bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Doctors' attitudes towards patient education in the primary care consultation
Authors: Tapper-Jones Lorna , Smail Simon A. , Pill Roisin , Davis Robert Harvard
Published: March 2007

ONE hundred and six randomly selected general practitioners were interviewed about their attitudes to health education in primary care. There was a high level of motivation amongst general practitioners towards health education of their patients and yet honesty about the difficulties they encountered in carrying this out. Although 95 per cent agreed that patient education was important, and 61 per cent placed doctors' advice in the top three most effective methods of communicating health advice, 92 per cent had encountered practical difficulties involving poor doctor-patient communication. Seventy-six per cent of doctors highlighted lack of time as a barrier to providing more health advice for their patients and 54 per cent said that time constraints were a major difficulty in their practices. The implications of these findings are discussed and it is suggested that if, as proposed in the NHS Review, more health promotion activities are to be implemented by setting up special clinics (attracting a special fee), then the impact of health education messages in general practice will be reduced rather than enhanced.
Talking to young children about health: methods and findings
Authors: Backett Kathryn , Alexander Heidi
Published: March 2007

THIS paper reports the methods and some findings from a study of young children's health-related beliefs and behaviours. The 52 children, aged four to 12 years, are the offspring of a sample of middle-class couples who participated in an in-depth multi-inter view qualitative study: "The social context of the development of health-related beliefs and behav iours, with special reference to the family". The field- work for both of these studies was carried out in Edinburgh from 1987 to 1989. After completion of their parents' study, the children were interviewed privately at home using a variety of innovative meth odological techniques appropriate to their ages. Each mode of questioning elicited different kinds of responses which, taken as a whole, illustrated: that children give both "public" and "private" accounts of health and illness; can hold apparently inconsist ent views about health simultaneously; often show limited knowledge or understanding of parents' health-related behaviours; and may reveal weak links between health-related attitudes and beliefs and behavioural practices.
Making better use of qualitative research: illustrations from medical education research
Authors: Roche Ann M.
Published: March 2007

THERE has been increasing interest in the use of qualitative methodologies in many health-related areas. Several studies, undertaken by the New South Wales Medical Education Unit on Alcohol and Other Drugs, to examine doctors' attitudes and experiences towards treating patients with drug and alcohol problems, are presented to illustrate the comp lementary nature of qualitative and quantitative methods of investigation. The inherent strengths of each approach are highlighted, as is the potential for their application in a wide range of health-related areas.
A survey of health-related behaviour among staff employed by a health authority and its implications
Authors: Yellin Sharon , Wardman Graham
Published: March 2007

IN 1990, 870 staff employed by Leeds Eastern Health Authority were surveyed to discover their attitudes and behaviour as they related to exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption and diet. Factors were identified which prevent, or might encourage, more exercise. The profile was as follows: 21.9 per cent were smokers, of whom 59.3 per cent wanted to stop; 13.5 per cent of males, and 4.5 per cent of females consumed more than the recommended safe levels of alcohol, of whom the majority were either unsure whether their current intake was harmful or did not think it was. Responders were well informed about healthy dietary habits, but 24.6 per cent had body mass indices in excess of 25 kg/m 2. Based on the results of this study, various workplace policies are being initiated or reviewed.
Evaluation of an HEA Aids awareness pack
Authors: Madhok Rajan , Bhopal Rajinder S. , McCallum Alison , McEwan Robert T.
Published: March 2007

THE evaluation of the Health Education Authority's 1989 initiative to raise students' awareness of HIV and Aids through information packs revealed problems with the implementation of the initiative. Most of the contents of the packs were considered useful and interesting, but students had not learnt much about Aids, safer sex and condoms after reading them. Three surveys were undertaken. Thirty-two welfare officers were interviewed over the telephone (response rate 89 per cent); 1388 college, polytechnic and university students completed a postal questionnaire (response rate 74 per cent); and 300 university students were interviewed face to face (response rate 77 per cent). Future Aids education initiatives require collaboration with those responsible for implementing them. Such collaboration can help to determine the mechanism of dissemination, the timing of the initiative and the contents of information-giving materials.
An assessment of dental health education in a baby clinic
Authors: Davies Katherine , Whittle Gary
Published: March 2007

IN November and December 1990, a questionnaire was sent home to the parents of 256 3-year-old children attending nursery schools in Salford, UK; 197 questionnaires were returned, a response rate of 77 per cent. In addition, 200 of the children in the sample were given a dental examination at school. From the questionnaires, children were divided into two groups, an 'advice' group, whose parents remembered receiving dental health advice at a baby clinic in the inner city, and a 'no-advice' group whose parents did not. There were no significant differences between the groups in the percentages who drank sugary squashes, had their teeth brushed before their first birthday or went to the dentist for regular advice. However, in other respects the trends were encouraging, with 41 per cent of the advice group having taken fluoride supplements compared with 23 per cent of the no-advice group (p<0.05). It is concluded that providing dental advice in a baby clinic setting had improved certain aspects of dental health behaviour.
The use of interactive technology in minority nutrition education
Authors: Johnson Elizabeth K. , Levitan Karen
Published: March 2007

FOUR supermarkets were selected to test an inter active system for giving point-of-purchase nutrition information. The system provided consumers with information to make better food choices. Approxi mately 14,000 people used the system during the test period. Sixteen per cent were African American, a higher proportion than reflected in the surrounding test communities. Thirty per cent of African Amer ican users used the system repeatedly. The system was viewed as easy, attractive, and more helpful than current forms of nutrition information. This in teractive system holds promise as an effective tool to provide information and promote healthy dietary be haviours in African Americans.
Some aspects of first sexual relationships in females with special reference to those aged under 16
Authors: Thompson Barbara , Fraser Cynthia , Anderson David
Published: March 2007

WOMEN with mild or moderate abnormal changes in the cell nuclei of the cervix (dyskaryosis), were re ferred to a particular gynaecologist (DA) and for the first 500 he obtained details of their social, sexual, contraceptive and pregnancy history. The age of the women ranged from 16 to 60 and they reported hav ing had sexual intercourse for the first time between the ages of 9 to 29; 21.8 per cent had been under 16. Early sexual experience was significantly associated with short-term relationships without the use of con traception, early diagnosis of dyskaryosis, more partners, smoking, and also to some extent with genital warts and manual work. The data raise prob lems about the lifestyle of young women whose be haviour is potentially seriously damaging to their health.
A survey of practice nurses in Northern Ireland: identifying education and training needs
Authors: Robinson Hilary , Robinson Alan
Published: March 2007

THE publication of Promoting Better Health in 1987, together with the introduction of the GP contract in 1990, marked an increase in the number of practice nurses. They are perceived as being recruited from a range of backgrounds and as having an undefined role. As a result it is necessary for supporting author ities to identify the education and training needs of practice nurses if the provision and purchase of courses are to be planned and delivered effectively. This paper reports on a survey undertaken in January 1992 of all practice nurses employed by GPs in the Northern Health and Social Services Board in North ern Ireland. It enabled the board to identify its own role and responsibilities in advancing health pro motion through practice nursing by meeting edu cation and training needs in the 1990s.
Condom use by heterosexual students: justifications for unprotected intercourse
Authors: Middleton Wendy , Harris Peter , Hollely Caroline
Published: March 2007

In 1993, heterosexual students in relationships of at least six months standing were asked to report their condom use on the first occasion they had sexual intercourse and the most recent occasion they had intercourse with their current partner. Those subjects who reported not using condoms on either occasion were asked to recall justifications for unprotected intercourse. The length of time that subjects had known their partner before first intercourse was associated with condom use. The most common justification for not using condoms on the first occasion concerned perceptions about whether or not their partner appeared to be infected. The need for health campaigns to target such misperceptions is discussed. It was possible to distinguish between those individuals who never used condoms with their current partner, and those individuals who reported using condoms on the first encounter with their current partner but not the most recent sexual encounter. The latter group were found to be more likely to justify unprotected sex because of the reduction in sensation experienced when using condoms. The implications of these findings for health education with young heterosexuals are discussed.
Breakthrough or bandwagon? Are interventions tailored to Stage of Change more effective than non-staged interventions?
Authors: Ashworth Polly
Published: March 2007

There has been considerable interest in the application of the Stages of Change model developed by Prochaska and DiClemente. Much has been written about the model's implications for lifestyle change interventions, and national training programmes are underway to train health care staff to provide brief stage-specific interventions. However, there is, as yet, relatively little evidence comparing stage-based with non-stage-based interventions. It is argued from this review of the evidence that it is difficult to generalise from existing research to support brief staff-training approaches.
Investigating children's ideas about fat consumption and health: a comparative study
Authors: Turner Sheila , Zimvrakaki Heleni , Athanasiou Kyriakos
Published: March 2007

This paper repotts on the first phase of a comparative study in Greece and the United Kingdom which is investigating the knowledge and understand ing of children aged 10 and 11 years about dietary fat and health. It is intended to use the study to develop in-service programmes for teachers based on research. The findings indicate that perceptions about fat and health held by children in the two countries are very similar. The majority of the children were able to describe the relationship between fat and health in general terms, but had limited understanding about the function of fat in the body.
How important is the smoking status of the woman's partner as a predictor of smoking cessation in pregnancy? A literature review
Authors: Ziebland Sue , Mathews Fiona
Published: March 2007

The aim of this paper is to assess the extent to which the smoking status of a pregnant woman's partner is a predictor or correlate of smoking cessation or relapse. A systematic review of the literature (including surveys with and without follow-ups, trials and evaluations) identified 62 papers on smoking and pregnancy, which included 25 studies, in which the smoking status of the' woman's partner (or 'other in household') was reported. Fifteen considered the relationship between partner's smoking status and Cessation or relapse. Despite methodological limitations, including the infrequency with which some important variables feature in the study designs, there is evidence that women whose partners smoke are: less likely to quit spontaneously; less likely to quit after taking part in a smoking cessation intervention; and more likely to relapse to smoking after the birth. The possibility that interventions in pregnancy may be more effective if offered to pregnant women and their partners should be explored.
Doorstep Walks: an evaluation of the impact of a low cost intervention to assist primary health care teams in promoting physical activity
Authors: Vernon Dawn , Brewin Michael
Published: March 2007

This paper reports on an initiative to encourage brisk walking as a means of increasing physical activity levels. Five hundred packs (unit cost £0. 75) with details of ten local walks in and around Salisbury, and information on the benefits of regular exercise, were issued through public outlets including general practices. The packs were free at the point of issue. A follow-up survey attracted a 71 per cent response rate and an uptake rate of 61 per cent with increases in perceived stamina, energy and fitness being reported. A quarter of respondents reported that the pack was a 'major feature' in their plans to improve or maintain their health. Of all respondents, 38 per cent got the pack from their GP, illustrating the potential of the primary care setting for such initiatives. The appeal of the initiative may be attributable to the enjoyable nature of this form of exercise; it is non-competitive, sociable and educational.
No smoking at work: the effect of different types of workplace smoking restrictions on smokers' attitudes, behaviour and cessation intentions
Authors: Styles Ginny , Capewell Simon
Published: March 2007

A cross-sectional questionnaire study of 242 employees who smoke was under taken in Glasgow in 1996; 72 per cent of the sample worked under partial bans on smoking and 28 per cent under total bans. Smokers' attitudes towards the smoking restrictions were generally positive and did not differ significantly between groups. Smokers in total bans were, more likely to stop smoking during working hours. Those in partial bans were more likely to increase their consumption (p<0.01). Twice as many smokers in a total ban were preparing to quit than in a partial ban (p<0.05), and twice as many smokers in a total ban were very confident or fairly confident of being successful (p <0.01). Total and partial bans appear to have different effects on smokers. Therefore, total rather than partial bans on smoking at work, supported by cessation intentions directed at smokers in the early stages of readiness to quit, are recommended as valuable and effective public health measures.
Health knowledge of rural Bangladeshi children: Does BRAC's non-formal schools programme have any impact?
Authors: Nath Samir R.
Published: March 2007

This paper explores the impact of the non-formal primary education programme of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) on raising health knowl edge of rural Bangladeshi children. Three groups of children — graduates of the BRAC programme, formal school learners and children who never went to school —were assessed with an instrument containing six health knowledge items. A sample of 720 children, equally distributed by study groups and sex, was randomly selected. Data were collected from five areas where a socio-demographic surveillance system was in operation. This study reveals that the Programme graduates were more likely to have higher levels of health knowledge than the children of the other two groups. The impact of the Programme may be due to its extra emphasis on enhancing the positive influence of education in the lives of the rural population.
Rapid participatory appraisal of young people's sexual health needs: an evaluation of metaplanning
Authors: Lawlor Deborah , Marsden Clare , Sanderson June , Simmonds Derek
Published: March 2007

A health needs assessment of young people's sexual health was carried out using rapid participatoiy appraisal (RPA). A technique new to participatory needs assessment, meta-planning, was used. for the appraisal. This paper pre sents the evaluation of meta-planning as a technique for RPA in the area of young people's sexual health. Meta-planning compared favourably with other techniques, focus groups and individual interviews, used in RPA. It was efficient, rapid and feasible for young, people to use. This meant that data could be. collected from young people by their peers. Similarity between areas of need idendned by workers and young people in this appraisal, and between these results and other published literature suggests that the results are valid. It is concluded that meta-planning could be used for rapid participatory appraisal of young people's sexual health.
Cattle, crime and colonialism: Property as negotiation in north India
Authors: Gilmartin David
Published: March 2007

Cattle theft was a common crime in British India, and yet one marked by contradictions. While the protection of property was for many a defining feature of the modern state, colonial administrators were often loath to interfere in the negotiations by which Indians commonly arranged the return of stolen cattle. By examining one important prosecution of cattle theft in Punjab's Karnal district in 1913, this article argues that the state, local communities and individuals negotiated the meaning of property at multiple levels. Property was not a fixed concept, but rather a field of negotiation in which the relationship of state, community and individual were tiefined.
Social categories and colonisation in Panjab, 1849-1920
Authors: Caton Brian P.
Published: March 2007

Highly fragmented British and Panjabi populations negotiated both the content and form of social categories such as caste and tribe, suggesting an historical process of creation of colo nial knowledge that resembled less a 'dialogic process and more a multivalent set of locally focused transactions. While British administrators developed categories in order to exercise greater control over Panjab, the participation of Panjabis in the development and naming of such categories meant that Panjabis were quite aware of the stakes involved and could act, within certain limits, to maximise their own or their lineage 's material returns.
Urban geography and land measurement in the twelfth century: The case of Kanchipuram
Authors: Heitzman James , Rajagopal S.
Published: March 2007

The authors compute the length of the 16-span rod, a measuring instrument used in the Kanchipuram region during the late Chola period, by combining information on land boundaries from a single inscription with fieldwork and map tools. In the process, they reconstruct part of the geography of the city and examine long-term changes in land use, with implications for historical preservation. The article suggests that the application of this methodology to other epigraphic records may allow the detailed reconstruction of early agrarian and urban environments, and contribute to the quantitative evaluation of land holding or revenue systems.
A trial in transition: Courts, merchants and identities in western India, circa 1800
Authors: Subramanian Lakshmi
Published: March 2007

In December 1800, the city of Surat witnessed an important trial involving its leading citizen, Shri Krishna Arjunji Nathji Tarwadi, who was charged with the murder of a manservant on his premises. The trial lasted in the Sessions Courts of the English East India Company for about a month, generating strong emotions among the parties involved, until it petered out with the English Company officials deferring to traditional notions and prescriptions of penitence, punishment and customaty sanction, and with Tarwadi being acquitted of the murder charge. The trial in many ways represented a critical episode in the Anglo-Bania chapter of Surat's history and brought into sharp focus the interactive processes of British- Indian relationships in the period of transition and its implications for both the constitution of merchant identities in western India as well as the self-perception of the English Company, and the profile and presence it wanted to maintain in the region. The present article is an attempt to draw out the ramifications of the Anglo-Bania partnership in Surat as it entered its final stage, and to focus on its changing nature under the aegis of a legal system that was not quite in place at the beginning of the nineteenth century. By focusing on the Surat trial of 1800, a dramatic site where notions of justice confronted issues of caste prerogative and the more mundane considerations of material advantage, my article teases out the com plexities of negotiation between Indian merchants and the English East India Company during a period of transition.
Utilization of Psychiatric Inpatient Care in Greece: a Nationwide Study (1984-1996)
Authors: Madianos Michael G. , Zacharakis Costas , Tsitsa Chryssa
Published: March 2007

This report examines the trends in the utilization of psychiatric inpatient care for the period 1984-1996, when the implementation of the psychiatric reform programme was initiated in Greece. Admissions in public mental hospitals declined by 7.2%. However discharges have been increased by 30.6% with a parallel decrease of the length of stay by 53.7% followed by an increase in discharges of patients diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia and affective psychoses by 61.1 % and 123.8% respectively. In the prirrate sector a remarkable reduction in both admissions and discharges was noticed. Admissions in psychiatric departments of general hospi tals for the same years have been increased by 1054.1 %. It seems that the recent deinstitutionalization process resulted in increasing trends in the discharges of patients suffering from psychoses. Additionaliy, a substantial increase in the number of extramural psychiatric services and rehabilitation places between 1994-1996 was observed.

The demand for the mental health care services expressed as the urbanization index was found to be related with mental health professionals and the extramural units ratios. The higher degree of urbanism is, the greater the number of extramural services exist. The models explained variance reached 50.6%.
Factor Structure of the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale (Mhpss) Among Clinical Psychologists in India
Authors: Mehrotra Seema , Rao Kiran , Subbakrishna D.K.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the factor structure of the Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale (MHPSS) and its reliability and validity in a sample of 116 clinical psychol ogists in India. Principal component analysis of the MHPSS identified four factors that accounted for 42.2% of the total variance. These 4 factors reflected 6 of the 7 original subscales.

The subscale Client-related difficulties' did not emerge as a distinct factor. The authors attribute this to cultural differences in the therapist-patient relationship. The MHPSS correlated negatively with measures of professional role satisfaction and subjective well being. It was concluded that the MHPSS is a reliable and valid tool to measure sources of occupational stress experienced by mental health professionais.
Family Burden, Participation in Care and Mental Health - an 11-Year Comparison of the Situation of Relatives To Compulsorily and Voluntarily Admitted Patients
Authors: Ostman Margareta , Hansson Lars , Andersson Kristina
Published: March 2007

The changes in fiamily burden and participation in care of relatives to both voluntarily and compulsorily admitted patients were investigated as part of a longitudinal study of the quality of the mental health services in a Swedish county perfiorrned between 1986 and 1997. The relationship between the relative's mental health and family burden, participation in care and need of own support was also investigated.

The results showed similar and high levels of burden and a non-sufficient participation in care in both periods investigated despite the ongoing changes in the delivery of psychiatric services and a change in the compulsory legislation in Sweden during the period. More relatives experienced an own need of care and support from the psychiatric services in the 1997 investigation. Relatives who experienced mental health problems of their own more often experienced other forms of burden, experienced less participation in the patient's treatment and also more often had own needs of care and support. It is concluded that interventions in families where relatives experience mental health problems will be useful, since a well-functioning network around the mentally ill person has shown to reduce relapse.
Life Events in a South Indian Population and Their Association With Psychiatric Disorder in Children
Authors: Hackett Richard , Hackett Latha , Bhakta Preetha , Gowers Simon
Published: March 2007

Western research suggests that life events contribute to childhood psychiatric disorder but no studies have examined this in developing countries. During a population-based study of 1403 8-12 year old children in Kerala, South India, a life events schedule was administered to parents of children with ICD10 psychiatric disorders (n = 72) and controls.

Life events were associated with lower social class, greater poverty, less educated parents, worse physical health and psychiatric disorder. Multivariate analysis confirmed the association of life events with psychiatric disorder, independent of indices of social adversity.
Community Care: Exploring the Priorities of Clients, Mental Health Professionals and Community Providers
Authors: Van Hoof Frank , Van Weeghel Jaap , Kroon Hans
Published: March 2007

Co-ordinated joint service planning by all stakeholders is widely accepted as a valuable principle in the development of community support services for persons with severe mental illness. Even so, relatively little is known of the views and priorities of the different parties with regard to the elements that should make up the care and support system.

This paper reports on a Dutch study in which clients, mental health care workers and community service professionals offered their opinions on what constitues a support system that enables individuals with long-term mental illness to participate in the community. The results show that the respondents regarded a stable base as an essential prerequisite for the realisation of this objective. Within this general consensus, the clients stressed the importance of advocacy and sheltered meeting places; the mental health professionals emphasised the rehabilitative elements and the representatives of the generic community services felt that the key components in any such system were crisis intervention services and co-ordination at client and system level.
Public Attitudes Towards Mental Illness- the Effects of Behaviour, Roles and Psychiatric Labels
Authors: Nieradzik Krystyna , Cochrane Raymond
Published: March 2007

A questionnaire to assess various elements of public attitudes towards the mentally ill was given to 108 subjects. 5 hypotheses were tested.

1. Public attitudes towards mental illness are more rejecting than accepting.

2. Social rejection increases with increasing severity of disturbance in behaviour.

3. Public attitudes towards the mentally ill are related to social class as measured by occupational status and to age of the respondent.

4. Rejection of the mentally ill is decreased by the availability of a non-deviant alternative label.

5. Attitudes of the general population towards the mentally ill will be influenced by the label of mental illness as well as by behaviour indicative of mental illness.

All the hypotheses were confirmed with one exception — negative public attitudes were not found to be related to social class as measured by occupational status. Public attitudes towards the mentally ill are more diverse than previous research would imply. Possible future research directions are discussed.
Social Tolerance of the Mentally Ill in the Mexican American Community
Authors: Parra Fernando
Published: March 2007

This work is a comparative study of social tolerance toward mental illness. The central concern is with the orientation of the Chicano toward these phenomena. The aim is to determine whether or not attitudes that Mexican Americans hold toward mental illness differ from those of other Americans. Survey research methods are used to conduct a comparative study of two ethnically distinct groups — Anglo and Mexican American.

Attitudes toward mental illness are measured by a social distance scale. High to low tolerance toward the mentally ill is measured. The questions range from close personal to more distant association, such as whether or not one would mind having his or her children marry someone considered to be mentally ill, to whether or not one would mind working with such a person.

We have found that sex, age and education are the primary variables associated with attitudes towards mental illness. Better educated Chicanos are clearly more tolerant of the mentally disabled than the little schooled. The gender of the res pondents also appears significant in determining the extent of their tolerance. Older Chicanas with less education are the least tolerant of the mentally ill, while younger women are more tolerant than the older. And the Chicano tends to be tolerant whatever his educational level. There is little difference in tolerance between Chicanos and Anglos.
Causal Attributions for Psychological Illness Among Turkish Psychiatric in-Patients and Their Relationships With Hope
Authors: Karanci Nuray A.
Published: March 2007

The causal attributions for psychological illness were investigated in a sample of seventy Turkish psychiatric in-patients, using the levels of causal attributions proposed by the transtheoretical model of Prochaska (1984). The factor analysis of replies to a questionnaire tapping various levels of causality revealed seven factors which were greatly overlapping with the causal attribu tional levels proposed by the transtheoretical model and verified in western samples. However, there were important dissimilarities on attributions to family, self, and interpersonal conflicts. Family conflicts and interpersonal conflicts appeared as two separate causal factors, whereas attributions to personal symptoms and family conflicts merged under a single higher-order factor. Results also revealed that types of attributions were related to hope for future well- being. The results and their implications were discussed within the framework of the transtheoretical model, attribution theory research and studies on the Turkish family struc ture and values.
Italian Psychiatry and Reform Law: a Review of the International Literature
Authors: de Girolamo Giovanni
Published: March 2007

Through the reform law, and the experiences of change realized prior to the reform, Italian psychiatry expanded its size and influence significantly. The aim of this review is to describe some issues relevant to Italian psychiatry and to try and evaluate the experience of reform as shown in international literature. In this literature, three large groups of contributions can be identified: the so called 'impressionistic' group; the group dealing with the analysis of local and regional situations; and finally the group represented by epidemiological researches and by analysis of national data.

The main contributions of each of the three groups are reviewed, and finally the main problems which Italian psychiatry has to face, are outlined.
Social Factors Affecting Clinical Caseload in Italian Good Practice Areas
Authors: Lesage Alain D.
Published: March 2007

Italian statistics indicate that fewer people are living alone than in Great Britain. Psychiatric Case Register figures show that the treated prevalences are nearly half those found in British Case Register areas. The level of staffing in good practice areas like South-Verona or Trieste is at least similar and at times higher than British or American counterparts. The clinical caseload of Italian clinical teams is therefore lower. The Italian patients may have a greater social network's availability by the mere fact of living in the same household of relatives. It is hypothesized that these elements affect a clinical team's availability to offer alternatives to hospitalisation. A ratio caseload/staff should be taken into account in assessing the Italian psychiatric reform and alternatives to hospitalisation.
Interaction in Health Education
Authors: Tähkä Veikko , Viinamäki Heimo , Koskela Kaj
Published: March 2007

The usefulness of the application of the psychodynamic frame of reference in person- to-person health education is examined in the presert study. The health educator's proper understanding of his client through an integrative use of his own cognitive and emotional responses to the client is first discussed. Depending on the level of maturity of their personalities, and on the nature of their formative relations, the clients will develop different modes of interaction in their relationships with the health educator. Learning to adequately recognize and meet clients showing different interac tional modes is considered to substantially increase the prospects of the health educator helping his clients to accomplish a change in health behaviour. Four levels of interaction and their proper encountering are described and discussed.

It is concluded that health education and individual health educators would benefit from an increased familiarity with, and use of, the psychodynamic body of knowledge.
A Two Year Follow Up of New Long-Stay Patients in an Inner City District General Hospital
Authors: Patrick Matthew , Holloway Frank
Published: March 2007

In 1967 Magnus described 'the new chronics', patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital who then stayed for more than one year. Since that time many studies have examined this patient group but the majority have focussed on psychiatric hospital populations. There is some doubt, however, as to whether the characteristics of new- long stay patients in District General Hospital (DGH) psychiatric in-patient units are comparable. The current paper describes a two year follow-up study of Medium and New-Long Stay patients identified within an inner-city DGH unit in 1986. Elderly patients with affective disorders and patients with organic brain syndromes were par ticularly highly represented. Length of stay at the time of the original survey, male sex, associated physical disability, and the presence of a secondary diagnosis were particularly associated with poor outcome. The results are discussed in relation to service provision.
Multi-Cultural Study of Minor Psychiatric Disorders in Asia: Symptom Manifestations
Authors: Tseng Wen-Shing , Asai Masahiro , Jieqiu Liu , Wibulswasdi Pismai , Suryani Luh Ketut , Wen Jung-Kwang , Brennan Jerry , Heiby Elaine
Published: March 2007

Patients with minor psychiatric disorders, including neuroses, situational adjustment reaction or acute emotional reaction, were investigated using symptom questionnaires at five research sites in Asia including: Chiang-Mai, Thailand; Bali, Indonesia; Kao-Hsiung, Taiwan, China; Shanghai, China; and Tokyo, Japan. The results revealed that the symptom profiles differ significantly among groups of different settings indicating that sociocultural background does contribute to the manifestation of neurotic symptomatology. It was also found that numerous and various subtypes of somatic scales were identified through factor analysis of symptoms for these Asian populations. It demonstrates that the spectrum of neurotic symptoms has a different focus for subjects in different sociocultural settings.
Adolescent Risk-Takers: a Trauma Center Study of Suicide Attempters and Drivers
Authors: Rockett I.R.H. , Spirito A. , Fritz G.K. , Riggs S. , Bond A.
Published: March 2007

Adolescence is a developmental stage characterized by excessive risk-taking behavior that produces adverse health effects, typically in the form of injury. At issue is whether adolescent suicide attempters and injured adolescent motor vehicle drivers constitute a common risk group and are differentiated by the response of the emergency medical care system and by case disposition. Data originated in the medical records of a Rhode Island (USA) trauma center. The two study groups were not distinguished by religious preference, socioeconomic status or timing of the injury incident, but differed significantly by gender, race, emergency vehicle use, hospital admission rates, and seasonal injury patterns. Alcohol and drug involve ment was examined, but serious data deficiencies were noted.
'Not Waving But Drowning': Psychiatric Inpatient Services in East Lambeth 1990
Authors: Holloway Frank , Silverman Marisa , Wainwright Tony
Published: March 2007

This paper presents the results of the latest in a series of surveys of an inner-city public psychiatric inpatient service. Severe pressures on the service had led to the purchase of inpatient beds in the private hospital sector and intensive care facilities in a large psychiatric hospital. On a census day the nominal occupancy for the inpatient unit was 117%. Implications of the survey, trends over time and possible solutions to the difficulties of the inpatient unit are discussed.
Chinese American Adults' Relationship with Their Parents
Authors: Ying Yu-Wen
Published: March 2007

This investigation examines the relationship between Chinese American adults and their parents. A group of 143 American- and foreign-born Chinese Americans residing in San Francisco participated in the study. Contact with parents was found to be very frequent (two to three times a week), and was primarily mediated by geographic proximity. Immigrant women maintained significantly more frequent contact with their parents than American-born women. Intimacy was primarily predicted by respondent's understanding of his/her mother. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Recent Advances in Community Psychiatry and Psychosocial Rehabilitation in Greece and the Other Southern European Countries
Authors: Madianos Michael G.
Published: March 2007

During the late 1960s and early 1970s community psychiatry and the transformation of psychiatric services was introduced in several Northern European countries. ln Southern Europe, with the exception of Italy, changes in the mental health care delivery system regarding mental health legislation and decentralisation of services have only taken place since the mid-1980s. ln this report several issues related to developments in institutional and community psychiatric care in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain are presented. A comparison is provided between some socioeconomic and psychiatric morbidity indicators and the availability of alternative community based care and rehabilitation in these countries.
Acculturation and Psychiatric Morbidity Among Cambodian Refugees in New Zealand
Authors: Cheung Peter
Published: March 2007

A community survey examining the relationship between acculturation and minor psychiatric morbidity among 223 Cambodians living in Dunedin, New Zealand was conducted. Most subjects would like to retain their parent culture but would also like to assimilate into the host culture, indicating a preference for an integrated mode of acculturation. Those who were older, widowed, less educated, had shorter duration of stay in New Zealand, and of lower socioeconomic status, were less acculturated. Overall, the least acculturated were found to have the highest rate of psychiatric morbidity. When age and sex were controlled, the association between acculturation and psychiatric morbidity remained significant only for women aged 31 to 50. Overall, the associations between psychiatric morbidity and acculturation held true for marital status, duration of stay in N.Z., educational level, and socioeconomic status. The relevant conceptual and methodological issues in acculturation studies were discussed.
Psychiatry's Culture
Authors: Littlewood Roland
Published: March 2007

Culture remains an ambiguous concept for psychiatry: deprecated by the assump tion that it is secondary to biomedical reality, yet at the same time some notion of 'culture' has served to represent the modern against the primitive. Contemporary clinical understandings of culture derive from imperial medicine which had applied the accepted distinction between the biological form and the cultural content of psychopathology to local illnesses which could not easily be fitted into the European nosology. The later concept of 'culture-bound pathology', like the psychoanalysts' 'modal personality', only imperfectly escaped from evaluative assumptions of 'development', but it is difficult to argue that psychiatry provided British colonial administrations with any significant ideological justification.
From PTSD to Voices in Context: From an "Experience-Far" to an "Experience-Near" Understanding of Responses to War and Atrocity Across Cultures
Authors: Zur Judith
Published: March 2007

This paper examines some of the difficulties of exporting the Western concept of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to non-Western cultures. Using data drawn from Guatemala 1 where I lived and worked among Quiché Mayan war widows, illustrates how cultural ly-specif ic understandings of events and reactions to them affect the well-being (or otherwise) of people exposed to extreme adverse events. The paper turns2 to the voices of the widows, who experienced and survived intense political conflict, explaining their experiences of violence within their particular context.
A Comparison of Public Attitudes in Britain and Saudi Arabia Towards Auditory Hallucinations
Authors: Wahass Saheed , Kent Gerry
Published: March 2007

Background. The successful introduction of community interventions is partly dependent on public beliefs about the aetiology and treatment of psychiatric difficulties and tolerance of community integration.

Method. This study examined community attitudes towards auditory hallucinations in Saudi Arabia (SA) and the United Kingdom (UK) concerning (a) causes of auditory hallucinations, (b) the efficacy of interventions and (c) levels of social rejection. Results. Responses from 281 patients attending their general practitioners indicated that those living in Saudi Arabia were most likely to believe that hallucinations are caused by Satan or due to magic, while the UK sample were more likely to cite schizophrenia or brain damage. While the Saudi sample believed that religious assistance would be most effective, the UK sample supported medication and psychological therapies. Beliefs about aetiology and treatment were unrelated to educational attainment. There was a greater degree of social rejection of patients in Saudi Arabia, but here educational attainment was of significance.

Conclusions. These results suggest that beliefs about aetiology are related to treatment recommendations and social distancing, and thus have implications for the care of Arabic patients living in Western countries as well as for the use of Western interventions in non- Western cultures.
Factorial Analysis in Communication Research
Authors: Davis Richard M.
Published: March 2007

Factor analysis and analysis of variance are used to test ex perimentally the most effective content, organization, and pre sentation of given kinds of messages. Some of the specific findings reinforce concepts busi ness-communications professors have been teaching for years; others may surprise some read ers.
Pitfalls To Computer Use in Publishing and Communication
Authors: Melcher Daniel
Published: March 2007

This article examines the path to practical, economic use of computerization in publishing and communication. Convinced that the computer is here to stay, the author emphasizes the problems it poses as related to the questions it answers at this time. He details six pit falls to be avoided by prospec tive computerizers. His eon clusions spring from recent hard-core personal experiences as well as from a penetrating analysis of the long-term po tentials of computerization. This article was adapted from the May 1968 issue of Library Journal by Norman Shidle.
Guidelines and Suggestions for Research in Business Communication
Authors: Pettit John D.
Published: March 2007

Last year the JOURNAL published the 1970 report of the ABCA Research Com mittee. It was so well received by members that we have decided to share the 1971 report of the committee also. Hopefully a number of the suggested areas of investigation will stimulate the research work of our members in the next few years.
Strength Properties of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polybenzothiazole Composites
Authors: Aponyi T.J. , Mecum W.D.
Published: March 2007

A processable, oxidatively stable polybenzothiazole (PBT) resin has been developed for use as a matrix in reinforced plastic struc tural composites subjected to elevated temperature. The complex chemistry of the resin polymerization reaction is presented. Composites using the new resin as matrix and Style 181 E glass cloth as reinforcement have been evaluated in flexure, tensile stress rupture and bending fatigue at temperatures ranging from ambient to 800°F. These composites have exhibited excellent retention of flexural properties after 300 hours heat aging at 600°F and six hours at 800°F in air. Bending fatigue and tensile stress rupture properties at 550°F are superior to those available from other high temperature resin composites, such as polyimides and polybenzimidazoles.
A Method for Measuring Planar Residual Stresses in Rectangularly Orthotropic Materials
Authors: Bert Charles W. , Thompson Gary L.
Published: March 2007

A semidestructive method has been developed for determining the principal residual stresses and directions in rectangularly orthotropic materials. The reduction equations are based upon a set of functions that describe the surface strain-relaxation field about a hole drilled to a limited depth into the material. Three constants contained in the strain functions have to be determined by calibration tests; they are related to three general constants and the elastic material constants to establish applicability to an orthotropic material. Expressions for the planar residual-stress components in the material-symmetry directions are then devel oped, and from Mohr's stress circle, the principal residual stresses and directions are determined.
Flow Orientation of Short Fiber Composites
Authors: Bell James P.
Published: March 2007

A method for characterizing the orientation of short fibers during flow of short fiber composites is described. A system comprised of approximately 50% by volume glass fibers in an epoxy resin matrix was used for this study. A glass rheometer was used to observe steel tracer fibers, which were incorporated into feed particles with the glass. By reacting the epoxy resin with a secondary amine, a product was obtained which did not react further during the measurements. The product also had a viscosity at room temperature similar to com mercial systems at processing temperatures; this made flow measure ments at room temperature possible. A technique of data reduction for the orientation measurements is described.

Early results show that, at these high fiber loadings, plug flow with little change in orientation occurs above and below the constriction in the rheometer tube. At the constriction, particles are sheared into strands. If feed particles containing pre-oriented fibers are not used, a "log jam" results at the entrance to the constriction, preventing flow. The dependence of extrusion pressure on extrusion rate is much less than one finds for unfilled systems.