Medicinal plants have been used in healthcare since time immemorial. Studies have been carried out globally to verify their efficacy and some of the findings have led to the production of plant-based medicines. The global market value of medicinal plant products exceeds $100 billion per annum. This paper discusses the role, contributions and usefulness of medicinal plants in tackling the diseases of public health importance, with particular emphasis on the current strategic approaches to disease prevention. A comparison is drawn between the ‘whole population’ and ‘high-risk’ strategies. The usefulness of the common-factor approach as a method of engaging other health promoters in propagating the ideals of medicinal plants is highlighted. The place of medicinal plants in preventing common diseases is further examined under the five core principles of the Primary Health Care (PHC) approach. Medicinal plants play vital roles in disease prevention and their promotion and use fit into all existing prevention strategies. However, conscious efforts need to be made to properly identify, recognise and position medicinal plants in the design and implementation of these strategies. These approaches present interesting and emerging perspectives in the field of medicinal plants. Recommendations are proposed for strategising the future role and place for medicinal plants in disease prevention.

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The Role and Place of Medicinal Plants in the Strategies for Disease Prevention

‘Ladettes’ are argued to be a sign, and product, of contemporary development and change; their fortunes are presented as inextricably related to the conditions of late modernity. Using the past to shed light on the present, this paper considers whether fears and claims about the behaviour of some contemporary young women in Britain are exclusive to the present. Two data sets inform the discussion: first, representations of ladettes in national and local newspapers from 1995 to 2005; second, materials relating to the ‘modern girl’ published in the popular print media between 1918 and 1928. Although there have been important changes in the conditions of girlhood since the 1920s, this historical comparison highlights continuities in the representation of ‘troublesome’ youthful femininities. We explore similarities and differences in the characteristics attributed to the modern girls of the twenties and the ladettes of recent years, and the dominant discourses that underpin popular constructions of troublesome young women.

'Ladettes' and 'Modern Girls':'troublesome' young femininities

This NIHR-SSCR funded scoping review provides a comprehensive mapping of what is known about carers and caring, and aims to help inform policy, practice and research in relation to carers. The review was undertaken by searching 10 electronic bibliographic databases, supplemented by additional web searches to identify academic research, grey literature and wider knowledge. The analysis adopts a selective thematic approach covering: carer variables - the characteristics of different types of carer and different caring situations; types of care - the nature of needs of the cared for person and the features of the care situation; the impact of caring – resilience and coping, employment and health; and carer support and needs assessment. The final section highlights key messages identified from the review. It found that caring involves all sections and age groups of the population, with people are likely to experience one or more periods of caregiving over their lifetime. The uniqueness of each caring relationship is also highlighted. In relation to types of carers, knowledge about ‘hard to reach’ groups, such as BAME and LGBT carers, remains sparse. Older carers are also relatively invisible in policy and research terms. It found that much of the knowledge about carers identified in the review relates to their characteristics, their lived experience and the nature of their caregiving, with relatively less being known about the effectiveness of interventions to support them. The report concludes by offering suggestions for policy and practice. An appendix provides a bibliography of the 3,434 items identified in review, classified into 17 types of reference.

Seeing the wood for the trees. Carer related research and knowledge: A scoping review

• Summary: Since the mid-1970s the Australian welfare state has faced a continuing crisis of resourcing and legitimation. Social work as a central entity within the welfare state has been challenge...

Neoliberalism and Australian social work: Accommodation or resistance?

The article reports on the findings of a review of empirical studies examining the implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP) in the human services. Eleven studies were located that defined EBP as a research-informed, clinical decision-making process and identified barriers and facilitators to EBP implementation. A thematic analysis of the findings of the 11 studies produced a list of barriers to EBP implementation grouped in terms of inadequate agency resources dedicated to EBP; skills and knowledge of practitioners; organizational culture; the research environment; practitioner attitudes; and inadequate supervision. Given the limited and exploratory nature of available research on EBP implementation, tentative findings suggest that to facilitate the uptake of EBP in social work and human services practice, strategically driven, adequately resourced, multifaceted approaches to EBP capacity building in organizations are needed.

Implementing Evidence-Based Practice: A Review of the Empirical Research Literature

The present paper examines how evidence-based practice (EBP) is impacting on the professional status of social workers working in multidisciplinary health teams in rural Victoria. Questionnaires and interviews were used to investigate the use and perceived appropriateness of EBP and the implications for the professional status of social workers. The results indicated that social workers have the lowest levels of knowledge and application of EBP. The qualitative data revealed a fundamental incompatibility between social work practice approaches and the science of EBP. The key themes identified were: how undergraduate and professional training shapes practitioner perspectives around EBP; divergent knowledge of EBP and how this influences team perceptions around the validity of social work practice; the ways EBP validates and reinforces existing power hierarchies, frequently to the exclusion of social work practitioners; the power of EBP as a mechanism for practice legitimisation; the marginalisation of soci...

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Power, status and marginalisation: Rural social workers and evidence‐based practice in multidisciplinary teams

Using domestic violence support services as a case study, this paper examines how the ascendancy of neo-liberalism has individualised and pathologised public issues Four perspectives are identified that have been influential in understanding the causes of domestic violence, determining responses to it and measuring the effectiveness of support services These four perspectives may be categorised as: (i) victim-blaming; (ii) social movement; (iii) empowerment; and (iv) pathologising From analysing the standard outcome measures currently used for government-funded accommodation programs, the author contends that the pathologising perspective dominates This is partly attributable to the inherent methodological and ethical issues in evaluating programs of this nature However, it is primarily driven by the ascendancy of a neo-liberal, managerialist ideology that has depoliticised and clinicalised domestic violence This has effectively silenced structural analyses of domestic violence and displaced feminist service models

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Neo-liberalism and the pathologising of public issues: The displacement of feminist service models in domestic violence support services

The ageing population and associated burgeoning health care costs have resulted in a shift of care from institutional settings to home and community-based care. As one example, rehabilitation-in-the-home (RITH) programs are becoming increasingly prevalent. These programs either substitute or supplement in-hospital treatment by providing multidisciplinary rehabilitation and support services in the client's own home. This paper investigates the impact of RITH programs on informal carers. Semi-structured interviews carried out with caregivers and staff revealed a complex and contradictory interpretation of informal caring. Analysis of carers' interviews revealed: an assumption by themselves and others (including RITH staff) that they would provide care; the intimate, arduous and relentless work of caring; lack of consultation about discharge; lack of recognition and reimbursement; and low levels of program support for them as carers. Carers are integral to the successful rehabilitation of the client, but they occupy a marginal status within the program. An invisible contract consigns to them substantial care-work that was previously provided by the hospital. Informal carers in RITH programs can be seen as disenfranchised care contractors. This has implications for policy makers, program managers and researchers. (author abstract)

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The invisible contract: shifting care from the hospital to the home.

Stephen Hunt Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005 228 pp., ISBN 9781403914705, $61.00 (paperback) The notion of the life course has been resurrected in the social and health sciences to make sense o...

The Life Course: A Sociological Introduction

Objective: The current study examined how sociodemographic, psychological, physical and social support variables predict participation in formal support services.



Design: Cross-sectional study.



Setting: Participants were recruited from oncology clinics, cancer specialist clinics and cancer support groups.



Participants: Seventy-six men living outside major Australian cities, the majority with prostate cancer (n = 55).



Main outcome measures: Participants completed the Brief Symptom Inventory, the List of Physical Complaints, the Social Support Subscale of the Coping Resources Inventory and questionnaires related to levels of awareness of, and participation in support services.



Results: Most (82%) of the men were aware of at least one formal service offering emotional support, and 49% of the men had used such a service. Telephone- and Internet-based services were the most used type of support. The only predictor of participation in a formal service was lower age.



Conclusions: Use of a support service was not predicted by psychological or physical symptoms, levels of social support or distance from service centres. Attitudes to different types of services, and support services in general, might be more predictive of actual use. The current findings point to the potential of telephone- and Internet-based support as an acceptable means of formal support for rural and regional men who experience cancer-related distress.

John McDonald

Papers

Power, status and marginalisation: Rural social workers and evidence‐based practice in multidisciplinary teams

Neo-liberalism and the pathologising of public issues: The displacement of feminist service models in domestic violence support services

The invisible contract: shifting care from the hospital to the home.

The Life Course: A Sociological Introduction

Predictors of support service use by rural and regional men with cancer