The article presents the case for stronger public policies in support of urban gardening as a means to improve public health. It considers several beneficial aspects of gardening, such as food security, economic development, exercise, psychological and community well-being, and environmental stewardship. It also considers some of the public health problems associated with urban agriculture and suggests policies to ameliorate them. In the balance, urban gardening has potential as an important element of urban public health.

Practice placement education is an essential component of health professional programmes. The number of students with a disability entering health professional education programmes is anticipated to rise, yet research about the perspectives of students with a disability is limited, especially related to practice placement education. Therefore, the need to investigate student experiences has intensified. In this study, qualitative research methodology was used to investigate the perceptions, feelings and experiences of health professional students with a disability during practice placement education. Five health professional students, recruited from a regional university in New South Wales, Australia, participated in semi-structured, individual interviews. A phenomenological approach was used. Following inductive analysis of the data, three themes reflecting the students' experience of practice placement education emerged: the impact of disability, including the barriers and the strategies used to overcome these; the experiences of practice placement education, including the feelings of the participants; and support, which came from the practice placement educator, the university staff, family and friends. This pilot study provides valuable insight into the perspectives of these students about practice placement education. The findings reinforce the need for further exploration of the unique experiences of students with a disability to ensure success within their university programme and future profession.

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Two models of recovery based on the concepts of independence and interdependence are contrasted from a feminist perspective. Drawing on social and psychological analyses, the authors critique the overemphasis of independence as the goal of health care and instead advocate a more relational model of therapy that reinforces social and emotional connections between people. Two narratives from occupational therapy are used to illustrate the differing assumptions underlying these models. The authors discuss some of the structural and interactional barriers to the expression of interdependence in health care institutions. They suggest that through purposefully sharing practice experiences and instating collaborative, nonhierarchical models of organization, practitioners can begin to overcome these barriers.