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A number of participatory research methodologies can be used to assist with developing assistive technologies. These methods vary in the amount that users lead and contribute to the work. Selecting the correct method can be important to ensure the overall success of the project and the engagement of users. The purpose of this paper is to explore factors that can impact on the degree of user participation.

The paper considers whether criteria, that might influence assistive technology (AT) selection made during an assessment of need, review or purchasing process, could also be used to clarify the appropriate strategies for user involvement when developing assistive technologies. It outlines how this approach has been applied to two research and development projects which aimed to improve AT provision within niche markets.

The paper demonstrates that it is possible to apply a decision making process to selecting the best participatory research method, based on factors affecting AT need. It reports on the outcomes of the user participation in the two research and development projects and discusses how this design approach has been applied to a third project.

By examining a possible framework for identifying appropriate user-participation approaches, this paper will aid those designing research and development AT projects, whilst encouraging user participation within similar projects.

The paper's aim is to focus on: two projects that investigated innovative assistive technology solutions for people who sign (uKinect) and people with print impairments (MyDocStore); and a second phase that aims to create working prototypes for commercialisation.

The approach was, in part, determined by the funding stages. In proof of concept phase, the organisations explored possibilities, identified barriers and, through user testing and feedback, refined processes. Trials are set to continue in Phase 2, when both projects will extend and improve functionality. uKinect applies gesture recognition and Microsoft's Kinect to the communication needs of Makaton sign language users. MyDocStore uses Cloud, desktop and mobile‐based file management to facilitate transfer of text files, converted into the user's preferred format, between devices. Both employ user‐centred development.

uKinect helped signing learners to improve the clarity of their signing, while its linking of signing with computer games encouraged non‐signing students to decide to learn. MyDocStore demonstrated the possibility of automatic conversions and identified the benefits of such a system.

uKinect will accommodate varying levels of signing ability. MyDocStore will enable educational establishments to provide a variety of alternative formats simultaneously.

uKinect aims to aid the transition into independent living and employment for Makaton users with learning difficulties and autism. MyDocStore's emphasis on mobile technology, automated conversions and multi‐platforms will make print‐impaired learners more independent and productive.

The paper shows that both systems use easily available, existing technology to provide accessible solutions for the target communities.

The purpose of this paper is to review safeguarding adult reviews (SARs) pertaining to individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) since 2014. This extended literature review also explores the lessons and recommendations from these reviews in relation to social work practice within the UK.

The literature review reported and discussed findings across reviews and then used a thematic analysis to synthesise the findings and recommendations from the SARs reviews.

This paper identified four main themes: a lack of awareness of the needs of those with ABI and their families and around the symptoms and nuances of brain injury, particularly executive impairment and mental capacity, among social workers; poor interdisciplinarity led to a lack of shared communication and decision-making with professionals with such knowledge; a poor understanding of aspects of the mental capacity legislation, particularly surrounding unwise decisions, led to inappropriate or absent mental capacity assessments; and a lack of professional curiosity led to a lack of action where intervention or assessment was required.

This review identifies significant shortcomings in social work practice, education and training within the UK with regards to ABI.

This paper provides recommendations to current social work practice and highlights the need for significant improvements in pre-qualification and post-qualification training and supervision of social workers.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, while there have been extensive reviews conducted on SARs, this is the only review that has focused solely on ABI.

Supply chain has long faced a persistent workforce shortage. To help both organizations and the field create environments that are more conducive to employee retention, the authors investigate the outcomes of supply chain employee trust in their supervisor.

Applying person-environment fit theory, the authors evaluate the well-established antecedents to trust in supervisor ability, benevolence and integrity (ABI) relative to person-job (P-J) fit and person-vocation (P-V) fit of US supply chain employees.

Confirmatory factor analysis indicates that ABI is best modeled as dimensions of a second-order formative trust construct rather than as its antecedents. However, PLS-SEM provides somewhat unconvincing support for the impacts of ABI-trust. Instead, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) delineates that all three ABI dimensions are not always needed for P-J and P-V fit in supply chain. Some employees respond to affective-based (i.e. benevolence) trust and others to cognitive-based (i.e. ability and integrity) trust.

The QCA results offer specific recommendations for supply chain organizations to enhance employee trust in supervisors to succeed in the struggle for labor.

The results counter extant trust theory, encouraging scholars to consider ABI as distinct dimensions of trust. The study also demonstrates the importance of considering QCA in supply chain research to meaningfully expand contributions to theory and practice.

Brain Injury Case Managers (BICMs) work closely with individuals with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), assessing needs, structuring rehabilitation interventions and providing support, and have significant experience of clients with impairments to decision making. The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and its guidance when applied to ABI survivors. This research aimed to: first, highlight potential conflicts or tensions that application of the MCA might pose, and second, identify approaches to mitigate the problems of the MCA and capacity assessments with ABI survivors. It is hoped that this will support improvements in the services offered.

Using a mixed method approach, 93 BICMs responded to an online questionnaire about decision making following ABI. Of these, 12 BICMs agreed to take part in a follow-up semi-structured telephone interview.

The data revealed four main themes: disagreements with other professionals, hidden disabilities, vulnerability in the community and implementation of the MCA and capacity assessments.

The findings highlight the need for changes to the way mental capacity assessments are conducted and the need for training for professionals in the hidden effects of ABI.

Limited research exists on potential limitations of the application of the MCA for individuals with an ABI. This paper provides much needed research on the difficulties surrounding mental capacity and ABI.

This is about the authors’ son James’ life. The purpose of this paper is to share a story of misfortune and a battle to find answers in which the greatest enemy was ignorance. Such experiences are not uncommon. It is the authors hope that sharing this will make some small contribution to bringing about change.

The authors discuss the experiences of care placements, and the battle to understand “challenging behaviour”.

Reflecting upon James’ experiences of the care system, it is clear that the system is fragmented and operates in silos that do not work together. Decision makers were all too often individuals not qualified to assess James’ needs and therefore implement appropriate solutions. The outcome was repeated failure which resulted in the view that he was a lost cause.

Such cruelty as James has experienced should be recognised and banished forever.

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.

Positive sexual growth is a key developmental challenge for all children and adolescents. An acquired brain injury (ABI) can create major hurdles to achieving this goal. A conceptual model will be outlined that suggests sexual growth is achieved by progress across six domains, namely: social competence versus social isolation; identity formation, individuation and independence versus dependence and lack of individual identity; physical development versus physical challenge; sexually informed and educated versus sexually ignorant and uneducated; sexually experienced versus sexually inexperienced; and sexually appropriate behaviour versus sexually inappropriate behaviour. The ability to form successful peer relationships is a key mediating factor in the developmental process. Drawing on this model, a number of strategies will be outlined that support the positive sexual development of children and adolescents after ABI.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it traces the development of social and environmental disclosure (SED) by identifying and reporting what national and international guidelines aligned to the voluntary disclosures of a major Italian case study organisation, a Bank. It will address the gap in relation to empirical SED studies in banking industries by reviewing in detail the case study Bank’s social report, for the period 2007 to 2012, thus giving insights into the phases of the SED journey. Second, the paper assesses how the social reports have changed over time and identifies the reasons for the change in form and content of disclosure over the period. As a rapidly developing accounting regulatory arena, studies of SED have the potential to examine many aspects of the development of accounting regulation.

The paper develops a theoretically informed analysis to track the history of social reports using the Idea Journey framework. The paper undertakes a content analysis of the Bank’s social reports to gain an understanding how and why the changes in social reports occurred during the period. Data sources for the study included historical data from academic literature, policy documents alongside the 2006 version of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the 2008 GRI Financial Services Sector Supplements.

The findings reveal that the Bank’s social report was aligned to a variety of national and international institution’s directives and guidelines. It identifies the various elements that were at play in the preparation of the social report. The paper provides useful insights for academics, regulators and reporting organisations and highlights the need for a better understanding of social reporting practices, an antecedent to integrated reporting and the European directive and now regulation for non-financial information.

This study provides a foundation for future research into the practices of Italian companies who produce integrated report and social and environmental reporting generally in light of the introduction of legislation mandating non-financial reporting.

The paper helps inform improvements in research, policy and practice by providing rich information in the stages in the development of social report, which has received limited attention in the extant literature. It also builds on innovation literature showing how the idea journey framework can be used to shape accounting research.

We raise and address an unexamined research question: Why do managers place some business activities in the formal economy and others in the informal? This firm-level managerial choice is most visible in emerging economies and is important due to its performance implications.

We theorize that managers use social ties with formal institutions (e.g. parliament, central bank) to protect against (1) being singled out for enforcement and (2) opportunistic business partners, and that these protections allow managers to conduct more activities in the informal economy. Based on regulatory focus theory, we also submit that managers with a promotion (prevention) focus mindset are more (less) prone to use their social ties with formal institutions to emphasize the informal economy. Hypotheses are tested using survey data from 362 Lebanese top managers.

Managers' social ties with formal institutions relate positively to their propensity to use the informal economy, and managers with a promotion mindset are more willing and those with a prevention mindset are less willing to leverage their social ties with formal institutions to conduct activities in the informal economy.

Our study raises an important new research question at the intersection of strategic and international management and offers an initial answer. Working within the informal economy requires informal social ties among informal actors, but for formally registered firms, entry into the informal economy requires informal ties with formal actors.