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The importance of providing clear, relevant information and advice for older people has been recognised by health care professionals, politicians and policy makers. Key policies (Better Government for Older People, 1998; Better Care Higher Standards, 2000; National Service Framework for Older People, 2001) have restated the importance of such provision specifically in relation to older people. A literature search and an examination of local authority websites were key sources of information for the study designed to explore the elements of guidelines for good practice. In addition we examined the websites of three major providers of information and advice for older people. Older people's views as to what constitutes good quality information and advice were explored in three focus groups. These four sources of data are the basis for the findings reported in this paper. This paper reports the limitations in the existing provision of information and advice for older people. Key features emerging from the research were that the involvement of older people in every stage of the process of design, production, dissemination and monitoring of information and advice was necessary. Older people valued face‐to‐face contact in the provision of information and advice.

Reports evaluation of the Trent Regional Health Authority′s “Providing a Personal Service” initiative, one of the first major quality management strategies in the NHS. The evaluation highlights the key elements which supported this initiative and suggests some ways in which its progress can be sustained. Many of the comments are applicable to other approaches to quality management.

Older people currently do not view websites as a preferred source of information. This may not be a view held in the future. An exploration of local authority websites suggests room for improvement and collaboration with others to shape a future in which websites are joined up and informative for older people.

This paper describes a study that explored older people's views and priorities on what made for quality in home care services, ways of accessing these and enabling them to become part of mainstream service monitoring. It took place in a city in the north of England, in 2000. The research was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Older people's definitions of a quality home care service go outside the service boundaries that are set by social service departments who define the quality specifications for home care services and commission them. Older people had a joined‐up perspective of what contributes to quality in a home care service including, for example, in their definitions of a quality service: access to transport to get out of the house, aids, adaptations and health care. They emphasised the importance of domestic help, which has been reported in other studies. To obtain information on their definitions of a quality service older people were offered the choice of a home‐based interview or participation in a focus group. Following the collection of the data on quality a round table discussion was arranged. The purpose of this was to explore how older people's views on the quality of home care services could become part of routine monitoring, to shape further development and assist in commissioning. Older people who had participated in the first part of the study were invited to attend this, as were local commissioners, service providers and elected members with executive responsibility for older people's services. The recommendations of this round table are discussed.

Reports evaluation of the Trent Regional Health Authority′s “Providing a Personal Service” initiative, one of the first major quality management strategies in the NHS. The evaluation highlights the key elements which supported this initiative and suggests some ways in which its progress can be sustained. Many of the comments are applicable to other approaches to quality management.

A method of involving users and providers in residential care for older people was used to develop standards of care and outcome indicators. The standards were prioritized using the paired comparison technique. Describes the method and the outcomes of the processes. These include 28 standards relating to the quality of care developed by providers and service users.

Over the last 50 years deinstitutionalisation has dominated the development of social policy for people with learning disabilities in most of the world's richer countries. In this commemorative issue we will attempt to place what we have learned about the successes and failures of deinstitutionalisation in the light of three themes that are clearly evident in the work undertaken by Tizard and his close colleagues: the unrealised potential of people with learning disabilities, the importance of measuring and analysing quality in residential services and the value of applied research.