Family Focus A Transitional Cottage in an Acute-Care Hospital

The family is traditionally excluded from patient treatment in the hospital. This article describes a unique approach and setting for family inclusion and participation in health care prior to the patient's hospital discharge.     

What is Spiritual Development? Primary Headteachers' Views

Recent legislation has made it a legal requirement for schools' contribution to their pupils' spiritual development to be inspected as part of the school inspection process. However, some confusion exists about the meaning of the term ‘spiritual development’. The first part of this article reviews some of the meanings ascribed to the term by educationalists and theologians while the second part examines headteachers' perceptions of the meaning of the term within the context of primary schools.     

The Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale: Is it a valid measure?

The Psychiatric Impairment Rating Scale (PIRS) was introduced as part of the Workcover legislation in NSW and has since been adopted in other States. There has been significant criticism of its validity and structure, but no supporting research. This study was undertaken to examine the validity of the use of the PIRS to assess psychiatric impairment. This study assesses the concurrent validity of the PIRS by comparing it with the Comcare and Social Security scales and the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale, together with two self‐report measures. It also examines the relationship between the PIRS subscales. A high level of ordinal concordance was demonstrated between all scales although the ratings obtained had major systematic variations between scales in both level and distribution. The scoring technique in the PIRS transforms normally distributed scores to a skewed distribution with a preponderance of low scores. The PIRS is a valid scale for ordering the severity of psychological disability but it measures disability rather than impairment. The form of scoring does not provide a proportionate or statistically meaningful measure.     

New Approaches in Delivery in the Canadian Employment Service

This article discusses some of the recent changes to client interventions and counselor training in the Canadian federal government delivery of the employment counseling service, with special focus on the introduction of electronic tools.