The EU Physical Agents Directive on Noise, which will be implemented into UK law in February 2006, will reduce noise action levels drastically. Under the new regulations, many more industries, which have so far not been associated with high noise levels such as restaurants and call centres, will have to assess the noise levels in their businesses and monitor their employees’ hearing according to HSE guidelines. This practical guide gives occupational health nurses everything they need to know about setting up and managing hearing conservation programmes, as well as how to carry out the audiometric tests. The text fully covers the syllabus of BSA accredited courses for the certificate of competence in Industrial Audiometry and includes practical examples, case studies, sample audiograms and questionnaires for setting up case histories. As the BSA syllabus is based on the HSE’s guidelines, the book will be a useful training manual and up-to-date reference for Health and Safety professionals, Occupational Health professionals, and HSE inspectors. Dr Maryanne Maltby is an Audiological Scientist and Principal Lecturer on the Amplivox courses in Industrial Audiometry. She has previously taught Audiology and related subjects at Manchester University (Course Leader) and at Oxford Brookes University. She is a committee member of the Hearing Aid Council and a member of the British Society of Audiology. She also has wide consultancy experience in workplace training and advice on hearing conservation issues, fitting hearing protection, management of hearing and tinnitus problems at work.

Of all concepts used by family therapists, the family development framework is among the least studied, in spite of its relevance to understanding spontaneous family change and to facilitating therapeutic intervention. The notion that a "developmental difficulty" underlies the appearance of clinical symptoms has become a time-honored tradition in family therapy just as it has been in individual therapy. Yet, unlike the well-established and well-researched models of child and adult development, those in family development are rudimentary. Despite increasing interest in the family life cycle as a framework for family therapy, relatively little has been done to elucidate the specific dimensions and processes of spontaneous and therapeutically-induced change over the family life cycle. This volume gathers original contributions of some of the most prominent family theorists, researchers, and clinicians of our time to improve our understanding of these important and hitherto neglected domains. The book opens with a comprehensive overview by the editor that outlines contributions to the family life cycle framework from family sociology, and crisis theory. This is followed by a comparative analysis of developmental thinking, explicit or implicit, in the theory and interventions of the major family therapy approaches. Then divided into four parts, FAMILY TRANSITIONS introduces new conceptual models that integrate the temporality of the life cycle approach with systems theory.By their very nature, these models cut across therapeutic orientations and have important clinical applications. In Part II, family therapy's views of development are freed from the confines of the therapist's office, and placed in the context of other disciplines. Chapters provide analysis of changing--or static--sociocultural values that can affect conceptions of development; potential misuse of the concept of "cultural identity" in health, mental health, and education; how "family identity" operates as a vehicle for cultural transmission over generations; and family therapists assumptions about women's development. The role of expected and unexpected events in the family life cycle is the focus of Part III. Chapters on clinical approaches geared to dislocations of life cycle occurrences due to unexpected crises, chronic illnesses, loss, or drug abuse provide illustrations of interventions that utilize, enhance, or potentially detract from the family's developmental flow. Part IV explores the articulation of the life cycle framework within four major family therapy orientations: intergenerational, structural, systemic, and symbolic-experiential. Each of these chapters endeavors to elucidate: what is the place of family development in each orientation; concepts of continuity and change; use of the concept of stages, transitions, or developmental tasks; the specific dimensions that change in most families over time; and the links between family dysfunction and life cycle issues. Finally, each chapter illustrates through clinical example assessment strategies, formulation of treatment goals and interventions as these emerge from a particular life cycle model. FAMILY TRANSITIONS presents a significant advance in our understanding of functional and dysfunctional family development and offers a range of interventions to promote developmental change. It is an invaluable resource for clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and counselors that will also interest human development professionals, family sociologists, and family researchers. FAMILY TRANSITIONS can serve as a developmentally oriented textbook for teaching family therapy in academic and professional settings.

The EU Physical Agents Directive on Noise, which will be implemented into UK law in February 2006, will reduce noise action levels drastically. Under the new regulations, many more industries, which have so far not been associated with high noise levels such as restaurants and call centres, will have to assess the noise levels in their businesses and monitor their employees’ hearing according to HSE guidelines. This practical guide gives occupational health nurses everything they need to know about setting up and managing hearing conservation programmes, as well as how to carry out the audiometric tests. The text fully covers the syllabus of BSA accredited courses for the certificate of competence in Industrial Audiometry and includes practical examples, case studies, sample audiograms and questionnaires for setting up case histories. As the BSA syllabus is based on the HSE’s guidelines, the book will be a useful training manual and up-to-date reference for Health and Safety professionals, Occupational Health professionals, and HSE inspectors. Dr Maryanne Maltby is an Audiological Scientist and Principal Lecturer on the Amplivox courses in Industrial Audiometry. She has previously taught Audiology and related subjects at Manchester University (Course Leader) and at Oxford Brookes University. She is a committee member of the Hearing Aid Council and a member of the British Society of Audiology. She also has wide consultancy experience in workplace training and advice on hearing conservation issues, fitting hearing protection, management of hearing and tinnitus problems at work.

Millions of Americans experience some degree of hearing loss. The Social Security Administration (SSA) operates programs that provide cash disability benefits to people with permanent impairments like hearing loss, if they can show that their impairments meet stringent SSA criteria and their earnings are below an SSA threshold. The National Research Council convened an expert committee at the request of the SSA to study the issues related to disability determination for people with hearing loss. This volume is the product of that study. Hearing Loss: Determining Eligibility for Social Security Benefits reviews current knowledge about hearing loss and its measurement and treatment, and provides an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the current processes and criteria. It recommends changes to strengthen the disability determination process and ensure its reliability and fairness. The book addresses criteria for selection of pure tone and speech tests, guidelines for test administration, testing of hearing in noise, special issues related to testing children, and the difficulty of predicting work capacity from clinical hearing test results. It should be useful to audiologists, otolaryngologists, disability advocates, and others who are concerned with people who have hearing loss.