Women dominate the network of caregivers for dementia patients, whether as principal caregivers, supporting caregivers or formal caregivers (in all cases, they have only limited training in dementia management). Males are largely absent. Better knowledge of the care structure supporting dementia patients may be helpful in the overall management of these patients.

finds general practitioners wanting in their efforts to stop their patients smoking.' As a result of the government's banding scheme for health promotion activities in general practice we distributed a questionnaire to 6530 of our patients who attended our practice over six months. Altogether 1523 smokers were specifically asked if they would like our help in stopping smoking. A total of 365 replied affirmatively, and 100 of these were invited to attend a midweek evening meeting outlining information and help available to enable them to stop smoking. Twelve patients replied: eight accepted, three declined, and one had already stopped smoking. On the evening six smokers attended. All were counselled on a nearly one to one basis by the health professionals, who included a doctor, a health visitor, a district nurse, a practice nurse, and the district health authority's health promotion coordinator. The health professionals' view on stopping smoking was aired, and a video was shown and carbon monoxide monitoring demonstrated. The group agreed to meet one week later, when five patients attended. Two of these five have continued in their resolve to stop smoking. We are left wondering whether this operation was worthwhile in terms of its cost and the time required and whether our time might have been better used.

Patients found the migraine educational brochure to be comprehensible, a means of increasing overall knowledge of the disease, and useful for increasing control over migraines. Evaluations of the educational brochures that we provide to our patients with migraine should be studied to discover the causes of dissatisfaction, determine the level of quality of service, and investigate potential areas for improvement.

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