Review of Interpersonal adaptation: Dyadic interaction patterns By Judee K. Burgoon, Lesa

In this ambitious book, Burgoon, Stern, and Dillman present the most comprehensive coverage of the literature on interpersonal adaptation that I have seen in recent years. Their mission is to make a critical examination of this whole area from both theoretical and methodological perspectives, and then to present their own synthetic theory (interpersonal adaptation theory, IAT) and research agenda. Such a mission produces very high expectations in readers, and inevitably some readers will feel that the authors do not achieve all of it. Personally, I was impressed by how much they do achieve, and I was intrigued by the questions they did not answer. One can ask no more than this of any single book.

Disability, religion and health: a literature review in search of the spiritual dimensions of disability

Religious belief and practice plays an important role in the lives of millions of people worldwide, and yet little is Known of the spiritual lives of people with a disability. This review explores the realm of disability, religion and health, and draws together literature from a variety of sources to illustrate the diversity of the sparse research in the field. An historical, cross-cultural and religious textual overview of attitudes toward disability throughout the centuries is presented. Studies in religious orientation, health and well-being are reviewed, highlighting the potential of religion to effect the lives of people with a disability, their families and caregivers. Finally, the spiritual dimensions of disability are explored to gain some understanding of the spiritual lives and existential challenges of people with a disability, and a discussion ensues on the importance of further research into this new field of endeavour.

Teaching in rural and remote schools: a literature review

In this paper. the authors examine a wide range of recent research into the preparation and support for teachers working in rural and remote schools. The paper reviews many preservice and inservice initiatives which highlight issues affecting:teaching and learning in schools outside the major metropolitan centres. The work is reviewed from an Australian perspective but evaluates research from throughout the world. The paper concludes that despite a large body of research (Gibson, 1994), that has identified the need for specialised pre-service preparation which accommodates the social and professional differences associated with work in rural and remote areas, the implementation of such programs by teacher training institutions has been sparse, lacking in cohesion and in many cases non-existent. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Suicide and recency of health care contacts - A systematic review

Background Many countries have set targets for suicide reduction, and suggested that mental health care providers and general practitioners have a key role to play. Method Asystematic review of the literature. Results Among those in the general population who commit suicide, up to 41% may have contact with psychiatric inpatient care in the year prior to death and up-to 9% may commit suicide within one day of discharge. The corresponding figures are I I and 4% for community-based psychiatric care and 83 and 20% for general practitioners. Conclusions Among those who die by suicide. contact with health services is common before death. This is a necessary but not sufficient condition for clinicians to intervene. More work is needed to determine whether these people show characteristic patterns of care and/or particular risk factors which would enable a targeted approach to be developed to assist clinicians in detecting and managing high-risk patients.