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1 – 10 of 156This study aims to explore the environmental health role in meeting the housing condition, adaptation and associated needs of older people living in private sector housing in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the environmental health role in meeting the housing condition, adaptation and associated needs of older people living in private sector housing in London, including those living with and at risk of dementia.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-method approach was adopted. First, relevant public-facing websites in London were scrutinised. Second, a Qualtrics online survey was designed and circulated to capture relevant information around relevant services offered. Third, seven face-to-face interviews were conducted with front-line practitioners involved in providing housing services to private sector owners and tenants. These were transcribed verbatim and analysed using NVivo software before categorising into themes arising.
Findings
An erratic picture emerged around the meaning of “older people” and the services offered. A mixture of organisational arrangements and types of assistance available was reported, with different ways of access and referral to services, with a range of discretionary grants offered including for dementia. Some local authorities offered minimal specialist services, with others providing highly integrated and client-led, flexible interventions to meet a range of needs. Limited inclusion of research, evidence and evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions was reported overall, although client feedback was noted as good where services were provided.
Originality/value
There is very little published around environmental health work in supporting older people living in London and their housing, health and social care needs. This paper captures a snapshot of current and proposed services offered across London for owner-occupiers and private sector tenants, as a basis for further research for evidence-based, effective front-line services going forward.
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Gale Parchoma and Jeffrey M. Keefer
Interdisciplinary approaches to doctoral education have been identified as a route towards enhancing research capacity to address pressing technical and socio-technological…
Abstract
Interdisciplinary approaches to doctoral education have been identified as a route towards enhancing research capacity to address pressing technical and socio-technological challenges. Increasingly, technological supports for part-time, distance, and flexible access to doctoral programmes are bringing together international groups of supervisors and students. Doctoral programmes in the field of educational technology often include academic staff and doctoral candidates from a fairly wide range of originating undergraduate and graduate disciplines. While technologies provide these diverse, dispersed doctoral students and their supervisors with digital connectivity, theoretical continuity remains a challenge for both new and established contributors to the field. This chapter reports results of a grounded theory informed study of doctoral supervisors’ experiences in dealing with disciplinary issues in educational technology. Resultant supervisory challenges and practices are reported. We posit a conceptual framework for examining perspectives on disciplinarity within educational technology and present an argument that the field provides fertile trans-disciplinary ground for represented disciplines to influence and potentially be reoriented by others. Trans-disciplinary reorientation provides a promising avenue towards developing shared discourses and theoretical underpinnings for at least broadly uniting the field and could make a substantive contribution to resolving persistent concerns in educational technology doctoral supervision and perhaps beyond.
The case opens with Martha Stewart's 2005 release from prison following her conviction for obstructing an insider-trading investigation of her 2001 sale of personal stock. The…
Abstract
The case opens with Martha Stewart's 2005 release from prison following her conviction for obstructing an insider-trading investigation of her 2001 sale of personal stock. The scandal dealt a crippling blow to the powerful Martha Stewart brand and drove results at her namesake company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO), deep into the red. But as owner of more than 90 percent of MSO's voting shares, Stewart continued to control the company throughout the scandal.
The company faced significant external challenges, including changing consumer preferences and mounting competition in all of its markets. Ad rates were under pressure as advertisers began fragmenting spending across multiple platforms, including the Internet and social media, where MSO was weak. New competitors were luring readers from MSO's flagship publication, Martha Stewart Living. And in its second biggest business, merchandising, retailing juggernauts such as Walmart and Target were crushing MSO's most important sales channel, Kmart. Internal challenges loomed even larger, with numerous failures of governance while the company attempted a turnaround.
This case can be used to teach either corporate governance or turnarounds.
Students will learn:
How control of shareholder voting rights by a founding executive can undermine corporate governance
The importance of independent directors and board committees
How company bylaws affect corporate governance
How to recognize and respond to early signs of stagnation
How to avoid management actions that can make a crisis worse
How weaknesses in executive leadership can push a company into crisis and foster a culture that actively prevents strategic revitalization
How control of shareholder voting rights by a founding executive can undermine corporate governance
The importance of independent directors and board committees
How company bylaws affect corporate governance
How to recognize and respond to early signs of stagnation
How to avoid management actions that can make a crisis worse
How weaknesses in executive leadership can push a company into crisis and foster a culture that actively prevents strategic revitalization
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Jill Stewart and Surindar Dhesi
The purpose of this paper is to consolidate policy, research, evidence and good practice around strategies tackling fuel poverty and affordable warmth for older people aged over…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consolidate policy, research, evidence and good practice around strategies tackling fuel poverty and affordable warmth for older people aged over 60 to support the development of more effective services for this life course stage and to tackle physical and mental health inequalities.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors consolidate current policy, research, evidence and examples of good practice in exploring effective interprofessional approaches that contribute to affordable warmth for older people through “desktop analysis”. The authors support this with qualitative data from Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs), health inequalities and environmental health from research comprising four longitudinal case studies in the Midlands and North of England over 18 months and semi-structured interviews with members and support officers. A total of 50 interviews were undertaken and 55 hours of HWB meetings observed.
Findings
There are numerous older people living in fuel poverty. The depth of fuel poverty increases with age particularly the over 75s and physical and mental ill health are affected. There are an increasing number of tools to help estimate health care costs around the cost effectiveness of interventions and there is a real need for more local evidence about what is working well, how and why. However, there is no mandatory requirement for fuel poverty strategies and more creative local strategies are required taking organisational and interprofessional relationships into account. The emphasis in integrated care provides new impetus and scope to encourage preventative services but these new partnerships need to be effective in what is a complex policy environment. There is still a long way to go in places. The challenges of ageing are numerous, complex and not fully understood and sit across multiple policy areas.
Originality/value
Fuel poverty strategies tend to be delivered on a geographical or income bases rather than by life course approach and a focus on older people. We need to focus more specifically on older people, a rapidly growing population and to better understand thermal properties of our ageing housing stock and how best to intervene to protect and improve health and safety. Emerging approaches need to overcome artificial statutory and non statutory divides and move towards sustainable, evidence based affordable warmth strategies for older people to protect and improve health.
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Jill Stewart, Julie Clayton and Annmarie Ruston
The purpose of this paper is to show that owner occupation has become the prevailing tenure in the UK with owners increasingly being seen as holding primary responsibility for the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show that owner occupation has become the prevailing tenure in the UK with owners increasingly being seen as holding primary responsibility for the condition of their properties. The UK has had a long tradition of public sector enforcement and grant‐led intervention to help preserve the nation's private sector housing stock. Recent housing policy changes have subsumed earlier grant legislation and provided a general provision for “assistance” to help owner‐occupiers maintain and repair their own homes. Simultaneously, the role of local authorities continues to shift from provider to enabler of service, with greater discretion and an increased role for other agencies at local level.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper shows the focus group discussions that were held in South London to explore what low‐income owner‐occupiers in an ethnically‐diverse area would find helpful from the local authority in carrying out maintenance and repair works to their homes.
Findings
This paper reveals that some of the wider policy options put forward by the government were not always what respondents favoured, but that many would like to carry out further maintenance and repairs, given the right resource and support opportunities.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contains an exploratory study, limited to homeowners aged over 60.
Practical implications
The paper suggests that a range of resource and support mechanisms are required for home‐owners to carry out works to their homes as private sector housing grants continue to decline.
Originality/value
The paper seeks to put national private sector housing renewal policy into strategic practice at local authority level in helping ensure that home‐owners receive the most appropriate means of assistance and support in carrying out works to their homes.
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Jill Stewart, Rachel Crockett, Jim Gritton, Brendon Stubbs and Ann Pascoe
The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the range of issues relevant to owner occupiers who age in place and to offer an initial overview of how effective partnerships can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consolidate the range of issues relevant to owner occupiers who age in place and to offer an initial overview of how effective partnerships can respond to and meet the changing needs of housing, health and social care of our ageing population.
Design/methodology/approach
Issues affecting older people's changing needs are considered holistically and considered in terms of how partnerships can be enhanced to develop improved services in the future.
Findings
Most owners wish to stay in their own homes for as long as possible and it can be cost-effective to do so; however, we need to look at new and innovative ways of developing and providing front-line services to enhance health and safety in the home, but also quality of life and wellbeing such as combating loneliness and isolation. However, although there are examples of evidence-based good practice, service provision is variable and there is a risk that many older home owners may miss out on services for which they may are eligible. With this in mind, it may be helpful to develop a new framework where one key practitioner holds responsibility to consolidate and coordinate the range of local services available as a package that offers a range of housing, health and social care services.
Originality/value
There are currently many policy and practice gaps in older owner occupier's housing conditions and suitability to meet their changing needs. This paper has a particular starting point in housing, and how other personal or technological services can help support independence for as long as possible and adapt to the owner-occupier's changing health and social care needs as they age in place. The authors emphasise the importance of sharing evidence-based good practice partnerships.
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Kitty Stewart, Jill Bradshaw and Julie Beadle-Brown
The purpose of this paper is to establish the effectiveness of Talking Mats® (TM) in evaluating service users’ experiences, and explore their views of the implementation of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish the effectiveness of Talking Mats® (TM) in evaluating service users’ experiences, and explore their views of the implementation of person-centred active support (PCAS).
Design/methodology/approach
This is a mixed-methods study, employing qualitative interviewing and observational measures.
Findings
Both qualitative and quantitative measures indicated inconsistent implementation of PCAS. It was possible to effectively gain participants’ views on positive and negative aspects of quality of support and quality of life, using TM, across three themes, My life, My support and Self-determination.
Research limitations/implications
Generalisability of the research may be limited due to the sample, and the potential for researcher and interviewer bias is acknowledged.
Practical implications
TM provides a mechanism that may facilitate the inclusion of the views and experiences of people with intellectual and developmental disability (PWIDD) who have limited verbal skills. Their views need to be reflected in adaptions made to PCAS.
Originality/value
This study included a population who are often left out of qualitative research because of the methodologies adopted. It also included older PWIDD, where there has been less research about the effectiveness of TM.
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Martin Stevens, Stephen Martineau, Jill Manthorpe and Caroline Norrie
The purpose of this paper is to explore debates about the powers social workers may need to undertake safeguarding enquiries where access to the adult is denied.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore debates about the powers social workers may need to undertake safeguarding enquiries where access to the adult is denied.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes as a starting point a scoping review of the literature undertaken as part of a study exploring social work responses to situations where they are prevented from speaking to an adult at risk by a third party.
Findings
A power of entry might be one solution to situations where social workers are prevented from accessing an adult at risk. The paper focuses on the Scottish approach to legal powers in adult safeguarding, established by the Adult Support and Protection Act (Scotland) 2007 and draws out messages for adult safeguarding in England and elsewhere. The literature review identified that debates over the Scottish approach are underpinned by differing conceptualisations of vulnerability, autonomy and privacy, and the paper relates these conceptualisations to different theoretical stances.
Social implications
The paper concludes that the literature suggests that a more socially mediated rather than an essentialist understanding of the concepts of vulnerability, autonomy and privacy allows for more nuanced approaches to social work practice in respect of using powers of entry and intervention with adults at risk who have capacity to make decisions.
Originality/value
This paper provides a novel perspective on debates over how to overcome challenges to accessing adults at risk in adult safeguarding through an exploration of understandings of vulnerability, privacy and autonomy.
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A qualitative, feminist, case study methodology was used to research the feminist leadership of three women principals of coeducational secondary schools. Information was…
Abstract
A qualitative, feminist, case study methodology was used to research the feminist leadership of three women principals of coeducational secondary schools. Information was collected by interviewing and observing the three feminist principals, interviewing 24 staff, and collecting documents. Research indicated that being student focused was central to the practice of feminist educational leaders. This thesis explored how they were able to remain student focused in a New Zealand, neo‐liberal, education context with increased financial, accountability and marketing responsibilities. By resisting and appropriating the opportunities and demands created by the reforms, the feminist principals were, to some extent, able to resist the pressure to be less student focused. However, in doing so they worked very long hours. Their personal value systems and the school context were also important influences on their practice. There were both commonalities and diversity among the women’s leadership.
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