Hearing loss is the third most prevalent chronic disability among older adults, with older adults the prime users of aural rehabilitation services. Ex-service personnel, in particular, frequently develop hearing-related disorders, and yet research on hearing aid utilisation in this group is sparse. The present study explored predictors of hearing aid use in a randomly selected sample of 1249 New Zealand veterans. Perceived benefit, performance and ease of use of aid(s) were related to increased use. Older veterans were more likely to use their aid(s) and greater overall hearing loss also increased adherence; however, inexperienced wearers were less adherent. Satisfaction with audiological service and overall satisfaction with the performance of the aid(s) was also linked to use. Health related variables were unrelated to frequency of aid use. These results highlight the need to provide ongoing support for all veterans, but in particular novice users, who become engaged in ongoing aural rehabilitation processes.

This article will first of all consider, in some detail, the recent efforts of researchers in the United States to determine whether the Americans with Disabilities Act has improved the employment opportunities of disabled people. It will then go on to examine data on the employment situation of disabled people in the United Kingdom and how this has changed during the period since December, 1997, when the Disability Discrimination Act came into force. Tentative conclusions are then drawn, regarding the effectiveness of the legislation. The article ends with a consideration of the ways in which the monitoring and evaluation of such major shifts in policy might be improved.

Older persons, particularly women, who in later life require intervention for mental and physical disability, will become an increasing proportion of the population served by health professionals. Personal, dispositional and contextual factors all play an important role in how these women cope with physical and mental health stressors. An improved understanding of both the stressors and potential coping resources available to this population can assist therapists to design interventions for maximal efficacy.

Measures of psychosocial risk factors have been found to be effective in predicting return to work (RTW) and other occupational rehabilitation outcomes, with greater degrees of effectiveness than medical factors. Therefore, determining the psychosocial profiles of workers' compensation claimants is likely to benefit occupational rehabilitation providers in facilitating the RTW of injured workers. This study examined the psychosocial profile of 125 physically injured workers referred for occupational rehabilitation. Of these, 53 (42%) were referred for assistance to return to their preinjury employer (RTW same employer) and the remaining 72 (58%) were referred for assistance to find new employment (redeployment). Results from the total sample indicated that 76% of claimants were at risk of developing a chronic condition and over 50% reported significant symptoms of depression and stress. The RTW same employer group had a significantly lower risk of developing chronic pain than the redeployment group and the redeployment group reported more symptoms of psychological distress (depression, anxiety and stress) than the RTW same employer group. There were no significant differences between the two groups on level of disability, health locus of control, or job satisfaction. The implications of these findings for intervention planning are outlined.

The relationship between social support, mental health, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology was investigated in a sample of 229 former New Zealand military personnel. It was hypothesised that veterans reporting greater satisfaction with their social support networks would also report better mental health and lower levels of PTSD symptomatology, and that social support would buffer the relationship between trauma and PTSD. The number of social supports was expected to be unrelated to both PTSD and mental health. Among the subsample of combat veterans (N = 166), results from multiple regression analyses revealed that satisfaction with social support was significantly related to PTSD severity but unrelated to general mental health. The moderating model of social support on the relationship between trauma and PTSD was not supported in hierarchical regression analysis in the total sample (N = 229). Methodological limitations and other explanations for these results are discussed.