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Sexual health is critical to overall well-being, yet it is challenging and uncomfortable to discuss. Individuals frequently encounter uncertainty about their sexual health as they experience bodily changes, navigate romantic or sexual relationships, and explore their identities. In this study, we called on uncertainty management theory to guide an investigation of sexual health uncertainty. Specifically, we asked how people use social support to manage their sexual health uncertainty in online forums. Grounded theory analyses revealed that negative emotions, avoidance, and pursuing medical care prompted people to seek emotional and informational support online, and support served three functions: integrating information, assessing risk, and strategizing communication. The results point to stigma as a driving force in sexual health discussions online and imply practical recommendations for sexual education, communication about sexual topics, and patient-provider relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the second part of a paper reporting a unique single day a week adult day program, the service methodologies developed in the program are described as well as a study of outcomes in four areas: success in reaching the target group, attendance, length of participation, and resolution of psychosocial and health related problems. Outcomes, illustrated by statistical and case material, indicate success in achieving the overall goal of maintenance and enhancement of the participant's life and functioning as a whole. Such a resource is recommended as a vital one for the target population of isolated older people described in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent years one of the trends in medical care that has influenced the social worker in the hospital is the shortened hospital stay of patients. The social worker may have a very limited period of time in which to establish a sustained, ongoing relationship with the client. Frequently the social worker way move only toward a beginning relationship and discussion of the clients problem during his hospital stay, with continued casework treatment given after the client's discharge. The development of medical centers serving large rural areas has meant that the hospital social worker may not be able to continue direct contact with the patient because of the distance the patient lives from the hospital. Casework agencies in the client's home community may be either limited or nonexistent. A partial answer that has developed to meet this trend is the use of correspondence as an adjunct to the personal interview. Contact through correspondence is not meant to serve as a substitute for using appropriate and existing agencies in the patient's local community.

There has been increasing concern over the use of physical restraints in nursing homes in the United States. There are known psychological, social, and physical ill-effects of the use of restraints, yet over the past 12 years the proportion of nursing home patients in the US being physically restrained has increased from 25 to 41 percent. Patients clearly communicate their objections to the restraints in any way they can, be it verbally or through body language, and staff members have also expressed that they feel stressed by conflicted feelings about the use of restraints. Interestingly, the use of restraints is virtually nonexistent in some other countries such as Sweden. The key, they claim, to restraint-free care is the focus on the individual's needs, including providing an environment that respects the sick older person's rights. Built into the approach is flexibility that allows a patient's needs to override, for instance, the schedule of the unit or staff. Time is spent getting to know residents so that those unable to communicate well, such as demented patients, can still be understood and attended to. There is markedly less agitation in these centers than in comparable ones in the US. There has been a movement toward giving a voice back to nursing home patients in the United States, and it must continue. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)