Experience with provision of optimal health services to mentally retarded individuals in institutional settings can be applied and adapted to design services for such adults living in the community. Coordination of health care by a team of nurses, primary care physicians, and special medical services is recommended. (Author/DB)

Issues raised by the Child Abuse Amendments of 1984 (which provide for legal intervention when disabled newborns are denied medical treatment) are discussed and include: parents' right to make the final decision, omission of "quality of life" factors from the law, and excessive financial burdens imposed by the law. (Author/DB)

Compared the effects of fixed-interval and on-demand administration of analgesic medications in chronic pain patients. A fixed-interval analgesic schedule was found more effective than an on-demand schedule in reducing subjective pain and elevating mood. No differences were found between the two conditions on measures of physical activity.…

This article surveys recent research on how and when exercise or estrogen therapy should be used to treat or prevent athletic amenorrhea, osteoporosis, cancer, and heart disease. The suspected causes of each disease are discussed and the benefits and dangers of each form of treatment/prevention are weighed. (JL)

Residents and faculty members completed a survey covering the effect of prepaid health care plans at a family medicine center on the program's practice profile, cost-containment, and education activities over a three-year period. Respondents agreed that prepaid plans increased the number of patient visits. (Author/MLW)

Community leaders and physicians considering locating in rural communities need a method by which they can evaluate a community's potential for supporting a physician. A survey was conducted in 1986 of 25 physicians' practices in rural Oklahoma, with data collected on the number of patient visits and practice costs. (Author/MLW)

Evaluated effectiveness of three strategies for delivering relaxation training to cancer chemotherapy patients who were experiencing treatment-related side effects. Professionally, as opposed to paraprofessionally, administered or audiotaped progressive muscle-relaxation training and guided relaxation imagery reduced emotional distress and…

Describes psychological techniques, such as distraction and hypnotic imaginative involvement techniques, which have been found effective among chronically ill children and their parents in reducing anxiety and distress, and increasing the ability to cope with taxing medical procedures. Cases from research conducted in Vancouver, British Columbia…

Historical and present-day ideas concerning recovery of higher brain functions and cognitive retraining after traumatic brain injury are considered. Clinical guidelines for helping patients understand and compensate for residual higher cerebral deficits are suggested. A holistic- or milieu-oriented program is considered the most helpful…

A study to explore the frequency with which U.S. schools of nursing have made an organizational response to the mandate to link nursing education and practice and to describe the organizational responses identified is described. An organizational response was defined as the sponsoring of a clinical project. (Author/MLW)

The Mardi Gras Coalition, a project of Tulane University's community-service organization, trains student volunteers to provide emergency medical and other services at New Orleans' Mardi Gras celebration. The students get desired practical medical experience and also help the community. (MSE)

Documents social, economic, educational, and health conditions of Wisconsin's approximately 3,000 migrant farmworkers and dependents during 1978 and 1981. Finds lower income, less schooling, and poorer health than other farmworkers and general population. Discusses definitions of migrant farmworkers and difficulties in counting migrant population.…

Describes the health care functions provided for the Black community by urban public hospitals; considers the impact of Federal retrenchment on these institutions; and examines the negative impact on Blacks, other minorities, and the poor that the sale of urban public hospitals to private, for-profit chains will have. (GC)

Planned Parenthood Federation of America was established in 1916 to fulfill the need to provide family planning information and services to women. The Katharine Dexter McCormick Library serves organizational goals by publishing family planning bibliographies, performing literature searches on in-house database, and providing reference services to…

Factual information dealing with the virus herpes is provided in hopes of allaying the public fears that have recently appeared because of misinformation presented by the media. Symptoms, types, and new developments in treatment are explored. Recommendations for obtaining additional information are offered. (DF)