New Release Books by Ellen Mitchell

Nine women from a support group of mothers who had lost children offer their unique perspective, comfort, and advice for bereaved parents, candidly discussing the grieving process, the impact of grief on personal relationships, and the different ways in which mothers and fathers cope with the pain. Original. 10,000 first printing.

Studies of children in foster care have reported higher rates of medical problems and chronic conditions than reported for children in the general population. Although parent reports have been used to assess health in epidemiological studies, substitute caregiver reports have not been examined in foster care studies of physical health. Studies in this area have primarily conducted record reviews, reporting widely varying estimates; few studies have examined the impact of potentially related demographic and foster care specific factors. The present study assessed physical health through record review of medical problems and substitute caregiver reports of children''s general health status (excellent, good, fair/poor). These two indicators were compared with health indices derived from epidemiological studies and from other foster care studies. Logistic and multinomial regression analyses were conducted to examine potentially predictive factors of the health indicators, including sociodemographic factors (i.e., age, ethnicity) and aspects specific to foster care (i.e., maltreatment exposure, placement type). Results revealed 25% of this foster care cohort had a serious medical problem; a prevalence lower than the rate of chronic conditions for children in the general population, and lower than rates of medical problems and chronic conditions reported for children in other foster care samples. However, a smaller proportion of children in the foster care cohort (44.1%) were reported by their substitute caregivers to be in excellent health relative to children in the general population (52.5%), and a larger proportion was reported to be in fair/poor health (11.6% and 1.9%, respectively). Substitute caregiver reports of health status were related to medical problems, providing limited evidence of their validity. Both predictive regression analysis models were statistically significant. Results indicated that younger children and those living in non-relative foster care were more likely to have medical problems and lower reported health status. Medical problems were also more likely among those identified as drug exposed at birth; and reported health status was lower for African American children than for Caucasian children. The limitations of the present study, as well as the implications for future research, are discussed.

"Death can be beautiful," is the lesson Ellen Mitchell learned when she joined the staff of a large hospital in the Midwest. She realized the hospital staff''s dedication was to make people well. But, as a Hospice Chaplain, she was devoted to a different aspect, that of comforting those who would not get well, and their loved ones.