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The aim of this study was to address the unmet information needs of Malawian informal carers. We report on a three-year project which we co-created with informal carers, medical doctors and NGOs with the view to disseminate health advisory messages.

This study was developed on the principles of co-production. The impact of our health advisory messaging approach was assessed through observations and questionnaire-based surveys for quality, clarity and usefulness.

The messages were disseminated beyond the local support groups and reached a much wider community via word of mouth. The messages also led to short and medium term benefits for informal carers and their loved ones.

Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the contextual conditions of informal caring and that of co-producing interventions with the people these aim to benefit.

Services for offenders who have learning disabilities are generally provided in secure and medium secure units. These services are often provided in segregated and congregated settings using therapeutic interventions. This paper presents a case study of a housing‐based service provided within the community, based on developing valued social roles for vulnerable people.In 2003 the then Labour government in the UK sought to align all of the state benefits paid to people who were not in work due to disability and other disadvantages. The resulting ‘transitional housing benefit’ integrated housing benefit and other support grants, with the aim of providing vulnerable people and service providers with a single point of reference when it came to the funding of accommodation and support. The service is based on the principle of normalisation (Wolfensberger, 1972; Tyne & O'Brien, 1981), the theory of social role valorisation (SRV) (Wolfensberger & Thomas, 1983; Wolfensberger et al, 1996; Race, 1999) and O'Brien's Framework for Accomplishment (O'Brien, 1987) and provides a credible alternative to more traditional approaches.The paper provides a critical introduction to SRV and O'Brien's Framework and how their principles have been used to support people with complex needs. It discusses some of the structures and attitudes prevalent in society or, as Wolfensberger calls them, the ‘domains’ and ‘major channels’ by which people with learning disabilities are oppressed.The case study includes examples of practice and shows some interesting differences in patterns of referral and destination routes for males and females and concludes with some implications for practice.

This paper both supports previous findings relating to, and presents new insights into: the information needs and the information seeking processes of a sample of informal caregivers of people with dementia (in relation to their own needs and the interrelated needs of the people they are caring for); the extent to which such information needs are and are not being met; and the factors facilitating and hindering access to the right information.

The study adopted a qualitative approach in the form of a thematic analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a sample of 20 informal caregivers from a range of different age groups, genders and caring roles.

Thematic analysis identified significant informational challenges, with a common perception that information seeking was onerous, requiring a proactive approach. Further challenges arose from a perceived lack of focus on carer needs coming up against the boundaries of professional knowledge and inconsistent information provision across the sample. Distance carers faced specific issues. A second theme of negative impacts described burdens arising from: difficulties in accessing information from a complex array of support services closure or change in services and unfulfilled information needs. Participants employed strategies to enable access to information, for example, being open about their caring role; and building formal or informal support networks. It is important to address emotional as well as cognitive dimensions of information needs.

This research highlights a need for health and social care, practice and policy to acknowledge and address information needs of this diverse population and build resilience. Above all, information seeking and sharing must be understood within the context of the emotional impact of caring, and recognition of these twin needs is crucial.

Whilst previous research has focussed on identifying specific needs and knowledge acquisition at cross-sections, a more holistic understanding of experiences is underexplored. This approach is needed to take into account broader contexts, diversity of experiences and different caring roles, e.g. primary and secondary carers, and in situ and distance carers.

The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.

Knight's Industrial Law Reports goes into a new style and format as Managerial Law This issue of KILR is restyled Managerial Law and it now appears on a continuous updating basis rather than as a monthly routine affair.

This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.