Information technology issues in an era of greater state responsibilities: policy concerns for seniors

Five areas of state information technology policy are of special concern to seniors and senior service providers: obtaining access; closing the digital divide; developing information management systems; creating portals; and maintaining privacy. Increasing their activities in each of these areas, states continue to vary considerably in their responsiveness to meeting the challenge of including older adults, especially those living in rural areas, with the benefits of information technology.     

The Joint Action of Parents and Adolescents in Conversation About Career

Analyses of 14 videotaped parent—adolescent career conversations reveal the socially constructed nature of career. These analyses are used to identify joint actions in career conversations, determine their patterns, and address their meaning for the participants. Joint action refers to the action that people take together or that occurs between them. The participants used 3 superordinate joint actions (struggle, exploration, and negotiation) and several subordinate joint actions. Three patterns of joint actions were also identified. The joint actions had particular meaning for both career and the relationship between the participants.     

Repairing ego deficits in children with developmental disorders

Children with developmental disorders have ego deficits which must be addressed before one is able to work with them in traditional dynamic clinical treatment. A review of the literature explores the distortions in personality structure which accompany developmental disorders, a conceptual paradigm for integration of psychodynamic and social learning theory models for understanding this problem, and suggestions for working with these children and their families. Three specific ego functions must be repaired in the initial stages of treatment: control of drive activity, reality testing, and the capacity for identification. Two case examples are used to illustrate how the worker may repair deficits in these ego functions.     

Musculoskeletal injuries associated with selected university staff and faculty in an office environment

A research team with backgrounds in occupational therapy, rehabilitation, policy and rulemaking, and prevention programs affecting occupational health and safety designed, validated, and analyzed an ergonomics survey of university staff and faculty. The purpose of the study was to validate identified risk factors from the literature contributing to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) in an office setting within a university setting. The study was also designed to determine differences between faculty and staff in the university setting and their exposure to physical risk factors to WRMDs. The results suggest faculty have their keyboard in awkward positions more frequently than staff, and staff had more experience with mechanical stress than faculty. The researchers recommend parameters for the design of a university ergonomics program based on employee and education, management commitment, medical case management, problem job identification, and development of solutions.     

Different perspectives: A review of some current literature

Recent literature is contributing new ways of conceptualizing human development which will affect understanding and treating of clients. This paper compares some of the papers in the latest edition of thePsychoanalytic Study of the Child with the work of Daniel N. Stern as presented inThe Interpersonal World of the Infant.     

Tandem treatment: A model for work with parents of troubled children

The complexity of individual work with parents whose children are in treatment because of their difficulties is explicated. An exploratory study of 15 mothers' experiences with such treatment is reported. The focus of the study was on parents' expectations, their relationships with their own and their child's clinician, the process of treatment and termination. The findings are integrated with relevant literature and clinical experience to provide a tandem treatment model in which emphasis is placed on clarifying parents' expectations, working with parents' individual issues as well as their role as parents, and focusing first on their children's problems, then gradually moving to the parents' concerns about their own problems.Ms. Staver is a retired Chief Psychiatric Social Worker, Judge Baker Guidance Center