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The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the evidence for the use of on‐line forums within education and their use in working with service users with mental health problems. The paper also outlines the key characteristics of the online facilitator. The authors propose that nurse education is well placed to develop students on‐line forum participation and moderation programme.

The authors reviewed the literature to assess the current evidence.

Much of the literature was international, mainly from Asia Pacific, the USA and Europe but there was limited research and position papers from the UK. The use of forums was discussed but there is a paucity of research, particularly in relation to the use of on‐line forums within mental health. The literature identifies and gives an insight into the complexities of using on‐line forums.

Research limitations: this is a systematic literature review but only English language papers were consulted. Also the authors drew on their personal experiences of working with students in an on‐line learning environment to inform this paper. Implications: educators need to develop a change in attitude with regard to the use of on‐line learning. Many are used to face‐to‐face teaching and still regard it as the most stimulating and appropriate way for knowledge development. Specific collaborative and interactive skills are considered to be desirable when engaging in on‐line forums. These have to be learned by both the moderator and the students. Mental health nurses should be encouraged to perceive the skills of forum facilitation in a positive way when engaging with service users and can add to their repertoire of skills.

The authors suggest that more research is needed within this area on on‐line forums, with particular emphasis on how student nurses engage in on‐line forums. It is felt that nurses, given proper preparation and effective training, are well placed to carry out the role. Partnership working could be developed with universities and NHS Trusts to develop Trust's staff skills and expertise in the moderation of forums, as universities have the skills and experience. However supervision would be essential for moderators to develop appropriate pedagogic tools to facilitate what is a complex process.

The authors suggest making better use of available technology and empowering the service user to take ownership of the way they engage with professionals.

This appears to be an area that is under researched and considering the increasing usage of social networking as a means of peer support, there is scope for this to be transferred to professional practice.

That the health of the body is very closely connected with the nature and quantity of the food we take is a statement in the nature of a self‐evident proposition. When we desist from eating food, starvation sets in after a longer or shorter period, according to the individual; when we eat too much or drink too much, distressing symptoms as inevitably supervene. Moreover, the quantity of food or drink consumed is not the only factor. The quality also is a matter of supreme importance, as in cases of malnutrition, while the various forms of blood disease, more or less loosely classed together as anæmia, appear to be associated to some extent with the question of nourishment. Without going so far as extreme partisans do who would seek to prove that all diseases are ultimately due to the consumption of unsuitable food, as witness, for instance, the views of the more advanced vegetarians and fruitarians, who attribute cancer and other maladies to the eating of meat, it is obvious that a very close connection exists between the health of the body and the nature of our food supply.

IN order to be able to discriminate with certainty between butter and such margarine as is sold in England, it is necessary to carry out two or three elaborate and delicate chemical processes. But there has always been a craving by the public for some simple method of determining the genuineness of butter by means of which the necessary trouble could be dispensed with. It has been suggested that such easy detection would be possible if all margarine bought and sold in England were to be manufactured with some distinctive colouring added—light‐blue, for instance—or were to contain a small amount of phenolphthalein, so that the addition of a drop of a solution of caustic potash to a suspected sample would cause it to become pink if it were margarine, while nothing would occur if it were genuine butter. These methods, which have been put forward seriously, will be found on consideration to be unnecessary, and, indeed, absurd.

In 1899 the medical practitioners of Dublin were confronted with an outbreak of a peculiar and obscure illness, characterised by symptoms which were very unusual. For want of a better explanation, the disorder, which seemed to be epidemic, was explained by the simple expedient of finding a name for it. It was labelled as “beri‐beri,” a tropical disease with very much the same clinical and pathological features as those observed at Dublin. Papers were read before certain societies, and then as the cases gradually diminished in number, the subject lost interest and was dropped.

Legal solvency tests play a crucial role in high‐stakes financial transactions. This article presents a brief introduction to legal solvency tests that play important roles in bankruptcy and corporate law. The author then proceeds to analyze these tests from the perspective of financial economics, and argues that optimal solvency tests should be context‐dependent.

Branching Out is a 12‐week ecotherapy programme for clients who use mental health services within the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. Over the course of a year 110 clients attended the programme, of whom 77 (70%) completed the course. In order to ascertain the outcomes of the programme and the elements that appeared to facilitate change, semi‐structured interviews with clients (n=28) and two focus groups with clinicians (n=5 and n=3) from the referring services were conducted.The data gathered therein was analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). From the results, five themes emerged as client outcomes. These were: improvements to mental well‐being, improvements to physical health, provision of daily structure and routine, transferable knowledge and skill acquisition, and increased social networking and social skills development. Three themes pertaining to the service logistics (team building and social inclusion, contrast of environments and work and recognition) emerged as potential explanations for the client outcomes. There was a perception among clients and clinicians that Branching Out represented a ‘stepping stone to further community engagement’. The results reflect a recovery‐oriented approach to health care. The limitations of the evaluation and implications for the future are discussed.

4–6 June 1982: University of Adelaide, Australia WOMEN AND LABOUR CONFERENCE The third conference in this successful series (over 2000 people attended the second conference in Melbourne in May 1980). The convenors say in their policy statement:‐“The Third Women and Labour Conference intends to encourage research and experience sharing which furthers women's understanding of their participation in Australian society and in the workforce, and examines strategies for change.” Enquiries to the Convenors, Women and Labour Conference, c/o Salisbury College of Advanced Education, Smith Road, Salisbury East, South Australia 5109. Send $5 (or more if writing from outside Australia) for subscription to the Conference Bulletins, which describe the preparations.

This article examines single baby boom consumers on demographic and psychographic dimensions tested in a survey of 267 respondents. We found differences between singles and marrieds in social self‐image, age identification, nature and frequency of leisure activities, and shopping habits. Singles are characterized as “Social Seekers” because they socialize more and show more concern with their social image than marrieds. Marketing implications exist for a variety of products related to gender and marital status.