Mervyn Susser and Community Psychiatry

Abstract

Mervyn Susser's contributions to community psychiatry from 1957-1968 comprised a creative and significant phase of his career, though less well known than his other work. This included work in Salford, a town next to Manchester, where he developed a programme to improve community health (including mental health care), as well as a programme of research on mental disorders. The publication of his book, Community Psychiatry: Epidemiologic and Social Themes (1968) attempted to set the stage for the practice of psychiatry in the community and to establish a future direction for development of the field.