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International attention is increasingly turning to the challenge of creating age-friendly environments. This study aims to examine the application of asset-based approaches in undertaking community development projects with older people. The paper intends to share the learning that may be useful when designing community development projects for older people in the future.

This study followed a multiple project case study design, with a focus on project delivery practices. It was undertaken as a co-production exercise involving university researchers and trained older volunteer community researchers (CRs). Over 18–24 months of qualitative research was conducted in relation to six area-based urban projects between 2018 and 2020.

There were five leading themes as follows: mapping and building on assets in highly localised settings; creating governance and direction through steering groups; developing activities with diverse groups of older people; reaching isolated and lonely older people; building local capacity to embed sustainability.

The effectiveness of assets-based approaches in promoting age-friendly agendas appears to be contingent on the values, skills, capacity and resourcing of delivery agencies, alongside wider public sector investment in communities. Diversity and inequalities amongst older people need to be taken into account and community development that specifically focuses on older people needs to be balanced with the whole population and intergenerational practice.

This paper provides an empirical account of the practical application of assets practices specifically in the context of the age-friendly community agenda. The co-production method brings together insights from academic and volunteer older CRs.

Social prescribing (SP) is an emerging area of public health that has the potential to alleviate pressure on primary care by offering non-clinical solutions to health problems. Whilst there is an increasing body of literature exploring service design and impact, there is little research that focuses specifically on the SP workforce. The purpose of this paper is to explore routes into SP, worker’s experiences of the sector and potential career progression.

For this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight members of the SP workforce with varying levels of responsibility from within six different organisations in an urban/suburban area of South West England. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

Pathways into the sector were varied, and those without direct experience often brought transferable skills from other professions. Careers in SP were clearly rewarding, and some providers had established good support structures for staff. However, some participants were in need of additional training in areas such as collaborative working and staff management. Staff working at a more senior level – particularly in community-based organisations – seemed less well supported overall, with limited career progression. Staff in such organisations also reported working beyond contractual hours.

This study has revealed inconsistencies between the experiences of staff in some community organisations vs those associated with larger, more established services. It has also highlighted a need for further training and capacity building in some areas. These findings may be of interest to those commissioning or funding SP services in the future.

Background: Evidence from a range of major public health incidents shows that neighbour-based action can have a critical role in emergency response, assistance and recovery. However, there is little research to date on neighbour-based action during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. This article reports on a survey of people engaged in supporting their neighbours in weeks three and four of the UK COVID-19 lockdown.

Methods: Members of area-based and community of interest COVID-19 support groups in the Bristol conurbation were invited to complete an online survey. Of 1,255 people who clicked on the survey link, 862 responded; of these, 539 responses were eligible for analysis.

Results: Respondents reported providing a wide range of support that went beyond health information, food and medical prescription assistance, to include raising morale through humour, creativity and acts of kindness and solidarity. A substantial proportion felt that they had become more involved in neighbourhood life following the lockdown and had an interest in becoming more involved in future. Neighbour support spanned all adult age groups, including older people categorised as being at-risk to the virus. With respect to most measures, there were no differences in the characteristics of support between respondents in areas of higher and lower deprivation. However, respondents from more deprived areas were more likely to state that they were involved in supporting certain vulnerable groups.

Conclusions: As with previous research on major social upheavals, our findings suggest that responses to the viral pandemic and associated social restrictions may increase existing social and health inequalities, and further research should explore this issue in more depth.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate pre- and post-formulation findings with multi-disciplinary staff within two secure children’s homes (SCHs) in the North East of England.

Multi-disciplinary staff teams involved in formulation across two SCHs were administered pre- and post-formulation questionnaires. The pre- and post-formulation questionnaires focused on five domains: knowledge; confidence; motivation; understanding; and satisfaction with treatment plan.

A total of 338 pre- and post-formulation questionnaires were administered across 43 formulation meetings. The highest proportion of formulation attendees were: residential staff (44%); mental health staff (17%); case managers (12%); and education staff (9%). Paired samples t-tests showed significant post-formulation improvements across all domains including: knowledge [t(337) = 22.65, p < 0.001]; confidence [t(337) = 15.12, p < 0.001]; motivation [t(337) = 8.27, p < 0.001]; understanding [t(337) = 19.13, p < 0.001]; and satisfaction [t(337) = 18.81, p < 0.001].

The SECURE STAIRS framework has supported formulation developments across the Children and Young People’s Secure Estate. Preliminary findings within two SCHs suggest multi-disciplinary staff teams find psychologically informed formulation beneficial. Future directions are considered including future evaluation of young person involvement in formulation meetings.

There is a notable lack of existing research within the child and young people secure estate evaluating the impact of SECURE STAIRS trauma-informed care developments including the impact of team formulation. This paper adds to the evidence base.

This chapter recounts my involvement with one of the World Bank's consultations soliciting critical input into the draft of its Education Strategy 2020. Following a summary of the consultation that took place at the Brookings Institution, I reflect on the Bank's response to the input it received as well as to subsequent iterations of its education strategy. This chapter suggests how education has been narrowly conceptualized by the World Bank in past lending policies and how the Bank now conceptualizes it with regard to its intrinsic or external value to human and societal well-being. To elaborate upon these opening points, it will be pointed out how the language and circulating discourses of the World Bank, as well as those of other major international policy and funding actors, reflect and limit the vision of what the goals and purposes of an education system should be. In short, this chapter suggests that the language and discourses of the new World Bank Education Strategy 2020 (like previous World Bank education strategies) are narrowly framed in market and commercial terms focused on improving the competitive position of a country in the global economy, which does not maximize human development.