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This document presents the proceedings of the National Disability Statistics and Policy Forum. Preliminary material includes an introduction (Mitchell P. LaPlante) and highlights of each presentation. Presentations are then grouped by session. Session titles and presenters were: (1) "Trends in Disability Prevalence" (Mitch LaPlante, Vicki Freedman, Gene Lowrimore, and Tony Young); (2) "Significance of Trends"(Lois M. Verbrugge, Jacob Feldman, and James Perrin); (3) "The Role of Trend Monitoring: Public Health and Social Perspectives" (Don Lollar, Glenn Fujiura, John Hough, Janet Guerrero, and Jane West); and (4) "Building Better Tools for Disability Trend Monitoring" (David Moriarty, Gale Whiteneck, Jamal Mazrui, and Mary Grace Kovar). Highlights of discussions following presentations in each session are also included. The keynote speech by Katherine D. Seelman, Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, focuses on the application of "the new paradigm of disability" to the research agenda. A summary of the conference and a list of participants completes the document. (DB)

This proceedings reports on a forum which explored housing statistics for people with disabilities. An introduction identifies three broad areas of recommendations for consideration that arose from the forum: (1) a definition (and taxonomy) of housing that meets current and future profiles of where people actually live should be developed: (2) descriptive statistics on the housing characteristics of people living in the community and their service needs are required; and (3) research on the impact of housing on the health, well-being, and quality of life of individuals with disabilities should be undertaken. The next section offers highlights of individual presentations. The full texts are then presented for two panel discussions, a keynote speech (by Roberta Achtenberg, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development), and reports from working groups. The first panel addressed the need for better data on housing for people with disabilities and the second panel considered the strengths and weaknesses of federal surveys. Two working groups also provided reports on disability housing statistics and policy needs for housing data. Also included are a list of participants and an appendix, "An Assessment of National Statistics on Supportive or Assisted Living for Those with Disability" (Robert Maynard and Robert Newcomer). (DB)

A project to develop an automated index of information about existing computerized instruction in the health sciences is reported and described. Methods of obtaining and indexing materials for the catalog are detailed. Entry and recovery techniques and selection of descriptors are described. Results to date show that the data base contains information on 226 units of computerized teaching material, broken down into categories of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy. Plans for broadening the base and updating it regularly are discussed. (SK)

A graduate academic program in medical information science has been established at the University of California, San Francisco, for the education of scientists capable of performing research and development in information technology in the health care setting. This interdisciplinary program, leading to a Doctor of Philosophy degree, consists of an introductory series of courses in medical information, computer sciences, medical systems analysis, and measurement and evaluation, followed by advanced course work and dissertation research. Students are conducting dissertation research on a variety of problems arising from the proliferation of medical knowledge and the increased need for management of medical data. Faculty and student research is supported by a Laboratory of Medical Information Science, an on-line computer facility which acts as an institutional focus for work on medical information systems. Work in progress includes systems for pharmacy management and utilization review, studies on human factors in information systems, and analysis of clinical decision-making. (Author)

Proceedings from a conference on minority women in the health sciences are compiled. The conference participants included social scientists, nurses, health educators, physicians, and academic administrators representing institutions and programs throughout the United States. The role of minority women as health care providers was addressed as well as the problems and concerns of minority professional women. The goals of the conference included: assessment of the current state of research and knowledge about professional minority women's experiences, identification of areas for further research, compiling of recommendations, and creating an atmosphere where minority women and men professionals could meet and discuss one another's work and exchange ideas. The following papers are included: "Making Ourselves Visible: Evolution of Career Status and Self-Image of Minority Professional Women" (Sharon Collins); "The Nature of Professional Training for Minority Women: An Overview" (Vicki Alexander); "Culture Conflicts In Professional Training of Minority Women" (Jewelle Taylor Gibbs); "Being A Minority Professional Woman" (Loma K. Flowers); "Recommendations and Research Issues" (Cecilia Preciado Burciaga); "Directions in National Health Policy: Implications for the Participation of Minority Women in Medicine" (Gleoria Bradley-Sapp); and "Minority--Professional--Women: The Creative Tension" (Margaret B. Wilkerson). A conference agenda, bibliography, list of conference participants, and conference evaluations are included. (SF)

The proceedings of a conference on women's leadership and authority in the health professions is presented. Following the opening remarks by Patricia Borne, speeches by Lucy Geiselman on the history of women in the health sciences and Sheryl Ruzek on the purpose of the conference are presented. The keynote address by Norma Juliet Wikler on the status of women in the health professions is provided. The following seven topics (and representative speech titles) are considered: (1) the informal organization of leadership and authority ("Development of Feminist Networks in the Health Sciences"--Arlene Kaplan Daniels); (2) further barriers to moving up ("Go Hire Yourself a Mentor"--Mary P. Rowe"; (3) career patterns ("Continuity and Noncontinuity in the Careers of a Sample of Young Women Physicians"--Lillian Kaufman Cartwright); (4) abstracts of published works and works in progress ("Becoming Professional"--Rue Bucher and Joan G. Stelling); (5) different structures of leadership authority ("Women in Decision Making"--Suzanne Estler); (6) innovative programs ("Reduced-Schedule Graduate Medical Education: A Status Report"--Eileen Shapiro and Shirley G. Driscoll); and (7) directions for change ("Androgynous Maturity and the Nurse Practitioner"--Martha Sturm White). An approximately 150-item bibliography, a list of conference participants, and summary evaluation are appended. (PHR)

Although studies of social contact and mutual aid between the elderly and their children suggest impressive potentials for family supports, much less is known of this potential in a situation of illness and dependency. The family's potential at that stage when the older person's health deteriorates to the point that some external support is required was examined. Subjects were 170 families drawn from hospital discharge records and interviewed two weeks later. Findings indicate that, while the motivation of children to provide support was unusually high, situational impediments were likely to intervene, and center on job responsibilities, care of other dependents, and higher priorities on the marriage and family of orientation. The major family caretaker was likely to be a spouse or sibling, often in poor health himself. Despite the numerous difficulties experienced by those in poor health who were being cared for by others in the same status, a high valuation on their own independence prevented the search for other alternatives. (Author)

In October 1976, under a grant from NIMH to the Human Sexuality Program, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, the Sex and Disability Training Project began training physically disabled and nondisabled persons as sociosexual educator-counselors for persons with disabilities, their intimates and families, and health care providers. The year-long training (1,000 hours/20 hours per week) included didactic and supervised field placement experience. Evaluational data, including those obtained from field placement supervisors, indicated that the 28 professionals and paraprofessionals completing the training over the three years of the project were effectively utilized to deliver a variety of services in both habilitation and rehabilitation settings. (Author)