Discusses the importance of caring to patients who are seriously ill. The patient's world becomes limited, and requires understanding, patience, and honesty from friends and family who must support the patient through fear and pain and finally the bleakness of convalescence. (JAC)

As research on social support and informal helping has increased, there have been more calls for consultation efforts that might strengthen informal helping networks. Many support-oriented consultation interventions attempt to bolster informal helping systems by modifying informal caregivers' attitudes toward their helping role, building their…

While research strongly suggests that social support can be effective in helping patients increase their compliance with medical regimens, many more specific questions remain unanswered. These include: (1) how are physicians using social support in an effective manner; (2) what are the most effective ways for physicians and their office staff to…

This paper examines the role of agency-sponsored job coaches in supported employment, and proposes a broader concept of supported employment. Suggested alternative support options involve the active participation of supervisors and co-workers. These are titled the mentor option, the training consultant option, the job sharing option, and the…

In hospice, those who work with families have an opportunity to help the terminally ill patient and the patient's family experience death as a time for growth. There are four basic concepts of the hospice philosophy: (1) the patient and the family are the units of care; (2) physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of the patient and the family…

Presents interview with Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of international hospice care movement. Saunders describes her background and experiences that led her to form the hospice movement and discusses the need for pain control for terminally ill patients. Saunders also notes her opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. (NB)

Notes that, while rapid social change has affected the family, the family has demonstrated a remarkable resiliency and ability to adapt to environmental flux. Recognizes that present-day families operate within the context of an increasingly complex milieu and are experiencing considerable stress. Calls for collaborative interinstitutional effort…

Uses systems perspective to analyze psychological and social forces which may limit support that families who are losing their farms seek from their neighbors and that their neighbors offer them. Discusses nonhelp intended as help, blaming victims, farm community values, and other factors that make farm family in crisis pull back from neighbors.…

Reflects on a meditation that is used with women's groups. Describes its purpose as helping women access their inner source of wisdom and knowledge about their bodies and their lives. The meditation is aimed at ridding women of the question, "What's wrong with me?" Describes participants' comments about their reactions and the benefits…

Considers the rapid aging of the American population and the changing age structure of society. Discusses the needs of older adults, the role of the family in providing support to older members, and issues of intergenerational relations. (NB)

Summarizes that the goal for this issue is to help move the study of women's groups beyond survival and recovery issues to the thriving that can and does occur for women through their participation in women's groups. This collection of articles helps build on a growing body of literature attempting to study women's groups as a phenomena in their…

As the belief that social support and coping can moderate the impact of stress becomes part of the common wisdom in the mental health field, the demand for support-oriented interventions has increased. However, a review of the stress-buffering research indicates that the effect of support is more modest and more complex than most researchers…

The paper explores the impact of child variables, parent variables, and family resources (professional and informal supports) on the family's ability to cope with a child with special needs. Child variables include child gender, birth order, severity of handicap, degree of child dependency, extent of attachment, age of the child, and presence of…

Presents strategies to help teachers cope with personal tragedy. The workplace offers a valuable social network for sharing with colleagues, administrators, and students. Teachers may find the constant schoolday demands leave little time for worry. Specific coping strategies include asking for help, temporarily changing the curriculum, and…

Concern circles provide a comfortable approach to classroom counseling. A first grade teacher describes how she provided a support network to deal with students' emotional concerns. The 15-minute sessions, held each morning, allowed the children to take a more active role in resolving their own conflicts. (SM)