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Older adults and their families, geriatricians and gerontological practitioners, other health care providers, and social policy makers are invested in finding ways to prevent health and safety problems so that older adults can remain in their homes safely and independently. Family life education and problem-prevention programs designed for older adults are cost-effective ways of trying to avoid or prevent problems before they occur. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the use of multiple segment factorial vignettes as an educational method to promote safety and health.

Multiple segment factorial vignettes (MSFVs) are short stories comprised of two to five separate segments. In research, MSFVs have been used to study attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors. MSFVs also have potential for use in interventions with individuals, couples, and families. We present an example of the use of MSFVs in an intervention project in which we taught the family members and friends of older adults who lived alone how to use MSFVs in collaborative problem-solving with older adults about maintaining their independence safely in their homes. The MSFV method was easily learned by project participants, readily individualized to fit the situations of older individuals, and the participants enjoyed using them.

MSFVs were effective in changing behaviors and cognitions of older adults.

We present issues to consider for practitioners who want to develop and utilize MSFVs in interventions. Examples of MSFVs as interventions are presented and limitations to MSFVs are discussed.

Stepgrandparent-stepgrandchild relationships are increasingly common as a result of relatively high rates of divorce and remarriage and increased longevity. When relationships are close, stepgrandparents may be valuable resources for stepgrandchildren, but the relational processes salient to the development of these ties remain largely unknown. The purposes of our research were: (1) to explore the complexity of stepgrandparent-stepgrandchild relationships, and (2) to examine processes that affected stepgrandparent-stepgrandchild relationship development.

We present results from four grounded theory projects, which were based on semistructured interviews with 58 stepgrandchildren who provided data about 165 relationships with stepgrandparents. Collectively, these studies highlighted key processes of stepgrandparent-stepgrandchild relationship development operating within four distinct pathways to stepgrandparenthood – long-term, later life, skip-generation, and inherited pathways.

Stepgrandchildren’s closeness to stepgrandparents was influenced by factors such as timing (the child’s age and when in their life courses intergenerational relationships began), stepgrandparents’ roles in the life of the middle-generation parent and the quality of those relationships, whether or not the stepfamily defined the stepgrandparent as kin (e.g., through the use of claiming language), intergenerational contact frequency, and stepgrandparents’ affinity-building.

Our study furthers understanding of stepgrandparent-stepgrandchild by attending to the importance of context in examining the processes that affect intergenerational steprelationship development. Exploring processes related to intergenerational steprelationships strengthens our understanding of the benefits and challenges associated with steprelationship development. Our study also sheds light on the “new look at kinship” and the processes that inform the social construction of family in a changing familial landscape.

Salesforce turnover rates are increasing dramatically. As a result, retention of good salespeople is a critical concern for sales managers. It is suggested that salesforce turnover can be reduced through the use of better selection criteria. To that end, a multiple criteria approach is outlined for organisations to use in the salesforce selection process. The use of this approach will result in a better, long‐run fit between the organisation and its salespeople, thereby reducing turnover and improving customer satisfaction.

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.

Proclaims that in recent years there has been considerable research examining the benefits of social connectedness for a variety of outcomes, such as health and general well being. Argues, while bonding capital is beneficial to the self‐interest of the individual or small group, bridging capital is what is necessary to build a collective identity as a nation. Concludes that because people have varying access, with regard to formal organizations, their ability to use social capital for their benefit, and the benefit of their communities, may be of short‐term duration.