ageing

1. Media Reviews
Muscle Pain: Understanding its Nature,
Diagnosis and Treatment
by S. Mense, D.G. Simons and
I.J. Russell.
Lippincott Williams and Wilkins,
Philadelphia, 2001, 385 pages, £35Æ00,
ISBN 0 683 05928 9.
As an individual who regularly suffers
with myofascial pain caused by trigger
points and post-exercise muscle soreness (the latter not regularly enough)
the prospect of reviewing this book
caused great excitement. More importantly, muscle pain is the most common reason for seeking healthcare and
a leading cause of disability. The text
aims to bridge the gap between basic
research on muscle pain and clinical
management. The information is clearly
laid out with an index and summary at
the beginning of each chapter and
informative illustrations throughout.
Early chapters set the tone for the
book outlining the basic principles,
defining terms and challenging the
current theories surrounding the progression of acute pain to chronic pain.
The authors provide detailed information of recent laboratory research,
which is often based on animal models, and a basic knowledge of neuroanatomy and physiology is required.
The chapters progress in a logical
sequence through the subject, critically
examining topics such as localized,
neuropathic and referred pain. Subsequent chapters explore increased muscle tension, reflex-mediated pain,
postural pain, centrally modified pain
and myofascial pain associated with
trigger points. These sections are largely
devoted to the research and measurement of pain and medical management
in the form of drug therapy. Disappointingly, adjunct therapies and a
multidisciplinary approach to pain
management are not explored in any
depth. The exception to this is the
chapter on myofascial pain caused by
trigger points which examines a range
400
of treatment modalities including selfmanagement techniques.
Jon Russell contributes to the book by
writing the final chapter on fibromyalgia
syndrome, a recently recognized condition that is not fully understood. This
excellent section encapsulates the sufferer’s experience and outlines a truly
holistic and multimodal approach to its
management supported with current
research. Despite the medical focus, this
book would prove to be an extremely
valuable resource for clinical nurse specialists or those wishing to further their
knowledge about individuals with muscle pain.
Emma Briggs
University of Hull, UK
The Care Assistants Portfolio Part I, II
& III
Health Care Assistants Programme,
Radcliffe Medical Press, Abingdon,
individual parts £45.00, all three parts
£120.00. Further information at http://
www.radcliffe-oxford.com/education/
E06_The_Health_Care_Assistants_
Programme/
The concept of life-long learning has
taken firm hold in the UK at governmental and National Training Organization levels. A continuum of training,
education and qualifications now exists
within the health and social care sectors. For many this raises fears of a
potentially reductionist and mechanistic
constraint of training and education,
atomising learning into quantifiable,
empirically verifiable competence statements. It may be argued that this
ignores the fostering of critical judgement and analytic depth so necessary in
health care professionals. For others,
however, the development of competence-based approaches to learning heralds recognition of the value of all
levels of health care practitioner, and
seeks to link qualifications appropriately
to role and task. It is in this context
that the three portfolios are located and
over-simplistic pronouncements about
reductionism or competence may
detract form the potential these
materials have in promoting learning
within the health sector.
The Care Assistants Portfolio comprises three open learning files dealing
with working with people, issues of
protection and aspects of care pertinent
to health care assistants. The format is
accessible, easy to complete and competence-based. Each portfolio contains
interactive workbooks covering common situations that build together to
form a first-stage learning programme.
The abuse of vulnerable people is covered but only briefly and this could
have been expanded. It is also surprising that specific sections in the workbooks are not dedicated to questions of
values and attitudes, although discussion of such does permeate the material.
The portfolios represent a pre-NVQ
level course and may prevent learners
taking such a programme because of
the lack of resulting formal qualification. It also lacks the depth of professionally
orientated
programmes.
Having said this, it is just this kind of
programme that is championed in the
UK Government’s modernising agenda,
in the training skills councils and
national training organizations for
health and for social care. Indeed, the
use of such training materials may
provide a pathway to widening participation in education and encouraging
learners to follow a career path in
health care. The knowledge base is
appropriate to those assisting in health
care settings. However, it must also be
remembered that knowledge often predates understanding and the development of Ôpractice wisdomÕ is essential
if these materials are going to achieve
an increase in learning and good practice amongst health care assistants.
Jonathan Parker,
University of Hull, UK
Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd

2. Media Reviews
The Biology of Ageing (a special issue of
Mechanisms of Ageing and
Development, Volume 127, no. 7, 2002)
edited by Tom B.L. Kirkwood and
Malcolm H. Goyns.
Elsevier, Oxford, annual subscription
$2,967, ISSN 0047–6374.
All the papers in the special issue of this
journal were delivered at a state of the
art symposium on the biology of ageing
at the Royal Society in London which
was jointly sponsored by the Institute of
Biology and the British Society for
Research on Ageing. The papers span
the field of biological research into
ageing from yeasts, through nematodes
and fish to human and include a contribution on the social impact of ageing by
Anthea Tinker, King’s College London,
UK.
Perhaps the most important paper, in
terms of theory, is by Tom Kirkwood,
University of Newcastle, UK who is the
author of the disposable soma theory of
ageing. This theory has really taken its
place at the top of the hierarchy of
theories of ageing and Kirkwood is now
working on empirical evidence using
secondary databases and other lines of
investigation. The papers include one
on the ageing of plants by Howard
Thomas, Institute of Grassland and
Environmental Research, Aberystweth,
Wales, UK in which the differences
between the ageing of plants and animals are explained. Fungi, nematodes
and fish are all used as model systems
for the study of ageing and the ingenuity of the laboratory scientist is displayed in the relevant papers with
contributions from the USA and Ger-
many. The place of telomeres in the
process of ageing – either as causes,
effects or just spectators – is not clear
but the arguments and evidence are
well covered by the guest editor, Malcolm Goyns, University of Sunderland,
Sunderland, UK.
The regular recipients of this journal
and those who attended the biology of
ageing symposium at the Royal Society
are lucky to have this issue of the
journal. If you teach the biology of
ageing or are merely curious then I
would strongly advise you to hunt down
this issue for yourself.
Roger Watson
Media Reviews Editor
Promoting Health: Knowledge and
Practice, 2nd edition
edited by Jeanne Katz, Alyson Peberdy
and Jenny Douglas.
The Open University in association with
Palgrave, 2000, 365 pages, £16Æ99,
ISBN 0 333 94930 7.
This interesting book provides a comprehensive, yet highly accessible, exploration of the relationship between health
promotion theory and practice. As a
second edition, it brings the reader up to
date with changes in health promotion
practice and reflects the current national
and European policy agenda. The book
contains 19 chapters arranged in four
parts. Part 1 explores the complexities
of health promotion through the analysis of a range of factors and contexts
that have shaped its meaning. Part 2
focuses on communication as a key
component of educating for health. A
Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 39(4), 400–401
range of skills and methods are examined within the context of individual
and group work, with counselling skills
cited as central to contemporary health
education practice. A chapter on mass
media included within this section identifies the scope of new technologies as
well as the more traditional campaign
strategies of media advocacy and social
marketing. Part 3 critically explores the
nature and sources of health information. The first chapter in this section
includes a useful case study based on
BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) to illustrate the complexities associated with what counts as evidence.
Subsequent chapters cover the disciplines of demography and epidemiology, the analysis of data and planning
frameworks for health promotion practice.
The fourth and final part examines a
number of dilemmas associated with
evaluating health promotion, in addition to equipping the reader with the
knowledge required to design and execute evaluation of both small and large
scale health promotion interventions.
This book makes valuable reading to
all those involved in health promotion
and public health. Its focus on the
current policy agenda, the skilful linkage
of theory and practice and the inclusion
of boxed activities makes it particularly
useful in encouraging practitioners to
engage in reflection to appraise critically
the quality of their health promotion
practice.
Gillian Barrett
University of the West of England, UK
401