Health care and health outcomes for adolescent mothers and their children may be a result of a complex interaction between socioeconomic, psychological, and familial factors. To examine a health professional perspective on the important issues in providing health care for adolescent mothers, transcripts of seventeen interviews with health professionals were analysed. Social support was considered an important aspect influencing the health of adolescent mothers and their children. This included family support, peer support and organisational support. Opportunities for health professionals to promote good social support for young mothers include role modelling supportive care and supporting adolescents' decision making, providing referrals to peer support groups, and understanding barriers to accessing organisational support. The best outcome for adolescent mothers is when their role as mother is supported by the family and wider support network.

Family involvement in the rehabilitation counselling process is increasingly being recognised as an important component of rehabilitation success. This may be particularly true for persons who have an acquired or traumatic brain injury (TBI). For such individuals the emotional and psychosocial functioning of their family and caregivers has been associated with a variety of functional, psychosocial, and employment outcomes. Addressing the needs of family members is an important component of providing effective rehabilitation counselling services, but one that has received little attention in the rehabilitation counselling literature. This article reviews current research on the frequently identified needs of families and caregivers of persons with TBI, the family and situational variables that have been explored for their relationship to family needs, and the extent to which these needs are met. Clinical and research implications for rehabilitation counsellors are identified.

The Helping Hands program commenced in 1999 and partners volunteers with mental health consumers for support and to increase social contact, recreational and friendship opportunities. The aim of the present study is to describe the evolution and sustainability of the program over the first 6 years. A description of consumers accessing the program using recovery-oriented measures and traditional measures of behavioural functioning is also provided. Service data was collected on the development of the program, service utilisation, volunteer participation and funding patterns. Cross-sectional measures of recovery and baseline and follow-up Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) were collected on 27 participants. Results showed that the Helping Hands program has evolved significantly since start-up with the development of numerous recreational, health and support groups and 48 active volunteers and 62 active clients. Consumer feedback indicates that the service increases the quality of life of participants considerably. Current clients showed less severe disability at referral than did the original group. There were improvements in the area of relationships on the HoNOS for those who had baseline and follow-up measures. The high volunteer participation rates and positive consumer outcomes represent significant value in return for the modest level of funding.

Objectives: This study aimed to: (a) ascertain levels of satisfaction with pharmacy services, and (b) identify possible barriers to pharmacy services utilisation among older adults in New Zealand. Method: Data was collected using a mailed questionnaire. Participants were older adults randomly selected from the general electoral roll (N = 180). Results: While satisfaction with pharmacy services was found to be generally high among older adults, considerable dissatisfaction was evident in relation to the cost of medication. Conclusions: While dissatisfaction was expressed with the cost of prescriptions, at present this does not appear linked to a failure to uplift medication. Physical access to pharmacy services may be compromised by disabling health problems, particularly among those living alone.

The present study investigated the transtheoretical model of behaviour change in relation to exercise adoption and maintenance in a sample of 140 women. The aim was to examine the relationship between the stages of exercise change, and the constructs of processes of change, costs and benefits of exercising, self-efficacy, and self-rated health. Analyses revealed that the processes, pros, cons, self-efficacy, and self-rated health were significantly associated with stage of exercise adoption. Specifically, the processes fluctuated, pros and self-efficacy increased, and cons decreased across the stages from precontemplation to maintenance. A stage exercise adoption perspective may be particularly useful for understanding how women adopt and sustain exercise regimes.