Although studies document increases in both contraceptive use, and, more recently, in condom use among adolescents, rates of unintended pregnancies remain high and sexually transmitted diseases in adolescents are rising. The data presented here represent the first wave of data obtained in an ongoing longitudinal study of the patterns of drug use…

Parents of chronically ill children are faced with the difficult task of being vigilant and yet not overprotective of their children. The literature suggests that parents hold a positive bias toward their ill children. Attribution theory gives a framework in which to study parents' ideas about their children's behavior. A study was conducted to…

Part of a larger study investigating the longitudinal effects of prematurity, illness, and hospitalization, this study focuses on parent perceptions of their infants at 2, 4, and 6 months of age, with age being corrected for conceptional age at birth. It was hypothesized that neonatal condition and age of infant at the time of measurement would…

Various aspects of lead poisoning and its control are the focus of this document which consists of edited speeches presented at childhood lead poisoning conferences in Wilmington, Delaware and Chicago, Illinois. Among the topics discussed are a) the role of Federal and State governments in lead poison control; b) the local government role,…

Drugs, which can be the most cost-effective and cost-beneficial modality of disease management in chronic care, may be hazardous to older adults. It is important that pharmacists ensure that drugs will not further impair the patients' mental, physical, and functional status. (MLW)

This paper describes an exhibit, "Layered Worlds: The Look of Alzheimer's," which uses photography as the medium to interpret Alzheimer's disease visually. The goal was not to photograph the victims of the disease, but to interpret the experience of Alzheimer's for the patient, family members, and caregivers. The metaphor of layers was…

Research with older persons suffering from physical illness presents numerous challenges to gerontologists. Issues of conceptualization pertaining to the definition of illness, its location in the research paradigm, and the context in which illness occurs must be addressed prior to dealing with methodological problems. Access to physically ill…

Hospice care (health care for the terminally ill that emphasizes emotional support for the patient and family) is essential to ease emotional, psychological, and social pain, and can be a factor in addressing spiritual and physical pain. Yet to ease the pain of final illness, therapeutic communication must extend beyond words. Physical contact--in…

The literature on suicide survivors suggests that suicide grief is different than the grief associated with survivorship from other causes. The few studies that have compared groups of survivors from other causes, however, have often not observed as many differences as expected based on the suicide survivors literature. In this study, 230 college…

The concept of contact tracing and notification once used for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is being mentioned for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Some professional organizations have supported contact notification; others have opposed it. Initially, states were free to establish their own contact notification programs. More…

The purpose of the reported program was to: (1) provide teachers and school nurses with a new credit program, and (2) identify an effective model to enhance adult learning in and attitudes toward cancer education. A workshop entitled "An Introduction to Cancer Education for School Personnel," consisting of two full-day Saturday sessions,…

The author defines his concept of science and the practice of nutrition. Discusses the problems of nutritional educators and those of the consumer. Describes how the scientific method should provide a sound basis for nutritional education and discusses its appropriateness in evaluating diet and disease theories. (SMB)

A study examined media coverage of hantavirus in three Southwestern regional newspapers, including interviews with journalists and sources involved in the coverage, and implications of the media's portrayal of Navajo culture. Content review of regional coverage--67 articles in three regional newspapers were reviewed in the first year of a new…

Research has shown that unrealistically-optimistic people believe that they will experience fewer negative events and more positive events than other persons. This paper analyzes a scale which was designed to measure the several cognitive dimensions underlying unrealistic optimism about health. For this study, 220 college students completed a…

To determine whether deficits warranting intervention are present in the later functioning of high-risk infants, 22 premature infants who experienced asphyxia or chronic lung disease (CLD) but who had no gross developmental abnormalities were evaluated. Assessments of auditory perception and receptive language ability were made during later…