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As there is so much debate among health educators, dietitians and nutritionists about the need to teach the essentials of good nutrition to the general public, I thought it was very commendable that the head of our local Adult Education Centre decided to offer students a short course of six evenings on nutrition and health. I was very pleased to become the course tutor, but even I was a little concerned whether this course would have the appeal of rival ones in popular subjects such as soft furnishings, yoga, flower arranging and conversational French, subjects which have become the mainstay of adult education up and down the country.

The old maxim “eating for two” has been relegated to the other old wives' tales associated with pregnancy — and not before time. A properly balanced diet is essential for a normal, healthy pregnancy. It helps the mother to feel well, to keep active and to enjoy this very special period of her life.

A nutritionist looks at the relationship between diet and beauty culture. Are they related at all ? Some so‐called experts would have us believe that eating for beauty is all cider vinegar and black strap molasses, grated raw carrots and yogurt. But any well balanced diet will certainly play its part if we can equate good looks with good health, and undoubtedly the vitality which radiates from good health does more for the looks than any amount of beauty creams and lotions. Looking at it from another angle, a poor diet and bad eating habits will have disastrous effects on personal appearance — the teeth and the figure are likely to suffer most.

Polypharmacy, the concurrent use of multiple medicines by one individual, is a common and growing challenge driven by an ageing population and the growing number of people living longer with chronic conditions. Up to 11% of unplanned hospital admissions in the UK are attributable to, mostly avoidable, harm from medicines. However, this topic is not yet central to integrated practice. This paper reviews the challenge that polypharmacy presents to the health and care system and offers lessons for integrated policy and practice.

Two commonly encountered scenarios illustrate the relevance of addressing inappropriate polypharmacy to integrated practice. An overview of the literature on polypharmacy and frailty, including two recent large studies of policy and practice in Europe, identifies lessons for practitioners, managers, policy makers and commissioners.

Comprehensive change strategies should extend beyond pharmacist led deprescribing initiatives. An inter-professional and systems thinking approach is required, so all members of the integrated team can play their part in realising the value of holistic prescribing, appropriate polypharmacy and shared decision making.

Awareness and education about polypharmacy should be embedded in inter-professional training for all practitioners who care for people with multimorbidity or frailty.

This paper will help policy makers, commissioners, managers and practitioners understand the value of addressing polypharmacy within their integrated services. Best practice national guidance developed in Scotland illustrates how to target resources so those at greatest risk of harm from polypharmacy can benefit from effective pharmaceutical care as part of holistic integrated care.

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of professional and leader identity and the maintenance of identity, through identity work as IT professionals transitioned to a permanent hybrid role. This study therefore contributes to the under-researched area of permanent transition to a hybrid role in the context of IT, where there is a requirement to enact both the professional and leader roles together.

The study utilised a longitudinal design and two qualitative methods (interviews and reflective diaries) to gather data from 17 IT professionals transitioning to hybrid roles.

The study findings reveal that IT professionals engage in an ongoing process of reconciliation of professional and leader identity as they transition to a permanent hybrid role, and they construct hybrid professional–leader identities while continuing to value their professional identity. They experience professional–leader identity conflict resulting from reluctance to reconcile both professional and leader identities. They used both integration and differentiation identity work tactics to ameliorate these tensions.

The longitudinal study design, the qualitative approaches used and the unique context of the participants provide a dynamic and deep understanding of the challenges involved in performing hybrid roles in the context of IT.