 32-42.

Newbiggin K, Bola M, Shah A (2008) Scoping exercise with Black and Minority ethnic groups on perceptions of mental wellbeing in Scotland. Final Report August 2008. NHS Health Scotland, Edinburgh. www.healthscotland.com

Shah AK. Estimating the absolute number of cases of dementia and depression in the Black and Minority Ethnic minority elderly population in the UK. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. In Press.
 
2. Medical Ethics and Law

Khan K, Bhatkal S, Shah AK. Bournewood proposals: practical considerations. Geriatric Medicine. 2007; 37: 37-38.

Banner N, Shah AK. An overview of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) for England and Wales. Bulletin of the International Psychogeriatric Association. 2007; 24 (3): Pgs 12 & 19.

Shah AK. Was the use of the Mental Health Act 1983 influenced by the three “Bournewood” case-law judgements. Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine. 2007; 21: 655-660.

Shah AK, Heginbotham C, Kinton M. The newly introduced deprivation of liberty dafeguards in England and Wales. Geriatric Medicine. In Press.

Shah AK, Heginbotham C. What factors are associated with the presence of mental health legislation? A cross-national study. International Psychiatry. 2008; 5: 69-71.

3. Suicide

Shah AK. Elderly suicide rates in the United Kingdom: trends from 1979 to 2002. Medicine, Science and the Law. 2007; 47: 56-60.

Shah AK, Bhat R, MacKenzie S, Koen C. Elderly suicide rates: cross-national comparisons and association with sex and elderly age-bands. Medicine, Science and the Law. 2007; 47: 244-252.
 
Shah AK. The relationship between suicide rate and age: an analysis of multinational data from the World Health Organisation. International Psychogeriatrics. 2007; 19 (6): 1141-1152.

Shah AK. Pure elderly suicide rates versus combined pure elderly suicide, accidental and undetermined death rates: methodological issues in crossnational studies. Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine. 2007; 2 (9): 504-506.

Shah AK, Bhat R, MacKenzie S, Koen C. A cross-national study of the relationship between elderly suicide rates and life expectancy and markers of socio-economic status and healthcare status. International Psychogeriatrics. 2008; 20 (2): 347-360.

Shah AK. Possible realtion between suicide rates of elderly with societal crime: a cross-national study. Psychological Reports. 2008; 102: 95-98.

Shah AK. Is there a relationship between elderly suicides and smoking? International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2008; 23: 308-313.

Shah AK, Bhat R, MacKenzie S, Koen C. Elderly suicide rates: cross-national comparisons of trends over a 10-year period. International Psychogeriatrics. 2008; 20: 673-686.

Shah AK, Padayatchi M, Das K. The relationship between elderly suicide rates and elderly dependency ratios: a cross-national study using data from the WHO data bank. International Psychogeriatrics. 2008; 20: 594-604.

Shah AK, Bhat R. The relationship between elderly suicide rates and mental health funding, service provision and national policy: a cross-national study. International Psychogeriatrics. 2008; 20: 605-615.

Shah AK. The importance of fluctuating suicidal intention and hidden suicide in the elderly. Geriatric Medicine. 2008; 38; 229-230.

Shah AK, Bhat R. Are elderly suicide rates improved by increased provision of mental health service resources? International Psychogeriatrics. 2008; 20: 1230-1237.

Shah AK. Association of suicide rates in elderly persons with fertility rates. Psychological Reports. 2008; 102: 369-376.

Shah AK. Possible relation of elderly suicide rates with unemployment in society: a cross-national study. Psychological Reports. 2008; 102: 398-400.

Shah AK, Bhat R. Relationship between elderly suicide rates and markers of healthcare. Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine. 2008; 3: 52-55.

Shah AK. A cross-national study of the relationship between elderly suicide rates and urbanization. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour. In Press.

Shah AK, Bhat R. Epidemiological transition in elderly suicide rates. Novapublisher. In press. 

Shah AK The relationship between elderly suicide rates and the Human Development Index: a cross-national study of secondary data from the WHO and the United Nations. International Psychogeriatrics. In press.

Shah AK. The effect of missing data in cross-national studies of elderly suicide rates. Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine. 2008; 3:153-155.

Shah AK, Bhandarkar R. The relationship between general population suicide rates and educational attainment: a cross-national study. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour. In Press.

Shah AK. Association of suicide rates for elderly age bands with gender equality. Psychological Reports. 2008; 102: 887-892.

Shah AK. Are age-related trends in suicide rates associated with life expectancy and socio-economic factors? International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. In Press.

Shah AK, Bhandarkar. Is there a relationship between general population suicide rates and smoking? A cross-national study. Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine. 2008; 3: 379-382.

Shah AK. The use of the internet in research on elderly suicides. In: Internet and Suicide (Ed. Sher L). Nova Science Publishers, New York. In Press.

Shah AK. The effect of missing data in cross-national studies of elderly suicides. Journal of Chinese Clinical Medicine. 2008; 3: 153-155.

Shah AK, Dennis M, Lindesay J. Comparison of elderly suicide rates amongst migrants in England and Wales with their country of origin. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. In Press.

Shah AK. The relationship between population grwoth and elderly suicide rates. A cross-national study. International Psychogeriatrics. In Press.

Shah AK, Chaterjee S. Is there a relationship between elderly suicide rates and educational attainment? A cross-national study. Ageing & Mental Health. In Press.

Shah AK, Bhandarkar R. Possible relationship between general population suicide rates and societal crime: a cross-national study. Psychological Report. In Press.

4. Epidemiology and Service Development

Shah AK. Do socio-economic factors, elderly population size and service development factors influence development of specialist mental health programme for older people. International Psychogeriatrics. 2008; 20, 1238-1244.

5. Senile Squalor Syndrome

Snowdon J, Halliday G, Shah AK. Severe domestic squalor: a review. International Psychogeriatrics. 2007; 19: 37-51.

6. Forensic Old Age Psychiatry

Padayatchi M, Shah AK, Chatterjee S. Forensic Old Age Psychiatry. In: Advances in Psychology Research. Volume 55  (Ed. Columbus AM). Nova Science Publications. 2008. Pgs 155-163.

Shah AK. The relationship between societal crime, socio-economic status, income inequality and education: a cross national study. Nova publishers. In Press.

Shah AK Can a case be made for developing specialist forensic geriatric psychiatry services? The Open Law Journal. http://www.bentham.org/open/tolawj/openaccess2.htm. doi:10.2174/1874916X0070100001. 2008; 1: 1-5.

7. Substance Use

Shah AK, Fountain J. (Editorial) Illicit drug use and problematic drug use in the elderly: is there a case for concern?. International Psychogeriatrics. 2008; 20: