The role of cultural dynamics and norms within families of persons with mental illness has been an underexplored subject, although the familial context has been recognized as influential. This subject was studied with 24 ultra-Orthodox Jewish mothers of persons with mental illness who live in a relatively closed religious community. While participating in the Keshet educational program designed for family caregivers in mental health, they wrote Meaningful Interactional Life Episodes that involved a dialogue exchange in their lives. Qualitative analysis of 50 episodes illuminates the significant role that religious and cultural norms have in the perceptions of what are considered stressors and the dynamics in these families surrounding these stressors. The necessity and value of incorporating cultural competence into family educational programs and interventions is emphasized, as this may contribute to the potential use and success of mental health service models within a population that essentially underutilizes these services.

Forty nine family members who participated in the "Keshet" program for 6 months comprised the experimental group. The control group comprised 22 family members who underwent no structural intervention. Hope was measured at baseline and after 6 months using the Hope Scale developed by Snyder. No difference in self-perception was detected in Hope Scores between groups. However, the experimental group displayed a significant increase in their hope toward the ill relative with a concomitant decrease in the gap between hope of family members in relation to themselves versus their hope toward the ill person. "Keshet" significantly increased hope of families concerning the ill person, while decreasing the gap between hope of family members regarding themselves and the affected person. Thus, the program may contribute to the increase of the families' hope in the recovery journey of mentally ill family members.

The challenge of ageing has two key aspects with regard to driving: mobility and safety. It is necessary for elderly adults to preserve independent mobility and activity; however, physical frailty and cognitive limitations have negative effects on their safety. Therefore, the issue of driving, and more specifically, the fostering of safe driving of old people, is crucial, especially due the increasing number of elderly people holding a driving license. The purpose of this Letter is to point out the complexity of elderly driving and to suggest countermeasures by acknowledging that obtaining the correct balance between safety and mobility of older drivers is a complicated and sensitive task. To address this issue, the authors suggest accommodating their driving behaviour and patterns, in light of the deteriorating driving skills, by integrating social and policy procedures and use of emerging technologies. Policy steps to support elderly drivers and their loved ones by gradually controlling driving of elderly population when this becomes risky to them may serve as a desired countermeasure according to a proved tool such as technology. Utilisation of advanced technologies can help to monitor travel and driver behaviour and ability to make the necessary alterations, based on elderly driving skills.

Keshet, a course for family members of persons' coping with mental illness, was developed to enhance positive family cognitive communication skills. Improving communication with the use of mediation techniques, primarily used by therapists, creates a learning environment viewed as a strategy of Knowledge Translation. To examine the effectiveness of Keshet in improving attitudes, problem solving, communication skills and attenuation of burden a quasi-experimental research design was applied with study and control condition. The same group of participants (N = 38) completed questionnaires at different stages: 3 months prior to course, initiation and completion. Following participation, significant changes were observed in attitudes regarding knowledge of how to cope and interact with family member. A correlation was found between improved knowledge and decline in burden. Implementing interventions which provide caregivers with professional "know-how" leads to lessened burden, thus contributing to maintaining well-being of family caregiver population.

The CTT1 may contribute to the pre-driving screening by rapidly identifying those individuals who are most at risk for unsafe driving behaviors. Further studies are required with a larger representative sample.