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The purpose of this paper is to describe the findings from an electronic questionnaire survey which set out to explore experiences of graduates of a part-time Master’s programme in dementia care at The University of Manchester.

An electronic questionnaire survey was sent to 57 graduates who had studied on the programme since it began in 2003. Thematic analysis was applied to qualitative data from responses to six open-ended questions.

In total, 31 completed questionnaires were received. Four key themes were identified from the qualitative data: juggling competing demands; experiencing personal growth and achievement; locating sources of support; and supporting changes to practice.

Limitations included the small sample size and the survey not covering the experiences of students who had failed to complete the first year of study.

The study demonstrates the perceived value of dementia education at more advanced levels for people working in professional roles in dementia care, this included professional and personal development and supporting changes to practice. The study additionally adds to a limited evidence base relating to how mature, health and social care students experience part-time study in higher education and has implications for future research aimed at informing the development of appropriate course design and employer support.

Life story work has a relatively long tradition in the caring sciences and is recognised as an important component of dementia care and practice. However, to date, there has not been a review of accessible life story resources. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Following a systematic approach to identification and inclusion, 11 life story resources were reviewed to ascertain areas of commonality and divergence between the materials.

The authors were able to group the analysis under eight areas and at the end of this process, it was uncertain if life story work is a formal staff intervention or an informal activity that people with dementia and their families could engage in. Resources also varied in terms of whether the life story information was organised in a chronological way, or with topics of interest/discussion or with a combination of both. Life story evaluation and its impact on the life of the person with dementia is in need of development.

Across the resources the authors identified four reasons to do life story work which the authors have named as: emotional connections; interactional connections; building new connections and practical care connections.

There was limited guidance aimed at helping people with dementia to develop and compile their own life story.

This paper provides new insights into the usefulness, future directions and content of life story resources in dementia care. It will be of interest to those in health and social care as well as people living with dementia.

There is growing statistical and research evidence to suggest that the prevalence of alcohol misuse is increasing among older adults in the UK. This has been an under‐recognised problem, but is now a source of increasing concern for health and social care providers. Older adults with mental health problems have increased vulnerability to problematic alcohol use, and this is likely to have a significant impact on older people's mental health services (OPMHS).

This paper discusses some of the problems facing OPMHS in relation to increasing alcohol misuse among services users.

There is also evidence that alcohol misuse in older adults is often poorly identified and untreated within health and social care services including OPMHS. Use of an alcohol‐screening tool as part of a health care assessment is an effective way to improve detection. This paper also reviews the use of alcohol screening tools in the detection of alcohol related illness among older adults with mental health problems and proposes a care pathway for the management of alcohol misuse in OPMHS.

Current evidence indicates that the prevalence of alcohol misuse among older adults is increasing and is likely to rise further due to the reasons discussed in this paper.

Mental health (MH) and caring can be demanding for those directly and indirectly impacted. An under-researched area is that of professionals’ personal experiences of caring for a loved one with MH difficulties. This study aims to provide an in-depth exploration of psychologists’ experiences of caring and its impact on clinical practice.

A total of 11 psychologists with experiences of caring for a loved one with a diagnosed MH condition and/or MH distress participated in semi-structured interviews focused on caring experiences and its impact. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis.

Themes identified were as follows: personal and professional roles; the emergence of a carer identity; carer stress and strain; impact on professional practice; and dual positioning.

This study highlighted the knowledge and value of listening to professionals with lived experiences. Their ability to understand stigmatisation through personal caring experiences may facilitate the mitigation of this for vulnerable people attending clinical services.

To outline the current trajectories in digital social research and to highlight the roles of qualitative research in those trajectories.

A secondary analysis of the primary literature.

Qualitative research has shifted over time in relation to rapidly changing digital phenomena, but arguably finds itself in ‘crisis’ when faced with algorithms and ubiquitous digital data. However, there are many highly significant qualitative approaches that are being pursued and have the potential to contextualize, situate and critique narratives and practices of data.

To situate current debates around methods within longer trajectories of digital social research, recognizing their conceptual, disciplinary and empirical commitments.

The purpose of this paper is to review the relevant literature concerning the skills and knowledge of owner‐managers in small firms and to show how these might be enhanced and made more effective through alternative transferral and “teaching” strategies. It is shown that small firms are not isolated from their environment and are interdependently and inexorably linked with other organisations (suppliers, for instance). In this environment, and through these relationships, the majority of owner‐manager learning takes place. The implications for owner‐managers and the support environment are explored and recommendations for further research to explore the empirical reality of owner‐manager learning are presented.

This paper uses Gramsci’s theory of hegemony to analyse the development of the public sector accounting profession and accounting practices in the UK since the nineteenth‐century. Three periods of hegemony and accounting development are identified and the relationship between the two phenomena is discussed. The analysis emphasises the non‐teleological development of the public sector accounting profession and accounting techniques and clearly places them within an ideological framework which is itself the outcome of a complex interrelation between economic crises, class interests and the state. The paper concludes that the public sector accounting professional body in the UK has played an important hegemonic role in constituting and reflecting ideologies and in reflecting the coercive and consensual approaches adopted by the state. The paper also sets an agenda for a research programme which looks at specific crises and hegemonies in more depth.