A literature review explores why misuse of psychotherapeutic drugs is occurring among older noninstitutionalized adults. The roles of the physician, the patient, the pharmaceutical industry, and medical-geriatric journal advertising are discussed. The paper concludes with an exploration of innovative strategies for treatment and prevention.…

Social and ethical issues are examined in relationship to life management practices with the profoundly retarded. (Author)

This section describes hospice or palliative care programs for terminally ill patients and their families. The programs described are in Montreal, Quebec; Halifax, Nova Scotia; New Haven, Connecticut; Marin County, California; Tucson, Arizona; and Springfield, Illinois. (Author/JEL)

This article describes the experience of a nurse educator who participated in a one-month course in the care of dying patients at St. Christopher's Hospice in London. Emphasis is placed on the need for educators to become more aware of demands made on those caring for dying patients. (Author)

Need for a critical and analytical approach to ethics of terminal care is suggested by considering a series of unexamined questions regarding justification of terminal care. If terminal care is a moral and ethical enterprise, such considerations must be given a more prominent place in discussions of the hospice movement. (Author)

Advocates better outreach, preventive care and nutrition education for expectant parents in an effort to upgrade the quality of life. (CM)

Risk factors for disease consist of personal habits such as cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and bodily characteristics such as hypertension and high serum cholesterol. Progress in identifying, quantifying, and controlling risk factors is opening the way to the prevention of disease. (BB)

This is a review of the pharmacological treatment of mental illnesses. Included topics are: schizophrenia, depression, mania, antipsychotic drugs, antidepressants, lithium, and ethics. (BB)

Traditional guardianship laws are often inappropriate and repressive in protective services settings. Guidelines for their revision are proposed. Current legal mechanisms for emergency intervention should be amended to protect client's civil rights. Primacy of client consent and limiting of intervention to the least necessary restriction on…

Explores the role and training of new health practitioners and the pattern of rivalry among them. (RK)

Discusses the current trend toward a corporate health care system in which services are often paid for by a third party (insurance company or government). Says this results in the consumer's loss of control over the quality and type of health care rendered. Recommends adoption of a federated health care system. (GC)

There is considerable evidence that although many Asian American groups have health problems equal to or exceeding those of other Americans in severity, they are staying away from available health services. This article examines cultural factors which contribute to this phenomenon. (Author/GC)

The nurse is the chief epidemiologist in each school; it is her responsibility to search for any possible source of infestation of lice in the school setting. (JD)

Successful identification and treatment of childhood malignancy depends upon histologic diagnosis, assessment of the extent of the disease, and interdisciplinary, tumor-specific treatment. (MB)

Physical therapy following a sports injury is discussed in this article with examples of exercises for rehabilitating the ankle and knee. (JD)