This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge about open, co-produced meeting centres for people with dementia, from their own perspective. Services that support people who are newly diagnosed with dementia are often insufficient. Co-produced services have the potential to address the need of people with dementia to be useful and productive, while reducing the stigma. In this study, we applied a qualitative design. Data were collected at a meeting centre for people with newly diagnosed dementia, and consisted of fieldwork (13 days for about two hours at a time), written materials, and semi-structured interviews (mean length 30 minutes) with five attendees with dementia and two staff persons. The analysis was inspired by situational analysis. The findings showed that the meeting centre provided a place for human encounters, a break from everyday life, and a place to share knowledge and develop new skills. Further, challenges were described. Co-production consisted of the attendees being encouraged to take part in the planning of activities, learning from each other and providing mutual support. The study adds to previous knowledge about co-produced services for people with dementia. Future studies can clarify how co-production can be developed in services for people with newly diagnosed dementia in countries and regions where there is a dearth of this kind of support.

This study considers the question of whether relapse rates among schizophrenic patients can be reduced by means of relatives' groups. In a randomized, controlled intervention study, two therapeutic strategies (therapeutic relatives' groups, initiated relatives' self-help groups) were compared with each other and with a control group. Interventions were confined to the relatives, with the patients continuing their standard treatment. The study involved 151 relatives of 99 chronic DSMIII schizophrenics. Data were collected before and after a 1-year intervention phase and in a 2-year follow-up. No difference existed between the groups with respect to rehospitalization data. However, numerous differences recorded in the psychopathological findings and in living and working circumstances suggest that therapeutic work with relatives is of clinically significant benefit.

The objective of this paper is to review the difficulties associated with measuring self-help groups for what they are, and the methodology used. This report identifies issues inherent to research on self-help groups for the elderly. Elderly group participants sharing a common problem and meeting to discuss it without the benefit of professional support will, without doubt, become a more and more prevalent resource for use in the future. Consequently, it is imperative to ascertain which questions the researchers should be asking. Three research objectives are described: descriptive studies, process examination and the assessment of outcomes considered relevant to self-help groups. The discussion addresses three types of objects under study: the group participants, the group itself and the interorganizational ties established by the group, particularly in dealing with health service agencies.

Garole is a breed of sheep reared in the Sunderban region of India and Bangladesh. The animals of this breed are adapted to the hot and humid coastal region and are often seen grazing in water. Garole are reared as mutton sheep. The value of their wool is grossly ignored and presently wasted. The raw wool obtained from this breed can be stored for a long time without any significant deterioration in quality, that might be attributed to the genetic tolerance of the breed towards fleece rot. The wool quality parameters of Garole sheep indicate that the wool is coarse but has an excellent felting property. The raisers of these sheep are economically challenged members of the society, and handicrafts produced from the wool can assist in the alleviation of poverty as well as provide an alternative livelihood. An organisation has taken steps in scientific sheep rearing in the region and has assisted in training members of the community in the production of rugs from the wool. The organisation is also providing assistance in marketing the products developed on behalf of the beneficiaries.

Objectives: Changes in healthcare policy over the last decade emphasise care in the community over residential care. Self-help organisations may play a useful role in these circumstances. Against this background, the objective of this study was to obtain the views of members of the main mental health professions on the place of self-help groups in mental health care.

Method: A postal survey of 255 mental health professionals from two health boards was carried out, using a semi-structured questionnaire that contained both open and closed questions. The responses obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis as appropriate.

Results: The response rate was 35% so results must be interpreted cautiously. Self-help groups are used particularly in the management of addictive behaviours, and are also considered useful in cases of mood disorder. In general, self-help organisations are seen as providing support to patients and their families; information on mental illness/health to the general public; and lobbying for services relevant to the needs of their members. Respondents were concerned that the philosophy and programme of a group should not conflict with established models of mental health. The impact of the organisational structure of the multi-disciplinary team on the referral pattern of the different mental health professions, and the role of group availability and accessibility on the decision to refer a patient to a self-help group is commented upon.

Conclusions: While some professionals see a role for self-help organisations in the mental health care system, reservations expressed about a possible clash between selfhelp groups' approach and professional mental healthcare practice need to be addressed so that the potential of both positions can be realised.

Alcoholics Anonymous has developed an oral tradition for teaching people to alter their relation to their own desires and their own freedom fundamentally, teaching that is done through practice rather than through ideas. Our study of AA's innovative organisational tools for building long-lasting mutual-help groups shows that the same tools that build the organisation also exemplify and embody the organisation's ethical worldview. To that extent, AA's group practices are worth studying not only from the point of view of learning about bottom-up, non-expert-led networks but also to shed light on the development of a popular pragmatist ethics in which little techniques – anonymity, the focus on the 24-hour cycle, etc. – deconstruct the Kantian distinction between means and ends.

This study of the everyday ethics of AA members argues that AA's unique role in the history of popular ethical practices can be traced to several original features. First, AA incorporates elements of the disease model of alcoholism while remaining fundamentally a spiritual programme, thus mapping an important hybrid terrain often ignored by students of medicalisation. Secondly, AA was able to steer away from the political controversies about temperance, prohibition, and control of alcoholic beverages that had made the old temperance movement founder. Thirdly and most importantly, AA uniquely managed to combine the once-in-a-lifetime experience of total transformation that is characteristic of religious conversion with the development of a series of slogans and mental techniques for dealing with the ‘trivial’ details of life. This paper first outlines the hybrid terrain of AA, between medicine and religion, and then examines a few of the techniques that are at the core of AA's success, including anonymity, the Higher Power, and the twenty-four hour cycle.

The experiences and needs of mothers who lose a newborn twin were explored by sending semistructured questionnaires to 14 bereaved mothers. All mothers continued to think of the surviving child as a twin. Six had feelings of resentment towards the survivor. All felt their loss had been underestimated. Support could be improved by acknowledging the mother's grief and encouraging her to talk about the dead baby. Zygosity should be determined and reminders, such as photographs (of the babies together) and ultrasound scans, provided. All parents should be offered counselling and the opportunity to meet similarly bereaved parents.