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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a free book gifting programme, called “Bookstart+”, in improving family reading outcomes.

Bookstart+ consists of a pack of books and reading materials provided to families at their two-year-old child's statutory health visit. The pack is accompanied by a short priming demonstration, delivered by the health visitor, on shared reading. The evaluation took the form of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with 460 families from the client lists of 115 health visitors.

The study found evidence of: a positive significant effect on parents’ attitudes to reading and books (Cohen's d=+0.192, p=0.034); no significant effect on parental attitudes to their child reading (d=+0.085, p=0.279); and a negative effect, approaching significance, on public library usage (d=−0.160, p=0.055).

The attrition rate was high, with only 43.9 per cent of the target families completing all of the research. However, this level of attrition did not lead to any significant differences between the control and intervention groups on their pre-test measures.

The study provides recommendations for free book gifting service provision in relation to pack contents and delivery.

This paper contributes to the limited international RCT evidence on free book gifting programmes.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role an intentional and cohesive research group for doctoral researchers and supervisors can play in surfacing and de-mystifying many of the implicit doctoral literacy practices involved in doctoral study.

This participatory, collaborative project, involving 11 doctoral researchers and three supervisors, was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, doctoral researchers and supervisors engaged in a discussion which resulted in a shared concept map. The concept map was then used as a prompt for stimulated recall interviews in which the participants reflected on the connections and peer learning afforded by the research group.

Drawing on ideas from Communities of Practice theory, the data revealed that the research group, including both supervisors and doctoral students, developed knowledge, relational connections and an awareness of a range of doctoral literacies.

This paper makes suggestions for how those in doctoral education can develop and embed research groups into institutional practices.

This study demonstrates the significant role a research group which is structured, intentional and guided plays in supervisors’ and doctoral students’ development of doctoral literacies and the fundamental intellectual and relational connections afforded by participating in such communities.

Over 8 per cent of the Dutch nursing home population is bedfast, and this number is slowly increasing. The quality of life (QoL) of this population is lower than that of residents who are still mobile. Little research has been conducted on how to improve the QoL of this bedfast population, particularly through making technological adjustments to the bed and the direct surroundings. The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the QoL of bedfast residents and how to improve this through technology.

A mixed-method multi-case study with thematic analysis was conducted in two nursing homes with seven participants based on semi-structured interviews and Short Form-12 questionnaire.

The major causes of the experienced low QoL were the limited opportunities for engaging in social contacts with others, and coping with the dependency on other people and having limited control. Participants suggested improvements of QoL through the application of modern communication technologies to engage in social contacts and to control the bed itself and environment around the bed.

The results may help improve the design of the bed and the direct environment in order to improve the QoL of bedfast nursing home residents.

The QoL of bedfast nursing home residents has not been studied before in relation to the bed itself and technological solutions that may help improve the QoL and level of control.

Purpose – This paper seeks to present an overview of the state‐of‐the‐art of public performance measurement in the USA. The growing degree of sophistication of performance measurement tools is highlighted as well as some of the current challenges associated with implementing meaningful performance measurement systems. More importantly, models where citizens participate directly in the process of assessing and measuring the performance of government are introduced. Overall, this article aims to address the following questions: what is the state‐of‐the‐art of public performance measurement? How are citizens adding meaning to the performance measurement process? Design/methodology/approach – This paper offers a literature review that assesses the state of practice of performance measurement as a tool for management. In addition to highlighting the value of this management tool, models of citizen‐driven performance measurement are offered as strategies for measuring what matters to citizens. Findings – While there are challenges associated with implementing systems of performance measurement, evidence shows that including citizens in the process adds value to the overall process. Originality/value – This paper assesses the state‐of‐the‐art and utility of public performance measurement. Strategies and models are offered to bridge the interests of public managers and citizens in the process. These approaches, or modified versions, can be adopted and implemented in many contexts and may serve as useful tools for the international community.

Non-profit sector management represent a research topic particularly discussed. This work tries to introduce a potential reaction to the need of managerial techniques and instruments to enhance the comprehension of the phenomenon and to accomplish a more powerful management of Non-profit institutions (NPIs).

The complexity of non-profit sector can be useful for identifying the ideal trajectories of a theoretical model of reference for the management of NPIs.

The main purpose is to outline a probable path for the evolution of the non-profit sector management (at the macroeconomic level) and of NPIs that are part of it (at the microeconomic level) and whose main dimensions are: professionalization, civic-engagement and accountability/corporate social responsibility.

This research tries to fill the gap existing in the international literature and the relative absence of systemic approaches to the management of NPIs, often focused only on some specific aspects of an extremely complex and multifaceted phenomenon.

This paper investigates gender differences in reported job satisfaction and career choices revealed by a postal survey of accountants from the Queensland Division of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. Of particular interest are levels of satisfaction with remuneration and promotion. Two moderating factors of career age and firm size are also considered. Consistent with prior research, female accountants reported dissatisfaction with their opportunities for promotion. However, unlike prior research there was no evidence of a gender effect in remuneration levels, and in reported satisfaction with remuneration. Nor were there differences in satisfaction across age bands, and public accounting firms of different size. The link between satisfaction levels of female accountants and their career choices of leaving their current employer, moving to parttime employment, or leaving the accounting profession was also investigated. Consistent with a large body of organisational and accounting research, low levels of job satisfaction were associated with higher turnover intentions for female accountants.

The aim of this paper is to present an enriched formulation of a rotation‐free (RF) triangular shell element in order to use it for shells of general shapes while, up to now, it is limited to shells without branching surfaces and progressive variations in terms of material behavior and thickness.

The formulation keeps the main characteristic of Morley's element: bending effects can be expressed with three “bending angles” only. But, for a RF element, these angles are defined with the rigid body rotations of the element itself and those of its neighbours. This usual formulation of a RF shell element can be extended provided that curvatures‐displacements relation involves the material characteristics of the element itself and of its neighbours and the same goes for thickness.

Numerous examples with regular and irregular meshes of structures involving branching surfaces point out convergence and accuracy. Large displacement analyses – including crash simulations – show the effectiveness, too. A deep‐drawing of a “U” shape and the following springback prediction highlight the fact that the curvatures are captured more exactly (when nodes slide on die radius) since they are imposed in terms of translations whereas they are traditionally computed with nodal rotations not managed by contact conditions on the tooling.

The “S3” element detailed here is implemented in RADIOSS^® software. The general conclusions are that this triangle often gives almost the same result as “DKT18” but is two times less cheaper and it is found interesting for sheet forming simulations.

Specificity of such an element clearly appears while lifting the initial restrictions quoted before.

Community-based forensic support services (CBFSSs) were commissioned nationally by National Health Service (NHS) England in 2017 in response to “Building the Right Support” (NHS England, 2015). CBFSSs provide multidisciplinary support to adults with intellectual disabilities and/or autism who are in (or at risk of) contact with the criminal justice system and those transitioning from inpatient secure care. This paper aims to highlight potential systemic barriers to accessing community forensic services for people from an ethnic minority background. in one CBFSSs in Northern England.

This paper provides preliminary reflections on potential systemic barriers within the criminal justice system and health-care services that have implications for service users from ethnic minority backgrounds accessing CBFSSs.

There is a paucity of data, policy and literature that focuses on people with intellectual disabilities and autism with forensic needs from ethnic minority backgrounds. This lack of data obstructs further reforms to meet the needs of this population.

CBFSSs are commissioned across England. While some regional variation is to be expected, services should be aware of the systemic barriers people from ethnic minority backgrounds within their region face. These barriers should be considered and addressed when evaluating service efficacy and delivery. Recommendations are made to review and address issues of under-representation of ethnic minorities within CBFSSs.

The “Training to Communicate” research (1999‐2001) explored “communication” training needs and provision in 76 health and social care public and independent sector agencies in London and South East England, including enhancement of work with adults having communication impairments. The focus of this paper is to examine how training managers discussed their activities and constructed their identities as training “experts”.

Seventeen semi‐structured interviews with male and female managers responsible for key aspects of training (workforce development) in public health trusts or social services agencies are analysed using a narrative approach. The wider project included a questionnaire‐based survey of agency representatives and documentary analysis of training materials.

Health and social care services were undergoing extensive reorganization as part of wider managerialist agendas. Discourses of “change”, “continuous improvement” and “quality” therefore pervaded all aspects of these organizations. Interviewees identified with “new” (managerial) occupational knowledges and identities but some appeared to be in an ambiguous position, negotiating between “new” occupational knowledges and identities, and “old” identities based on occupational/practitioner expertise. Aspects of this positioning appeared gendered; female interviewees often readily embraced “new” managerialist identity(ies). Interviewees discussed collaborative processes (in “space” not “place”), including networking, managing relationships with other managers within the organization, and broader “political” awareness, to justify their own positions, responsibilities and performances as “training” experts.

This research extends theories on gendered performances in higher education contexts to public sector, work‐based education settings.

The S–O discourse includes themes that have been variously summarized as “objectivism” (Hermans, Kempen & van Loon, 1992) and “the received view of science” (or “RVS,” see Woolgar, 1996). Others, speaking of competing “paradigms” in qualitative research, have referred to some of these themes as “positivist” (Guba & Lincoln, 1994) — a confusing simplification for those familiar with the philosophy of inquiry. Relevant examples include narratives that, for example, distinguish between individuals and groups and more “macro” units such as organizations and society in ways that are overly suggestive of concrete, separately existing “things” with their own defining characteristics (Hosking & Morley, 1991).