Pergamon hr. J. Nurs Slud., Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 641.~642, 1995

Elswer Science Ltd Punted LTI Great Britain

Book Reviews

Colour Guide to Holistic Oral Care : A Practical Approach. By J. Griffiths and S. Boyle. Mosby Europe, Aylesford, Kent. i14.95. 266 pp. ISBN 0-7234-1779-23-O.

This easily accessible text is designed to equip health care professionals with guidance and directions for most situations in which assistance with oral care is likely to be required. It is, essentially, a practical guide in which the material presented is supported by reference to a wide range of relevant research and based on the authors’ experience in delivering dental care. It does not, however, focus solely on dental care but also on the wide range of potential problems to which the oral cavity is exposed, particularly in those requiring varying degrees of support to meet their oral care needs.

The four sections, together, provide comprehensive coverage of relevant material. The first provides the core knowledge necessary in undertaking effective care focusing on the basic principles and practice of the oral care that self-caring adults would be expected to carry out and provides description of the main oral diseases. Section 2 is directed particularly towards nurses emphasising the need for a clear and logical approach to individualised care. Assessment is considered in depth reviewing a variety of methods and recognising nurses’ reluctance to carry this out and the tendency to allocate the task to the most junior member of the team! The tools and equipment appropriate to provision of oral care are considered. Thirdly, attention is directed towards ‘at risk’ groups and those with special needs, such as those with physical or mental disability, the medically compromised or those suffering from malignant disease. Here the authors suggest readers should focus simply on the chapter most appropriate to their client group where they will find an overview of their oral condition, the likely effects on oral health and the necessary modifications to oral care. The final section specifically addresses the health promotion aspects of oral health care and, in this, it is successful in showing how oral health promotion can be integrated into general health promotion.

The lack of an appropriate text to which to refer students has often been lamented. This has now been rectified; this book is highly recommended as a source of accurate and accessible information provided in a practical, easily-used format.

SUSAN HOLMES, Senior Lecturer and Director qfpostgraduate Studies, Guildford, U.K.

Caring In Crisis. By B. Wright. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh. L12.95. 208 pp. ISBN O-443-04599-2.

Understanding of ‘crisis’ is often limited yet health care workers encounter ‘crisis situations’ almost daily. This may, in time, assume personal meaning when professionals feel impotent in their ability to help distressed patients/families. Crisis intervention necessitates the ability to provide support and comfort as well as recognition that the pain, disruption and suffering experienced may persist for years; effective care requires considerable skill if affected individuals are to come through the experience in the most beneficial way. This, the second, updated version of this text, is designed to help such professionals to develop both awareness of this need and understanding of the skills required. It clearly highlights the fact that, when dealing with medical emergencies, their emotional consequences

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