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There have been few economic evaluations of joint working between social and health care. This paper focuses on collaboration between professionals providing care for people aged 75 and over, and examines the economic costs of contacts made by social workers with community nurses, GPs and older people or their carers. Two areas were studied, one where social care and primary care services were co‐located, and the other with social work teams located separately from local health services. The two forms of social care location had an impact on contacts and costs but overall it was fairly small. Contact costs made up only a small amount of the overall costs of care These findings suggest that altering the organisational arrangements for care delivery may improve the process of care delivery, but result in only minor changes to the proportion of overall resources directed to older service users.

While European Union policy emphasises that one of the aims of family‐friendly working arrangements is to increasing gender equality, in the UK the focus has been primarily on workforce retention. Drawing on a study of Registered General Nurses who returned to work after breaks for maternity leave, this paper considers their preferences and experiences in light of current UK family‐friendly policies and the implications of the findings for increasing gender equality. Questionnaires were completed by respondents in three regional health authorities and focused on the four to eight year period after qualification. The following topics were investigated: views about length of maternity break and reasons for returning to work sooner than preferred; hours sought after a return and hours obtained; the availability of preferred patterns of work and of flexible hours; retention of grade on return; the availability and use of workplace crèches, and childcare arrangements when children were unwell.

As an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth understanding of adolescent experiences of maternal cancer to identify the individual and contextual factors that shape adolescent experiences and evaluates the potential applicability of the Family Ecology Model to the illness context.

This analysis is focussed on three female adolescents who completed semi-structured interviews, which were subjected to IPA. Maternal illness is a challenge for adolescents, which can be improved or undermined by their contexts. The analysis yielded three sub-themes: family structure, social supports, experiencing maternal cancer at a time of transition and the lasting impact of cancer.

This study found that adolescent experiences of maternal cancer depend on their contexts from an ecological perspective the type and quality of adolescent interactions determine coping and adjustment. Maternal cancer can be difficult as adolescents are already facing specific developmental challenges. Future research can benefit from adopting an ecological perspective to further understand adolescent experiences to support adolescent that may be more vulnerable and benefit from additional supports. This is not a generalisable piece of research but it provides a very deep and detailed understanding of the impact of maternal cancer on adolescents’ developmental course and determines how the complexity of their contexts can serve as a risk or a protective factor at this challenging time.

This paper contributes to the body of research by providing a comprehensive understanding of adolescents facing maternal cancer. The Ecological Model supports the findings of this research and proves to be a good model to understand the complex interplay between adolescents and their environments when facing a difficult challenge like maternal cancer is.

Despite the availability and accessibility of standardized screening services, such as preventative health services, many individuals avoid participation. The extant health literature has indicated that health locus of control (HLOC) influences engagement and uptake of health services. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the microfoundation, HLOC, contributes to value co-creation via service-generated and self-generated activities in standardized screening services.

A qualitative study of 25 consumers who have experienced one of the three standardized screening services in Australia was undertaken, followed by thematic analysis of the data.

Service-generated activities elicit reactive responses from consumers – compliance and relinquishing control – but when customers lead co-creation activities, their active responses emphasize protecting self and others, understanding relationship needs and gaining control. Consumers with high internal HLOC are more likely to take initiative for their health, take active control of the process and feel empowered through participating. Consumers with low internal HLOC, in contrast, require more motivation for participation, including encouragement from powerful others through promotion or interpersonal dialogue.

These findings can be used by policymakers and providers of preventative health services for the betterment of citizen health.

The integration of the DART framework, customer value co-creation activities, and the delineation of self-generated and service-generated activities provides a holistic framework to understand the influence of HLOC on the co-creation of value in standardized screening services.

This study aims to answer the research question: How to evaluate the structure of global university sustainability rankings according to the Berlin Principles (BP) framework.

The authors investigated two global sustainability rankings in universities, The UI green metric World University Ranking (WUR) and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE-WUR). The authors performed content analysis regarding their evaluation criteria and assessed both rankings using the BP framework.

Results show that there is still a gap to be filled regarding the specificity of global university sustainability rankings. Although the THE-WUR had a better performance in this research, there are several items for improvement, especially regarding the methodological procedures. There are structural differences, limitations and points for improvement in both rankings. Besides, it may not be possible to have a unique and more appropriate ranking, but one that can be more suitable for a contextual reality.

This study can be helpful for university managers when deliberating on the most appropriate ranking for their institutions and better preparing their higher education institutions for participating in sustainability-related rankings. Besides, it suggests possible improvements on the rankings’ criteria.

The authors shed light on challenges for improving the existing university sustainability rankings, besides generating insights for developing new ones. In a provocative but constructive perspective, the authors question their bases and understandings of being “the best university” regarding sustainability.

This is the first study that provides an in-depth analysis and comparison between two of the most important global university sustainability rankings.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the SIE experiences of women over 50, its drivers, nature and outcomes.

The paper draws on participant data from in-depth life story interviews with 21 women who had undertaken SIE from New Zealand and later returned. From this sample two subgroups (aid volunteers and contract carers) are utilized as “vignette” exemplars, and common factors elicited.

SIE provided a desirable liberation from pressing mid-life issues. It was transformational for all participants, sometimes through serendipitous career development, but more commonly, after return, through personal development, changes in values, decreased emphasis on paid work, and simpler lifestyle.

The small sample size and qualitative methodology make the study exploratory rather than definitive and the specific location and small sample size limit transferability. The snowballing recruitment method may have disproportionately encouraged similar, and positively disposed, participants.

The availability and special characteristics of this expatriate and repatriate group for potential employing organizations are considered, as are the gains in human capital and individual well-being to society as a whole. The women studied provide excellent role models for older women considering independent overseas travel and employment.

By focusing on older women, this study extends the boundaries of the SIE literature. The findings highlight the limitations of work-centric theories of SIE, careers and older workers, the non-linear nature of women’s careers and the heterogeneity of later life pathways. The study is also original in demonstrating major positive transformational effects of expatriation on all its participants.

Randomised controlled trials identify causal links between variables but not why an outcome has occurred. This analysis sought to determine how psychological factors assessed at baseline influenced response to personalised nutrition.

Web-based, randomised, controlled trial (RCT) was conducted across seven European countries. Volunteers, both male and female, aged over 18 years were randomised to either a non-personalised (control) or a personalised (treatment) dietary advice condition. Linear mixed model analysis with fixed effects was used to compare associations between internal and external health locus of control (HLoC), nutrition self-efficacy (NS-E) and self-report habit index (S-RHI) at baseline (N = 1444), with healthy eating index (HEI) and Mediterranean diet index (MDI) scores between conditions post-intervention (N = 763).

An increase in MDI scores was observed between baseline and six months in the treatment group which was associated with higher NS-E (p < 0.001), S-RHI (p < 0.001) and external HLoC (p < 0.001). Increase in HEI between baseline and six months in the treatment group was associated with higher NS-E (p < 0.001) and external HLoC (p = 0.009). Interaction between time and condition indicated increased HEI scores (p < 0.001), which were associated with higher S-RHI scores in the treatment than control group (p = 0.032). Internal HLoC had no effect on MDI or HEI.

Psychological factors associated with behaviour change need consideration when tailoring dietary advice. Those with weaker habit strength will require communication focussed upon establishing dietary habits and support in integrating advised changes into daily routine. Information on habit strength can also be used to inform how progress towards dietary goals is monitored and fed back to the individual. Those with stronger habit strength are more likely to benefit from personalised nutrition.

At any time, there will be differing views on what needs to be done to be properly accountable, because accountees are likely to be in favour of more accountability, and accountors, of less (Perks, 1993). This leads to a tension between these two groups (Ijiri, 1983).