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Many people are trying to tackle the cost and value issues arising from the information age in which we now live, including the profession of information and records managers, who have been wrestling with the problem for longer than most. They are now being joined by publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, creative artists, abstractors, research organisations, financial institutions and computer hardware and software suppliers. All have an urgent need to find ways of storing, valuing, trading and invoicing products and services that comprise no physical content but are pure information. In this article the author explores ways of valuing information two of which are based on its availability or proximity and the effect that having the information has. He concludes that whilst putting a price or value on information is very difficult there must be a value to it, as the effect of not having information can readily be observed.

Document Management and Workflow are technologies designed to support, either the productivity of an organisational process or, alternatively, the productivity of the people who comprise an organisation. This paper describes the motivations and anticipated benefits that could encourage an organisation to seek a technology solution to their existing paperlogged processes. In many areas these technologies are being used to good effect. There is increasing evidence that current systems designs which owe much to Taylor and Deining notions of scientific management and quality systems may not always be appropriate. A new generation of technology is emerging sometimes called ‘Workware’. This technology tries to be ‘Idea’ or ‘Work Object’ centric rather than process centric. Workware aims to establish boundaries within which empowered workers are free to achieve their objectives by any appropriate and valid means. These new technologies promise to support ‘real world’ work more effectively. They also present challenges to those who seek to find excellence through the detailed design and measurement of precise processes repetitively enacted. No conclusions are yet available. The best way to support and value ‘Knowledge Work’ within a business process without snuffing the creative spark on which a business depends for its future seems a worthy area for further exploration.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how staff attend to their well-being when working in an inpatient mental health setting with older adults with dementia and complex mental health needs; how staff understand the link between their well-being and the well-being of patients.

A semi-structured group interview was held with 11 members of two multidisciplinary teams. The discussion was audio-recorded and analysed using thematic analysis.

Staff reported managing their well-being by both connecting with and avoiding the difficult emotions of the work. The team avoided the gravity of the work through humour, a task-focus, an absence of thinking and the displacement of workplace frustrations onto an outgroup. Connecting with emotions was done in tolerable ways: in contained reflective spaces, in the presence of supportive others, through genuine connections with patients as people and when the organisation demonstrated care for the staff.

Avoidant strategies appeared to represent short-term ways of maintaining staff well-being, while connecting with the gravity of the work appeared to represent what we hope is a more sustainable approach to managing well-being. A crucial premise for staff well-being is teams embedded within organisations that care for their employees.

Poor staff well-being can have serious consequences for an organisation, particularly in the existentially challenging environment of dementia care. This study offers a unique opportunity to explore staff well-being in a UK inpatient mental health setting with older adults with dementia and complex mental health needs.