Walter N. Leutz, John A. Capitman, Margaret MacAdam, and Ruby Abrahams. 300 pages. Westport, Connecticut: Auburn House; 1992. $45.00.

Walter N. Leutz and colleagues have written an easy-to-read, timely book on a topic that has long deserved attention. The authors take a highly complex area and, like a master architect, lay a firm foundation and build, in a concise and comprehensible manner, a structure that a community can use to improve its care for the frail elderly. The book is written by human service providers for human service providers and managers who care for the disabled in the community. It succeeds nicely in helping those who care for the frail elderly to evaluate their present system and establish solutions for questions that arise.

The book's 12 chapters discuss in a pragmatic and straightforward fashion the problems that arise and some approaches that may help the community deal with them. Each chapter builds on the previous one. The authors do an excellent job of providing historical data and introducing relevant research, as well as their own personal experiences, in a manner that makes the reading a painless learning experience. This is topped off in the early part of the book with practical examples of "real-people problems." This is one excellent example of how the authors shift from the abstract to the concrete, thus making the book useful to both the expert and lay reader.

This is a well-organized book with no serious weaknesses. A nice overview in the first chapter divides the book by chapter and points out where a particular problem and solution area may be found. In general, the authors have written a comprehensive, easily understandable review of relevant research and realistic solutions to common problems facing the care of frail elders. They were also able to accomplish this for a reasonable cost. This book was written for the human service provider in all of us, physician and nonphysician alike.