A rehabilitation unit was established in which patients could develop work skills by day and return to the hospital for recreation, reinforcement, and rest at night. In a three-month follow-up about 50 percent of the discharged patients were working at paid jobs. (Author)

Nurses in seven specialties offered their outlooks on death and dying. Questions are raised on the adequacy of nursing education in this realm, the feelings of capability of nurses of varying experience when working with dying patients, the desirability of employing heroic measures to sustain life and many other considerations. (Author)

Problems faced by terminally ill patients and ways those problems are addressed by institutional care givers may thwart the patient's creative impulses, which are basic to living. This essay describes how the staff of Hillhaven Hospice encourages and supports creativity of patients through creative writing. (Author)

Without careful definition of "spiritual," hospice care will be little different in quality from that offered in acute and chronic care centers. Also discussed is the challenge to hospice care staff to defy trends in recent health care allowing staff rather than patients to determine what dignity means. (Author)

This paper examines the family's experience of psychiatric hospitalization. It considers ways in which the family therapist can help keep the family system intact and involve it in the inpatient treatment process. Family-related and hospital-related obstacles to family involvement are discussed, along with suggestions for dealing with them.…

Evaluation of the efficacy of a medical intervention requires measurements of both its benefits and risks as compared to those of alternative forms of management. The requisite measurements are more difficult to make than this description suggests, and the accumulation of information is inhibited by certain characteristics of our pattern of health…

Patient management problems were found to be favorable methods of self-assessment by an overwhelming majority of practicing dermatologists and those in training, regardless of the type of practice or the number of years in practice. (LBH)

The drug industry gains excessive profits from the often irresponsible drug decision-making by the doctor, the pharmacist, and the ultimate consumer. (RC)

Reported phenomena occurring in people encountering near-death situations have recently stimulated considerable public interest. In an informal survey, few professionals who care for critically ill patients were aware of these occurrences. Approximately 50 patients with documented near-fatal encounters were interviewed to confirm the existence and…

Luekemia and aplastic anemia are beginning to be treated by bone marrow transplants, involving donors and recipients from the same family. Such intimate involvement in the patient's life and death struggles typically produces a family crisis and frequent maladaptive responses by various family members. (Author)

Examined congruence of health ratings among older adult patients and their primary care physicians and nurses. Congruence ranged from 29 to 69 percent across 14 health and treatment questions (N=108 patient/provider pairs). Patients appeared to be more favorable on most questions, and questions with a present orientation exhibited greater…

The study examined effects of a physician-delivered orientation on patient satisfaction for a short hospital stay (3 days or less). Using a comparative study design, the researcher found that, when patients had an orientation, satisfaction with services improved, as did perception of the physician's professionalism. (Author/CH)

Factors associated with quitting smoking were analyzed. Quitters were those who had stopped for at least one year. Quit rates were higher for males, those in higher age groups of both sexes, those of higher educational and occupational levels, Jews, and whites. (Author.VM)

After recovering closed head injury (CHI) patients have obtained maximum benefit from the rehabilitation unit, they are usually returned to the home, with continued therapy services offered on an outpatient basis. Describes a family-focused assessment and treatment model which can be utilized during the home-based treatment phase of the CHI…

Investigated the relation of pain coping strategies to pain, health status, and psychological distress in a group of osteoarthritis patients with chronic pain. Patients completed various questionnaires. Medical status variables were also used. The Pain Control and Rational Thinking factor derived from the Coping Strategies Questionnaire proved to…