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The purpose of this paper is to consider the effectiveness of partnership working in public health and draws on a systematic review of public health partnerships and original research conducted by the authors. It then considers in the light of research evidence whether the recently established Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs) under the 2012 Health and Social Care Act will help agencies to work together more effectively to improve population health or will go the way of previous initiatives and fall short of their original promise.

The paper is based on a systematic literature review conducted by the authors and empirical research focusing upon the ability of public health partnerships to reduce health inequalities and improve population health outcomes. It also draws on recent studies evaluating HWBs.

The paper finds that, hitherto, public health partnerships have had limited impact on improving population health and reducing health inequalities and that there is a danger that HWBs will follow the same path-dependent manner of previous partnership initiatives with limited impact in improving population health outcomes and reducing health inequalities.

The research draws on a systematic literature review and further scoping review of public health partnerships, in addition to empirical research conducted by the authors. It also reviews the current evidence base on HWBs. It is recognised that HWBs are in their early stages and have not as yet had the time to fulfil their role in service collaboration and integration.

The paper gives an overview of how and why public health partnerships in the past have not lived up to the expectations placed upon them. It then offers practical steps that HWBs need to take to take to ensure the mistakes of the past are not replicated in the future.

The research outlines how public health partnerships can operate in a more effective manner, to ensure a more seamless provision for service users. The paper then gives pointers as to how this can benefit HWBs and the wider community they serve.

The paper draws on a comprehensive research study of the effectiveness of public health partnerships on improving health outcomes and a systematic literature review. In addition, it also draws upon the current evidence base evaluating HWBs, to inform the discussion on their future prospects, in regard to partnership working in public health and promoting service integration.

Little is known about the relationship between organisations charged with the protection of vulnerable adults in England and Wales. This paper investigates adult protection1 inter‐agency relationships in the context of an adult protection framework that gave local authorities the lead role and charged other agencies with working in partnership with them. The data reported are from focus groups undertaken with members of 26 Adult Protection Committees (APCs) from England and Wales during 2005‐2006. The APCs were selected using a stratified sampling frame and 271 professionals participated. Analysis revealed that participation in the local strategic decision‐making setting of the APC was influenced by the local history of partnership working, information‐sharing, affective relationships, understanding of respective roles and a shared acknowledgement of the importance of adult protection. The implications of these findings are discussed in the light of government reviews of local discretion around adult protection systems.

This article reports on the views of 92 social workers about their practice in adult protection in England and Wales as part of a wider study of adult protection working and regulation that took place between 2004‐2007 in 26 sample local authorities. The article explores social workers' reported experiences of partnership or multiagency working and how this, along with overarching regulatory frameworks, affected their practice within and across agencies. Among findings from the study were that social workers considered that sharing information and responsibilities led to positive outcomes for service users and that the incorporation of different agency perspectives supplemented sharing of best practice.

This article examines the effectiveness of the multi‐agency approach in adult protection and draws on findings from research that examined the effectiveness of both partnership working and perceptions of the regulatory framework to protect vulnerable adults. The research findings were collected through the use of a survey of all local councils with social services responsibilities in England and Wales. Examples of good practice in partnership working were found. However, resource pressures, insufficient information sharing and a lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities were reported to hinder a multi‐agency approach.

This article presents an analysis of modernisation as it affects adult protection in England. One of the key policy goals of modernisation has been to improve protection of service users. The article outlines some areas of good practice that are emerging and draws attention to some of the latent conflicts that are apparent.

This article updates a review submitted to the Department of Health (DH) in the light of the House of Commons Health Select Committee report on Elder Abuse. The review drew on recent research about elder abuse in the UK, including research published after the Select Committee's hearings, that made specific recommendations for areas of development in research and policy. The aim of this paper is to address specific questions posed by the Select Committee in light of developments up to mid 2005.

Neuroscience research on human motivation in the workplace is still in its infancy. There is a large industrial and organizational (IO) psychology literature containing numerous theories of motivation, relating to prosocial and productive, and, less so, “darker” antisocial and counter-productive, behaviors. However, the development of a viable over-arching theoretical framework has proved elusive. In this chapter, we argue that basic neuropsychological systems related to approach, avoidance, and their conflict, may provide such a framework, one which we discuss in terms of the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) of personality. We argue that workplace behaviors may be understood by reference to the motivational types that are formed from the combination of basic approach, avoidance, and conflict-related personalities. We offer suggestions for future research to explore workplace behaviors in terms of the wider literature on the neuroscience of motivation.

This chapter suggests that enhancing sustainable development in the age of technologies requires reflection about the relationship between business practice and sustainable development, as well as clarification of the relationship between sustainability and sustainable development. At the core of business activity is the definition of sustainable development defined by Brundtland (1987) as ‘meet[ing] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Although that captures only one aspect of the sustainability story and its relationship to sustainable development, it nonetheless shapes business approach in research and in sustainability practices. To illustrate the contradictions and tensions in practice so far, this chapter uses three lenses: measurement in environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment, the problem of scalability and the challenge of bias in artificial intelligence (AI). It is not clear that we need a paradigm shift, but a shift in mindsets around sustainability business practice will be needed if sustainable development is to be enhanced in the age of technologies.