Bridging the Gap, a South Australian research based program, was designed to introduce the concepts of modern technology and some Internet skills to people over 55. Target populations included people in rural areas, those with a first language other than English and people who were frail or had a disability. Informal, interactive, hands-on Carol Irizarry, PhD, a Canadian, is Senior Lecturer at ). She has conducted research with state and federal funding into how technology can contribute to older people's quality of life.Andrew Downing, BSc, BE (Hons.), is Foundation Professor of Engineering (Biomedical) and Dean ). He has encouraged engineering to develop assistive technology and respond to older people's needs. He conducts research in the fields of disability and gerontechnology. ). She is currently undertaking a PhD investigating how technology can assist older people to age successfully. As a social worker, her interest is in aged care and community development.sessions were developed which demonstrated the concepts underpinning modern computer-based devices and their applications in society. Major findings indicated that most participants identified feeling less anxious and more confident about using modern technology after the program and that they were using a new range of computer-based skills.

This article reports on a project that examined the academic and social experiences of international social work students by tracking and exploring the points they identified as being the most stressful over their time at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. Using group consultation and individual semi-structured feed-back sessions, several common themes emerged that students reported as creating high stress; namely language comprehension, adapting to new teaching methods, finding culturally appropriate means of seeking help, and integrating into a new social setting. Students were also able to clearly identify the time periods when they felt most stressed; these being the first semester, exam periods and field placements. This study reports upon the rich descriptions obtained from these students including what they described as helpful in a new academic environment. Many of their responses paralleled the literature in regard to finding confidence and competency in foreign academic and social settings.

Findings suggest that the family and friends of older people play an important role in identifying, selecting and learning to use mobile communication technologies. The safety and emergency capabilities of mobile communications technologies were more important than having functions that could assist with independent living.

This article reports on a survey of sixty-one parents (including 27 couples) who had recently experienced the loss of an infant to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Data were collected on parents' reactions to the death, things which helped with grief, sources of solace, and attitudes to another pregnancy. Some sets of questions were presented twice: in the f m t instance the respondent reported hisher own situation and in the second instance the respondent estimated hisher partner's situation. In some areas, respondents tended to over-or under-estimate their partner's situation. Reported grief reactions and solace seeking were similar for both parents although women generally scored higher on these measures than men. More women than men wanted another pregnancy soon, while men womed more about another pregnancy than did women. It is suggested that an understanding of areas of difference may be important for SIDS parents and for practitioners who work to facilitate the grieving process.The sudden and unexpected nature of a SIDS death plunges h t h parents into crisis. They are brought together through their shared grief, partly because the other parent is the only one who shared the same kind of closeness to the baby who has died. At the same time, reactions to the death and expressions of grief are extremely individual, and the death may emphasize differences or exacerbate pre-existing relationship difficulties (Klass

There is growing recognition of the experience of non‐death‐related loss and grief. One unexplored area of non‐death‐related loss and grief is associated with older people’s transition from home to residential aged care (RAC). This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that explored the experiences of people living in RAC, carer‐relatives of people living in RAC and RAC staff. Using theories of loss and grief, the paper identifies features of the transition to RAC that are associated with unresolved loss and maladaptation to changed circumstances, and the types of support that would mitigate these. Using a series of focus groups with both residents and carer‐relatives, as well as staff, the study found that residents and their families need more support to negotiate the multiple, often necessarily hasty decisions and bureaucratic requirements associated with transitioning to RAC, while simultaneously experiencing loss and grief. The types of support that families would welcome from service providers include facilitating shared decision making, valuing family and community carer expertise and providing practical information and assistance to fulfil administrative obligations.