This volume is the result of the 1991 Third Annual Kent Psychology Forum and it investigates the ways families affect and are affected by health and illness. The text is divided into three sections, the first discussing family perspectives on prevention of illness, family health beliefs and family dynamcis as they relate to the maintenance of health. Part two focuses on family reactions to illness and successful and unsuccessful patterns of response. Various perspectives on the involvement of families in the treatment of illness are presented. Lastly, part three focuses on professional intervention in family grief. It is aimed at practising psychiatrists, psychologists, medical sociologists, social workers, health professionals and nurses dealing with family medicine and therapy plus graduate level teachers, students and practising trainees from other fields.