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Common mental disorders are not only highly prevalent in primary health-care settings but also negatively affect patients’ quality of life (QoL). This study aims to assess the levels of QoL among patients with common mental disorders seeking care from a monk healer or primary care setting and to determine the comparative QoL of users in two different types of care settings in Thailand.

Consecutively attending clients or patients (N = 1251) of three faith healing or three health centres were assessed with measures of depression, anxiety and somatization disorder and QoL.

The overall QoL was 67.8 and among the four QoL domains, social QoL was the highest (72.3), followed by physical QoL (69.4), environmental QoL (64.8) and psychological QoL (64.6). In adjusted linear regression analyses, sociodemographic factors, such as higher educational level, being employed, having high debt and consulting a health centre, were associated with higher overall QoL. Compared to being a client with a monk healer, patients at a health centre had a higher overall QoL, environmental and psychological QoL. Having a general anxiety or major depressive disorder was negatively associated with overall QoL and all four QoL sub-domains, whereas somatization disorder was not associated with any QoL sub-domains.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate QoL in common mental disorder attenders with a monk healer in comparison with primary care patients. Primary care patients with a common mental disorder had significantly higher overall QoL (p<0.01), higher psychological QoL (p<0.001) and higher environmental QoL (p<0.001) than clients with a common mental disorder attending monk healers. This study extends previous research showing a negative association between anxiety and depressive disorders and QoL calling for integration of QoL in the management of common mental disorders in both complementary and public primary care in Thailand.

The paper's aim is to determine the role of non‐profit organizations (NPOs) in filling possible gaps in primary health care (PHC) service provision.

District (n=10) and sub‐district needs (n=14) analyses were conducted in five South African provinces. In each case, the district/sub‐district manager was interviewed using a semi‐structured interview guide.

The service gaps identified were understaffing/lack of capacity, difficulty in retaining and recruiting staff, service disparities, inaccessibility of services/low‐service utilisation and limited funding. It was believed that NPOs could fill these gaps. About 83 per cent perceived the relationship between government and NPOs as good. Contract monitoring, quality of service, communication and quality control were said to be unsatisfactory. The majority of sub‐districts (11) indicated that they provided supplies to NPOs; 50 per cent perceived the relationship between the sub‐districts and NPOs as good or very good. NPOs have critical role to play in PHC service delivery.

The study provides critical information required to make informed effective strategic decisions that support district/sub‐district performance and sustainability in a decentralized health system.

After some introductory words about the preeminence of German accounting research during the first half of the 20th century, the paper offers a survey of the most important theories of accounts classes that still prevailed during the first two decades or longer. Following World War I, the issue of hyperinflation in Austria and Germany stimulated a considerable amount of original accounting research. After the inflationary period, a series of competing Bilanztheorien, discussed in the text, dominated the scene. Two figures emerged supremely from this struggle. The first was Eugen Schmalenbach, with his “dynamic accounting”, a series of further important contributions to inflation accounting, to the master chart of accounts, to cost accounting, and to other areas of business economics. The other scholar was Fritz Schmidt, with his organic accounting theory that promoted replacement values and his emphasis on the profit and loss account, no less than the balance sheet. The gamut of further eminent personalities, listed in chronological order, contains the following names: Schär, Penndorf, Leitner, Gomberg, Nicklisch, Rieger, Prion, Osbahr, Passow, Dörfel, Sganzini, Walb, Calmes, Kalveram, Meithner, Lion, Töndury, Mahlberg, le Coutre, Geldmacher, Max Lehmann, Leopold Mayer, Karl Seidel, Alfred Isaac, Mellerowicz, Seyffert, Beste, Gutenberg, Käfer, Seischab, Kosiol, Münstermann, and others. Separate Sections or Sub‐Sections are devoted to charts and master charts of accounts in German accounting theory, as well as to cost accounting and the writing of accounting history.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an outline of German corporate governance.

The history of the German Corporate Governance Code is highlighted. Then a short overview of the acceptance of the code by companies in practice is given which is based on an empirical survey. This is followed by the most recent changes as well as an overview of the developments of corporate governance in Europe. Finally, a summary of the current discussion of codetermination in terms of company management in Germany is provided.

This appraisal, accompanied by a high degree of approval of the code, shows that, on the one hand, its stipulations partly break with tradition and, on the other hand, have undergone frequent changes: in a period of four years, already four amendments have been made.

The paper offers insight into issues of corporate governance in Germany.

The use of technical terms to communicate accounting information can lead to misunderstandings when the meaning of such terms is not fully appreciated by the recipient of the information. The discipline of translation studies suggests that full equivalence in translation between languages is rare. This suggests that the risk of misunderstanding is exacerbated when technical terms are translated into another language. This paper examines the implications of mistranslations of technical terms in the context of theories from linguistics, which suggest that language influences the way we think. It uses three examples of accounting terminology to illustrate these problems. It concludes that the choice of an inappropriate label in the translation of accounting terminology is detrimental to international accounting communication and creates problems for users and preparers of translated financial statements as well as for researchers in, and students of, international accounting and for those involved in harmonisation and standardisation of accounting.