Home mechanical ventilation in a changing health service.

This literature review will examine the concept and feasibility of mechanical ventilation within the home environment, as opposed to hospitals or institutions, for clients requiring long-term ventilation. It will consider which clients can benefit from home ventilation programmes and the aims and drawbacks. The psychosocial and economic consequences of caring for ventilated clients in their own home, practical aspects and the possible developments of this field in the future are also considered. The review will address only adult clients who depend entirely on ventilatory support 24 hours a day or for intermittent periods within a 24-hour framework.

Human rights and mental health among Latin American women in situations of state-sponsored violence. Bibliographic resources.

PIP: The Task Force of the American Psychological Association Division 35, Psychology of Women, conducted a literature review of resources from Latin America to examine the social dimensions of state-sponsored violence in Latin America, their effects on socialization and community, and some responses of women surviving these experiences. It limited its review to works of women's groups, progressive organizations, and individual women exploring the effects of war and state-sponsored violence on women's mental health. Recurring emergent themes included the false dichotomy of violence committed against women in public versus that committed in private, silencing of women accompanies state imposed terror, collective resistance to such terror. The resources addressed 3 types of women's experiences of violence: exile within and beyond one's national borders; torture--an extreme form of state-sponsored violence; and nontraditional, culturally appropriate interventions--alternatives to Western models. This review motivated the Task Force to call on their colleagues to contribute to the on-going documentation of state-sponsored violence. Task Force members identified several areas for collaborative research and/or theory development. Psychologists should question the validity of clinical neutrality and examine the particular meanings of non-neutrality within different cultures. For example, some Latin American psychologists reject diagnoses of intrapsychic syndromes (e.g., post-traumatic stress syndrome) and propose concepts that center on the nexus of individuals and social life. The Task Force sees great opportunities for US psychologists to network and to form solidarity-based relationships with Latin American women. It has identified many women's groups working in Latin America. Human rights organizations (e.g., Americas Watch) have formed women's projects. Further work should be done to improve resource exchanges.^ieng