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Psychology of Sport Injury by John Hell Human Kinetics (Europe), PO Box IW14, Leeds LS16 6TR, 1993 (ISBN 0 87322 463 463 9 [case], 0 8801 1 564 5 [paper]). Illus. 338 pages €19 50

This book is a practical applied guide to ‘the psychology of sport injury’. It is written for athletes, sport psychologists, clinical psychol- ogists, sport participants, sport therapists, physicians, athletic trainers and coaches. The author sets out to provide a systematic and comprehensive text which focuses on sport participants, but suggests the book may also apply to anyone who relies on physical and mental prowess for effective perfor- mance. The author perhaps falls short of achieving this latter aim and in providing a text which will satisfy such a diverse group;

however he dochs provide an infor- mative book for professionals working in sport medicine.

Interesting anecdotes make the text easy and interesting to read, with the reader benel‘iting from an obvious wealth of practical experi- ence, although in places these ideas are not robustly backed up by the scientific literature. The book is split into six sections: parts 1 ,4 and 5 are extremely usc>ful for phys- iotherapists, with section 4 being particularly strong in the way it describes strategies for profes- sionals to approach the treatment of individuals recovering from sport injury. The problem of pain in rehabilitation is dealt with in an excellent and fresh manner, with various pain management ideas being discussed which are

pertinent to all clinicians. This book is easy to read, well set

out, with logical flow of chapters and clear diagrams which comple- ment the prose. It is nicely bound and a good size to handle. No previous book devotes itself to this area, and as such it provides a good background text and base to start from. However, due to the year when this book was published, and the rapid growth in this area, there is a certain amount of research not covered.

This book is extremely pertinent to physiotherapists working with sportsmen, and certainly a useful text for individuals t o buy at a reasonable price.

Helen Dawes MMedSci MCSP

Software Package Home Care for the Stroke Patient Churchill Livingstone Interactive Publications Exercises (CLIP-EX)

A PhysioTools Compatible collection, based on the book Home Care for the Stroke Patient by Margaret Johnstone, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, €150.

In reviewing this software package, one must first say a little about PhysioTools, which is a software package, for installation on per- sonal computers, tha t runs with MicrosoftB WindowsTM. The package enables the user to compile custom- made exercise regimes, utilising various PhysioTools-compatible collections (or ‘databases’) of exer- cise illustrations and instructions.

Fully illustrated and explanatory exercise sheets can be printed out for individual patients, and sheets of general exercise regimes for specific clinical problems can also be prepared.

Various PhysioTools-compatible exercise collections now exist for use within the software, some produced by PhysioTools themselves, and some by other publishers. Owners can even use their own illustrations, if they have any, as the appropriate graphical software files.

The package reviewed consists of PhysioTools software, combined with a collection of exercises based on Margaret Johnstone’s well-

known neurological physiotherapy text. The whole package is produced by CLlP-EX, the interactive publica- tions arm of Churchill Livingstone.

Following installation of the soft- ware, one must first learn to operate it. Despite being fairly familiar with personal computers, I did not find this package very easy to use. Unlike some Windows-compatible software it was not so intuitive and friendly to use as it could be.

More particularly, however, the manual left something to be desired. Many examples of excellent instruc- tion manuals exist, but this did not appear to be one of them. Whether the manual’s general instructional content originates from Churchill Livingstone or I’hysioTools is not clear, though the latter seems likely.

Keen computer users will usually struggle through and master new software. The target audience for this package, however, presumably consists of largely of professionals who still have to be fklly won over to the use of computers in the clinical workplace. For this reason I feel tha t the package in general and the manual in particular still have some way to go.

Moving on to this specific exercise collection, my views are equivocal. For neurological physiotherapists who adhere closely to Margaret

Johnstone’s therapeutic techniques, this package would presumably be ideal. (Those therapists would of course also have to be keen computer users, willing to tackle some of the potential problems described above.)

For those people who are not specific users of this therapeutic approach, however, the 130-plus exercise illustrations and instrur- tions which are incorporated might be of limited use. As an example, I tried to use the package to prepare general exercise sheets for a patient with hemiplegia, but was disap- pointed to find tha t the desired collection could not be generated.

The illustrations in this collection are taken from Johnstone’s texts Home Care for the Stroke Patient and Restoration o f Normal Move- ment After Stroke. Knowing this, it should be a fairly easy matter for potential purchasers to ascertain the extent to which this package is likely to be of use to them.

Overall, PhysioTools software still has some way to go to be a major ‘force’ in clinical practice, but it is getting there. So far as the specific Johnstone collection which is incorporated in this package is concerned, this could really only be of use to strict adherents to this therapeutic approach, who must also be fairly keen and computer- literate users of the technology.

Martin J Watson MSc MCSP

Physiotherapy, November 1997, vol83, no 11