INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, VOL. 9: 241 (1994)

CONFERENCE REPORT

THE SIXTH CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL

PSYCHOGERIATRIC ASSOCIATION A. C. HINCHLIFFE

Mental Health Foundation Fellow, Mental Health Care of Older People, A8, Archway Wing, Whittington Hospital, Highgate Hill, London N19 5NF, UK

The Sixth Congress of the International Psycho- geriatric Association was held in Berlin’s Hotel Intercontinental from 5-10 September, 1993.

This was the first international conference I had attended and it was marvellous to share in the enthusiasm that exists to further our understanding of mental illness in the elderly. There was a particu- larly interesting set of presentations on the patho- genesis of Alzheimer’s disease and I was fascinated to listen to successive speakers make their case for whether the plaque or the tangle was the most fun- damental lesion, each equally committed to their own perspective. I also especially recall a sym- posium on cognitive retraining for those with early dementia. Some early pilot studies had suggested that such an approach delayed deterioration. How- ever, while teaching coping strategies to patients with a failing memory, the work provided consider- able group support for them and so increased their wellbeing. Most day centres cater admirably for those with moderate dementia, but we have little to offer those with early disease who retain insight. The work pointed to an important direction in which to expand our services.

Each day began at 8.30 am with a ‘keynote lec- ture’ followed by a ‘plenary session’ of 3-4 presen- tations which covered different aspects of central research areas. During the late morning and all afternoon, participants were able to choose from as many as 20 symposia according to their particu- lar field of interest. Each symposium consisted of 5-6 presentations on themes ranging from psycho- dynamic perspectives on dementia to brain bio- chemistry, and perhaps the organizers could have

been more selective in what they chose to cover. Frequently, concurrent symposia were of equal interest, but attempting to attend the key presen- tations of several was impossible; inevitably one missed the best of each of them.

Unfortunately, the book of abstracts was com- piled in a most unhelpful fashion. Although the abstracts were printed in more or less the order they were presented at the conference, they were neither numbered nor divided into symposia, or even into days of presentation.

Attending conferences such as this is recom- mended for higher trainees. It is indeed an inspiring way of keeping up-to-date with current advances. However, I would only recommend it for those travelling with a group of colleagues who could share their thoughts on the presentations after- wards and socialize in the evenings. Other partici- pants, although not unfriendly, had their own friends and understandably wished to chat to them in their own language. I found myself rather iso- lated until the last day, when I met an equally iso- lated doctor from Slovenia. Needless to say, he was the only doctor from his country. Having a com- panion made all the difference.

The conference began with a cocktail reception and ended with a gala dinner, ‘Life is a cabaret’, advertised as an opportunity to relive the Berlin of the twenties and thirties. While this reflected Berlin’s continuing delight at being united, the organizers were clearly oblivious to the fact that some members of an international audience might view such a celebration with distaste given what followed this, so-called, ‘golden era’.

CCC 0885-6230/94/030241-0 I 0 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.