bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mapping and leveraging influencers in social media to shape corporate brand perceptions
Authors: Booth Norman , Matic Julie Ann
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The emerging new influencer community is wielding significant power over the perceptions of brands and companies, largely driven by the rapid expansion of social media channels through which influencers communicate. The “nobodies” of the past are now the new “somebodies” demanding the attention of communication professionals who seek continuous engagement with targeted consumers throughout the various channels of the social web. The purpose of this paper is to present a means of identifying these new “somebodies”.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews a customizable valuation algorithm created to identify the “new somebodies” who are the influencers creating a revitalized level of brand awareness for companies. The index valuation algorithm measures a cross‐section of variables that numerically rate influencers in the social media conversation about a particular company, product or service.

Findings

This information helps us understand how these “somebodies” influence traditional target audiences, and help communications professionals establish effective outreach strategies. Integrating the influencer index data into a holistic social media strategy provides a comprehensive social media approach for optimizing brand equity.

Originality/value

The index identifies the “conversation points” that should guide engagement with each individual influencer, determining aspects such as subject and tone, and identifies these influencers.
Strategic stakeholder dialogues: a discursive perspective on relationship building
Authors: Susanne Johansen Trine , Ellerup Nielsen Anne
Published: August 2011

Purpose

Societal developments and stakeholder awareness place responsibility and legitimacy high on corporate agendas. Increased awareness heightens focus on stakeholder relations and dialogue as key aspects in corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate identity and corporate communication scholarship, but the question remains how can dialogue be initiated and maintained? The purpose of this paper is to establish a framework for conceptualizing dialogue.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a review of CSR, corporate identity, corporate communication and stakeholder literature, a framework is developed taking into account the different stakes held by key stakeholder groups, i.e. consumers, investors, employees, non‐governmental organization and suppliers. Based on the discursive terms of form and script, we argue that different stakes condition different dialogical types.

Findings

The paper argues that the stakeholder orientations of the CSR, corporate identity and corporate communication disciplines can aid in strengthening dialogue. It is thus suggested that dialogue may be strengthened by constructing a framework which links the stakes held by key stakeholder groups to specific dialogue forms and scripts.

Practical implications

The practical implication of articulating stakeholder dialogue as scripted interaction is that organizations seeking to engage stakeholders strategically must understand and respect conventions and expectations.

Originality/value

The paper's contribution is to expand the notion of dialogue within communication research and to provide organizations with a framework for understanding stakeholder involvement in identity relevant issues of responsibility and legitimacy.
Manager‐employee communication during a crisis: the missing link
Authors: Mazzei Alessandra , Ravazzani Silvia
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of internal communication during a crisis by comparing how Italian companies communicated to employees during the 2008‐2009 global financial crisis and how employees interpreted these efforts.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used interviews with internal communication managers and employees. It also drew data from two focus groups and a survey involving internal communicators.

Findings

The results indicate a misalignment between what companies meant to communicate and what employees perceived. Companies planned excellent communication, made extensive use of official instruments and depicted the crisis as an opportunity, while employees complained about the lack of listening and about the clarity of messages, disliked hierarchical communication and accused their companies of opportunism.

Research limitations/implications

Further research is needed to explore the antecedents of the effective manager‐employee sensemaking process during a crisis.

Practical implications

To reduce misalignment, companies should strengthen trust relationships before a crisis occurs and should focus on open and continuous listening during a crisis.

Originality/value

The two perspectives of managers and employees used simultaneously offer a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of internal communication during crises.
Using fourth‐party logistics management to improve horizontal collaboration among grocery retailers
Authors: Hingley Martin , Lindgreen Adam , Grant David B. , Kane Charles
Published: August 2011

Purpose

There is a paucity of literature considering horizontal collaboration among grocery retailers, suppliers, and third‐party logistics (3PL) providers. This paper seeks to investigate benefits of and barriers to the use of fourth‐party logistics (4PL) management as a catalyst for horizontal collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach

Three suppliers, three logistics service providers (LSPs), and one grocery retailer participated in semi‐structured interviews for this exploratory qualitative study.

Findings

Large LSPs can establish 4PL management but the significant investment required to do so is a deterrent. Interviewees believed 4PL would negatively influence the grocery retailer‐supplier dynamic but simultaneously would provide key potential benefits. Retaining supply chain control means more to grocery retailers than cost efficiencies realised through horizontal collaboration.

Research limitations/implications

Fierce competition among major grocery chains means that most are unwilling to participate in studies of their systems, which restricts the research scope.

Practical implications

Some stakeholders want deeper integration into grocery supply networks, and the 4PL model could apply to diverse sectors and circumstances. This study shows that barriers to such integration are created by power plays among lead stakeholders in grocery retailing that inhibit horizontal collaboration regardless of cost or other benefits.

Originality/value

The study investigates an under‐researched aspect of horizontal supply chain collaboration in the highly relevant retail grocery sector: a high volume, mass market industry that requires an enormous logistics infrastructure and highly embedded networks of relationships.
The rise of the “next‐generation bar code”: an international RFID adoption study
Authors: Thiesse Frédéric , Staake Thorsten , Schmitt Patrick , Fleisch Elgar
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The present study is concerned with the determinants of RFID adoption among a group of early standards adopters. Despite the extensive discussion of the technological characteristics and expected benefits of RFID in the literature, only little is known about the drivers and barriers of RFID implementations in practice. This holds particularly for the later stages of the adoption process after an initial decision in favor of the technology was made. This paper aims to fill this gap by an analysis of a set of factors on the adoption of RFID, which have been shown to be relevant for the adoption of other forms of IT, such as ERP systems and EDI.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a review of prior works, this paper constructs and empirically tests a structural model including factors related to the technology, the organization, and its environment.

Findings

The results suggest that top management support, perceived technology costs, and forces within the supply chain exert a significant influence on the adoption process. The study also finds that benefit perceptions have a significant but negative influence, which might be explained by the different modes of adopting RFID. The influence of a number of other factors known from the literature could not be supported by the study.

Originality/value

Prior works considered factors influencing the initial adoption decision among non‐adopters. In contrast with these, the focus is set on research on early adopters that have already made a decision in favor of RFID standards. The data underlying this study were collected from EPCglobal, an international association of RFID adopters covering the whole supply chain.
Management of service supply chains with a service‐oriented reference model: the case of management consulting
Authors: Giannakis Mihalis
Published: August 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the utility of the manufacturing biased supply chain operations reference (SCOR) tool in services and develops a reference model for use in service organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

Services are considered as supply chain processes that are balanced around the capacity of the firm through the upstream sourcing processes. Empirical research is undertaken to model the design, creation and delivery processes of a management consultancy as a supply chain and to identify the potential application and benefits of the tool in a service context.

Findings

The developed model conceptualises the capacity of service firms as a resource inventory to build a service offering. This inventory‐capacity duality that describes a service firm's capabilities is applicable across a wide spectrum of the service sector. Six major processes for the design and management of service supply chains are identified: plan, source, develop, adapt, operate, and recover.

Research limitations/implications

The reference framework that is developed is a proposition of how management in service supply chains could be standardised. Recommendations for future work are outlined so that an expansive reference tool can be developed to bridge the gap in service supply chain benchmarking and optimisation.

Practical implications

The developed process reference model can improve the overall performance of service provision systems through synchronised and well‐coordinated integration of the different supporting services into supply chains.

Originality/value

The paper develops an original reference architecture for business services processes, which can be used to improve the overall performance of services design and delivery.
Service quality in supply chain: empirical evidence from Indian automotive industry
Authors: Prakash Gyan
Published: August 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to conceptualize the role of service quality in the manufacturing supply chain, present a scale to measure the same, and a model that proposes that internal and external service quality initiatives lead to loyalty and satisfaction of supplier, which in turn are determinants of competitive advantage and organizational performance of the focal organization.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design for this paper includes a combination of literature review, exploratory interviews with scholars and practitioners, and a survey of 156 practitioners in three automobile‐manufacturing companies in North India. Structural equation modeling has been used for data analysis.

Findings

The paper has developed a scale to measure service quality in the supply chain, and presented a model and set of propositions related to service quality in the supply chain. The model proposes linkages of service quality with loyalty, satisfaction, competitive advantage and organizational performance. The author has empirically tested the model at supplier‐manufacturer dyad and found that the data fit the model.

Research limitations/implications

Future researchers could validate this scale, and empirically test the proposed model. Insights derived from supplier‐manufacturer dyad may be transferred to other dyads of supply chain such as manufacturer‐distributor, distributor‐retailer, and manufacturer and its own employees.

Practical implications

This study would be of interest to manufacturing industry practitioners interested in internal and external service quality improvements. This study finds support for strengthening relationships between a focal organization and its suppliers. Service quality‐based business processes can help strengthen business relationships, develop synchronized linkages between supply chain members, and consequently gain competitive advantage.

Original/value

There are few empirical studies that measure service quality in manufacturing industries or the supply chain. The role of internal and external service quality and their linkages with loyalty, satisfaction, competitive advantage and organizational performance has previously not been conceptualized.
“Life could be a dream”
Authors: Brian Flynn C. , Feild Hubert S. , Bedeian Arthur G.
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to first identify the work‐ and non‐work‐related criteria US‐based management doctoral students consider important in selecting an initial academic appointment, and second, to explore whether gender and race/ethnicity are associated with the importance attached to these criteria.

Design/methodology/approach

To address these objectives, the authors developed a 125‐item survey of work‐ and non‐work‐related criteria that management PhD students about to enter the academic labor market for the first time may wish to consider in weighing prospective job opportunities.

Findings

Job and professional considerations were dominant in assessing an initial employment opportunity. Female doctoral students differed from their male counterparts in attaching greater importance to four major themes: family friendliness, research support, clarity of performance and reward criteria, and university and community diversity. Race/ethnicity differences were also found, with Asian doctoral students valuing considerations related to academic prestige and research support more than their White counterparts.

Research limitations/implications

Respondents indicated their race/ethnicity, but not their nationality, or whether they were immigrants or US citizens and, thus, may have confounded the results to some degree.

Practical implications

The authors' results carry important implications for departmental administrators seeking to fill open positions with first‐time faculty candidates, as well as management PhD students interested in whether a department can meet their expectations regarding academic and financial resources necessary for academic success.

Originality/value

In that detailed information about what PhD students in general and management doctoral students in particular want in an initial academic appointment is limited, the paper fills a longstanding gap in the research literature.
A model of psychological contract creation upon organizational entry
Authors: Tomprou Maria , Nikolaou Ioannis
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of a number of factors in newcomers' psychological contract development.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach taken is a literature review with the development of a conceptual model.

Findings

The paper contributes to the psychological contract literature by adopting a sensemaking perspective and focusing on the role of newcomers' pre‐entry expectations and emotions on the psychological contract creation process. The authors also discuss the differential role of contract makers and facilitators and the modes they employ to influence newcomers' psychological contract creation.

Originality/value

Psychological contract research has emphasized the consequences of psychological contract breach and violation. The paper's aim is to direct attention at understanding the psychological contract in its very initial stages. The authors discuss implications for research and practice on managing psychological contract creation.
A Chinese longitudinal study on work/family enrichment
Authors: Lu Luo
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore reciprocal relationships between work/family resources, work/family enrichment (WFE), and work/family satisfaction in a Chinese society.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal design was adopted using a three‐wave panel sample. Data were obtained from 310 Taiwanese employees on three occasions, six months apart.

Findings

Results of cross‐lagged structural equation modeling analyses offered strong support for the hypothesized reciprocal relationships between the focal constructs. The authors found that while modeling WFE, work resources (supervisory support), WFE and job satisfaction were mutually related to one another over time. While modeling family‐to‐work enrichment (FWE), family resources (family support), FWE and family satisfaction were again mutually related to one another over time.

Originality/value

This is the first longitudinal study on WFE with a non‐Western sample. Basing upon the findings, the authors suggest that the common theoretical models postulating a linear causal chain of work/family antecedents→work/family interaction (WFI)→work/family consequences are inadequate. Instead it is recommended that more elaborate and recursive models including reciprocal relationships need to be formulated to better represent the dynamic and fluid nature of WFI processes.
Words from the heart speak to the heart
Authors: Lee Raymond T. , Brotheridge Céleste M.
Published: August 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand, from the child care worker's perspective, how work experience, display rules, and affectivity are related to emotional labor. It also examines the utility of separating surface acting into its two components: the hiding and faking of emotions.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on a cross‐sectional self‐report survey of 198 child care workers in Western Canada.

Findings

Deep acting occurred more frequently among younger workers, whereas experienced workers hid their feelings more frequently than did their less‐experienced counterparts. The requirement to express positive emotions was associated with deep acting and faking emotions, whereas the requirement to suppress negative emotions was associated with hiding feelings.

Research limitations/implications

Results support the treatment of surface acting's components as distinct given their differential association with the other variables. Future research should validate the emotional labor measure in service occupations that involve different frequency and intensity levels of contact.

Practical implications

The finding that young and inexperienced workers appear to engage in different emotion regulation strategies than mature and experienced workers may be due to their job training. A potential solution is to include service learning projects in child care training that build their confidence in communicating with parents.

Originality/value

Use of the revised Emotional Labour Scale in future studies may facilitate a deeper understanding of workplace emotional expression.
An Elizabethan age: A trail of ideas and initiative
Authors: Cook Timothy
Published: August 2011

It is worth remembering, when we feel dispirited over the housing provision we can offer to the excluded today, just what it was like forty years ago ‐ and how important it is to keep the focus on practical service.
Mental health policy and housing: Why housing is vital in the management of mental health
Authors: Drake Madeline
Published: August 2011

Homelessness makes mental health problems worse, but inappropriate housing can be damaging, too. We need to be flexible and supportive in our provision, offering options for both independent and supported housing, and easy transfer between them. Government policy on housing should recognise the importance of individual need, as well as the overall picture.
Where there's no vision, the people perish (Proverbs): Why we need to keep the quality in quality assurance
Authors: Smith Andrew
Published: August 2011

Management is not easy in an environment of continual change, and it is fatally easy to adopt a ‘quick fix’ approach to the problems created by new initiatives. Many organisations are finding that instant responses and latest buzzwords are not delivering. It is time to stop trying to re‐invent the wheel and start focusing on objectives and methods ‐ and accepting the need for both vision and patience.
Housing and joint commissioning: A challenge for the year 2000
Authors: Jones Nigel
Published: August 2011

Involvement of local housing authorities in commissioning of community care services is recognised as an important objective. This paper describes how two housing and community care projects in Leeds and Dudley have worked successfully to achieve it.
Housing Benefit for supported housing: Who should pay for supported and sheltered housing?
Authors: Boyle Kathleen
Published: August 2011

His paper looks at the implications of a judicial review last July of four cases concerned with the eligibility of service charges for Housing Benefit funding. It explains why the NHF recommends that funding for tenancy support should remain part of the housing system rather than be moved to social services.
The housing dimension: A forgotten piece of the jigsaw
Authors: Ville Nick
Published: August 2011

The Audit Commission has recently published a report on the role of housing in community care — an often‐forgotten piece of the community care jigsaw. The message for housing, social services and health professionals is clear: ignore the housing dimension of community care at your peril.
Living independently with support: Floating support or that sinking feeling
Authors: MacDonald Charlotte
Published: August 2011

This new study carried out at Stirling University examines users' views of support services which are designed to enable them to live independently in the community. The aspirations and experiences of users from three different client groups are considered, in the context of a tangled web of funding mechanisms and statutory powers in Scotland. Published in April this year, the report provides useful insight for practitioners and managers responsible for floating support services.
Making God wait: An alternative to residential care
Authors: Bailey Anne
Published: August 2011

Frail older people have often had to choose between residential care and staying in their own homes with community care services. Both have disadvantages. The development of very sheltered housing in Wolverhampton has shown that there is a better way to meet the needs of frail and disabled older people.
Performance standards: What's good about the new published guidelines?
Authors: Fallon Tim
Published: August 2011

The Housing Corporation claims that its new standards give greater focus and clarity to service standards in supported housing. How true is this? What will be the benefits — and problems — for the various stakeholders?
The regulation of housing and support services: Time for a re‐think
Authors: Simons Ken
Published: August 2011

THE INTENTIONS OF THE registration system for registered care homes were honourable, but in practice their application to services has frustrated attempts to give people the chance of an ordinary life. This institutional framework is inconsistently used and needs reform.
Registration of care and housing schemes: People deserve better
Authors: Sowerby Leo
Published: August 2011

A PRACTITIONER RECOGNISES THE importance of regulation, but acknowledges the frustrations over inconsistency, the impact on the lives of residents and the need for a change in the approach.
Positive approaches to community mental health services: A view of the Independent Reference Group
Authors: Brand Don
Published: August 2011

THE INDEPENDENT REFERENCE GROUP, set up to advise ministers on public health policies and service developments, has produced a summary of its findings. This paper presents the group's main views and priorities for action.
Quality of social life and value for money
Authors: Woolrych Richard
Published: August 2011

THE AUTHOR, UNTIL RECENTLY Commissioning Manager — Supported Housing with Hertfordshire Social Services, describes findings from recent research. The paper examines the potential for ‘move on’ in learning disability services, and argues that the focus should shift to one of ‘fixing’ the community rather than the individual.
Befriending and community care: ‘Nobody today has any time, have they?’
Authors: Dean Jo , Goodlad Robina
Published: August 2011

BEFRIENDING IS A VALUED form of support for people in receipt of community care services, and offers something which is qualitatively different from the support which paid staff can give. This paper, based on recent research, explores the perspectives of users and reports on some of the problems facing befriending organisations.
Cornwall's approach to special needs accommodation development: The practical experience of joint working
Authors: Mottart Beth
Published: August 2011

CORNWALL SPECIAL NEEDS ACCOMMODATION panel (SNAP) is an established partnership between the six district council housing departments, social services, the district health authority and probation. It operates at chief officer level, and is fed by six district special needs accommodation groups (SNAGs). The initial brief was two‐fold: to quantify unmet need for supported housing and to co‐ordinate development. This paper charts their progress.
Low‐cost, high‐quality services: Making ‘empowerment’ and ‘inclusion’ a reality
Authors: Poll Carl
Published: August 2011

CRITERIA FOR RESTRICTING ELIGIBILITY for social services present a bleak future for some people with a moderate learning disability and may have other social costs. There is another way: lower‐cost, flexible models of support which both meet the aspirations of the people themselves and provide a solution for local authorities. KeyRing's living support networks constitute a successful example.
Housing options for people with a disability: Developing new ideas in practice
Authors: Glynn Bill
Published: August 2011

LIVING OUTSIDE RESIDENTIAL INSTITUTIONS is a goal for many people with learning disabilities. This paper outlines approaches that have been shown to be successful in achieving both the homes and the finance for supported living in the community.
Services for the next generation: Planning for the future
Authors: Fletcher Peter
Published: August 2011

HOUSING, CARE AND SUPPORT have come a long way in the last 25 years. They are now a mainstream rather than peripheral part of service planning and provision. Changing expectations, a new integrated approach to the planning and funding of services will set major challenges for both service planners and providers ‐ the new emphasis on outcome measures, a genuine partnership with service users, a new focus on supporting people in their communities.
Working together: Joint commissioning in practice
Authors: Camp Toni
Published: August 2011

JOINT COMMISSIONING AND JOINT working are strong themes in recent policy and guidance. In practice, it can seem like too many meetings while operations, decision‐making and spending remain stuck in separate departments. The challenge is how the differing responsibilities and priorities of several agencies can be translated into a single, shared agenda. Equally important is how operational staff who contribute to strategy are included and informed.
Supporting people 2: Realising the reforms
Authors: Rogers Nigel
Published: August 2011

THE DIRECTOR OF THE supported housing policy and training agency SITRA analyses the DSS consultation paper, Supporting People, and highlights the issues of provider stability, the regional dimension, costing any transfer from DSS and limits on means‐testing of support grant. These are all key questions if the promise of the reforms are to be realised.
Funding freedom: Direct payment schemes
Authors: Woolrych Richard
Published: August 2011

TWO RECENT CONFERENCES AND publications on direct payments indicate how these are integral to the Modernising Government agenda. They will have implications where supported housing is part‐funded by social services and where tenants receive services arranged or provided by social services. They can be used to help people with learning difficulties.
Housing and older people: A national overview
Authors: Vallelly Sarah
Published: August 2011

ANCHOR TRUST IS ABOUT to publish Age File 99 ‐ a comprehensive, up‐to‐date report documenting the demographics, health, housing circumstances, finances, care arrangements and lifestyles of older people in England. It is intended to be an invaluable resource for anyone involved in shaping the national agenda for the delivery of housing, care and support services for older people. This summary paper outlines the main findings related to the housing conditions and circumstances of older people.
Does best value help?: Another bureaucratic burden or the dynamo for change?
Authors: Corrigan Paul
Published: August 2011

FOR MANY PEOPLE IN the world of social care, best value can appear to be yet another management burden, wrapped with the grey wrapping paper of bureaucracy and all tied up with just a hint of threat of intervention from the Government. This article reworks that impression. It does not deny that best value will be one of the biggest real challenges to face the world of care for some time or that it will lead to considerable change. Used well, it will guarantee change, but care will be needed to ensure that it is not a bureaucratic nightmare that detracts from service improvement.
Planning in partnership: Establishing a practical structure and building on results
Authors: Reynolds Andrew
Published: August 2011

AT THE CORE OF supported housing policy lies the requirement that local authority housing and social service departments work together to deliver housing care and support. Health and probation also have an important part to play. In the case of single authorities co‐operation may be between departments but in the case of county councils there may be several districts and health areas. The practice of joint working is more complex. This paper describes a study carried out to review joint working practices — strategic, planning and operational.
Viable systems for planning: A case study on needs and planning for supported housing
Authors: Foord Mark , Simic Paul , Bartles Hilary , Ingham Judith
Published: August 2011

SUPPORTING PEOPLE HAS GIVEN a new urgency to discussions of needs analysis, strategic planning and the user voice. This article explores a two‐year research project developed by Manchester City Council, Manchester Methodists Housing Association and the Housing Corporation, which aimed to design a model for identifying supported housing needs, based on a collaborative, interdepartmental approach to needs assessment.
Coping with complex needs: Managing competing demands
Authors: Jenkins Grania
Published: August 2011

SUPPORTED HOUSING SCHEMES ARE required to provide services to a growing number of people with severe and diverse problems. These clients pose great challenges to services; not only must they devise and monitor complex and time‐consuming care programmes, but they must also support the staff involved. This paper uses a case study to discuss some of the issues.
The preventative approach
Authors: Fletcher Peter
Published: August 2011

NATIONAL RESEARCH PROMOTING WELL‐BEING: Developing a preventive approach with older people shows housing as a central part of the preventive agenda. Research launched by the Preventative Task Group at the first national prevention conference on 8 June 1999 (an event supported by the Department of Health and the Local Government Association) has shown that housing is a central part of the prevention agenda for older people.
Vulnerable tenants in general needs housing: How can mainstream services help people cope?
Authors: Rogers Mark
Published: August 2011

Large numbers of vulnerable tenants live in general needs housing. They may be people taking up new tenancies or existing tenants who become vulnerable for one reason or another. This can easily become a problem for the managers of general needs housing. In this example a specialist team is used to give support to a small caseload of tenants.
Supporting People and neighbourhood renewal: Does special help for individuals fit within community development?
Authors: Cooper Martin
Published: August 2011

This article takes up the issue of the relationship between Supporting People and neighbourhood renewal. It attempts a non‐partisan debate about how Supporting People can play a positive role in helping to achieve one of the Government's wider social policy objectives through community development.
Social housing and the national service framework for mental health
Authors: Greenwood Eddie
Published: August 2011

The transforming influence of care in the community, with its resulting mass of new legislation, has brought about change whose pace has been gathering momentum. The culmination of this process is evident in the Modernising Mental Health Services (Department of Health, 1999a) agenda, proposals to reform the Mental Health Act (Department of Health 1999b, 1999c, 1999d) and the Mental Health National Service Framework (Department of Health, 1999e). This article explores the challenges.
Housing opportunities for people with learning disabilities: A national pilot project aimed at helping local authorities increase the range of choice
Authors: Solomons Janet
Published: August 2011

This article analyses the experience of the London Borough of Barnet's participation in a national housing pilot project which sought to enable local authorities to increase the range of housing opportunities for people with learning disabilities. It also considers the potential impact of the project on service delivery.
Housing, public health and community care: A proposal to improve the well‐being of older people
Authors: Harrison Lyn , Heywood Frances
Published: August 2011

The establishment of community care principles should have led to increased provision of independence‐enhancing housing services to older people, but the trend has been in the opposite direction. A research project considered the place of housing in public health and community care planning and the potential of primary health care workers to supply information. The article identifies obstacles to change and proposes an approach which would ensure that information on housing needs was routinely collected and fed into planning processes.
Developing housing and support standards in supported housing: How in practice can organisations providing supported housing assess ‘best value’?
Authors: Clarke Jackie
Published: August 2011

What counts as a good set of standards to test performance? Two and a half years ago a planning team made up of practitioners from the various projects and regions met to decide on a set of standards which would cover all Adullam's housing and support services. They are intended to cover a person's progress from the moment of enquiry through to the point when support is withdrawn.
From pillar to post: Failing to meet the support and housing needs of vulnerable people
Authors: Waters Matthew
Published: August 2011

Shelter recently published a report, From Pillar To Post: Failing to meet the support and housing needs of vulnerable people, which showed just how important it is that agencies work closely together. A survey of Shelter's network of housing aid centres and projects found that housing and social services departments are failing to work together, and the needs of service users are not being met. Guidance to local authorities encouraging departments to work together is not enough; a new duty on local authorities is needed.
From client to community: Linking community care into the regeneration agenda
Authors: Fletcher Peter
Published: August 2011

A national study has highlighted the need for regeneration planning to take on board the housing, care and support needs of vulnerable, isolated people with community care needs. Few areas explicitly mapped the needs of vulnerable people or had a community care dimension to their regeneration aims and commissioning plan.
Caring communities and community development: How can care and community mix?
Authors: Henderson Paul
Published: August 2011

The article addresses issues raised in this Journal (Vol. 3, Issue 1) on the relationship between supporting people and neighbourhood renewal. Using findings from an actionresearch project, it argues the case for placing community care within a social inclusion framework which uses a community development approach.
‘Joined‐up’ thinking? A co‐housing community pilot project
Authors: Brenton Maria
Published: August 2011

The Government's welfare and housing agenda focuses on ‘joined‐up’ thinking, choice, balanced communities and social inclusion. Because there is also much concern about the impact of an ageing population, local planners and service providers are encouraged to think creatively and work together. An example from research in the Netherlands shows how local authorities and the non‐profit sector can work together in an integrated approach to older people.
Housing and health — a joint approach: The Manchester experience
Authors: Bartle Hilary
Published: August 2011

The Manchester Healthy City project has carried out a major consultation with communities over the action plan for the Healthy City initiative. The four clear themes were housing and homelessness, the environment, crime and disorder, and mental health. These have formed the basis for key areas of work in which housing takes a lead role. This article will identify some of the joint initiatives which are going on in the various areas of strategic planning, commissioning and service delivery.
Technology for independence: Telecare — technology for older people
Authors: Brownsell Simon , Porteus Jeremy
Published: August 2011

This article is based on the report Using Telecare: Exploring Technologies for Independent Living for Older People, which contains the findings of a lifestyle monitoring system. The report sets the project in the context of other work in the field of care of older people in the UK and of related health and social care initiatives. The authors identify the research agenda involved in the further development of lifestyle monitoring and that surrounding telecare in general.
Directing research: Research on housing in the lives of older people
Authors: Vallely Sarah
Published: August 2011

The Research Directory: Older People & Housing provides the first comprehensive overview of current and recent research into older people's housing across the whole of the UK. The Directory should be an invaluable resource to housing associations, local government, health authorities, charities and social researchers. This article reviews the role of research in housing organisations, emphasising the need for research to be translated into practice, finding effective ways to promote it and facilitating future debate across the whole of the housing and care sector.
An overview of the Supporting People programme
Authors: Griffiths Steve
Published: August 2011

Supporting People All the Way, a review for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation by Steve Griffiths, examines the Supporting People programme in the context of other government plans. Looking at the boundary between residential care and the Supporting People programme, the review finds arbitrary divisions which undermine the programme's objectives, and argues for a redrawing of the boundary with a more coherent relationship between the Government's commitments to foster independent living and to provide personal care.
Housing associations' monitoring of managing agents: Managing in a changing environment
Authors: Wood Tristan
Published: August 2011

The recent publication Framework for Performance Assessment for RSLs working with Managing Agents (Housing Corporation, 2000a) contains new guidance for registered social landlords on monitoring service quality where managing agents operate supported housing schemes. This article outlines the recommended framework and examines how it might fare in the Supporting People environment that will operate from 2003.
Effectiveness and accountability in supported housing: What does it mean in practice?
Authors: Mcallister Kate
Published: August 2011

As supported housing providers prepare for Supporting People over the next two and a half years, we recognise how important it is not to lose sight of the need to ensure that vulnerable people receive the best possible care and support, and are not presenting a risk to themselves or to others in the community. This article looks in detail at best practice procedures for referrals, including assessment procedures, support contracts and individual support plans.
Reshaping services — a practical example: Moving from a local authority hostel to supported housing
Authors: Woolrych Richard
Published: August 2011

How does a local authority re‐provide for 26 residents with learning difficulties living in a hostel run by social services which fails to comply with current standards? This case study describes how three‐quarters of residents were enabled to move on to supported housing and outlines a model that could be adopted by other councils.
Supporting People: Improving services for older people?
Authors: Heywood Frances , Harrison Lynn
Published: August 2011

Supporting People was originally promoted as a way of shifting resources out of the confines of ‘special’ housing towards a more flexible approach focused on people. As far as older people were concerned, it spoke of the desirability of giving more, low‐intensity support and of the opportunity for health services to become involved in the commissioning. But detailed proposals have so far been more concerned with protecting the status quo than with innovation, and have emphasised ‘assessment’ rather than the empowerment of service users. Change could still happen through Supporting People, and the practical housing support services older people need could be provided through the agency of primary care groups or through an extension of Attendance Allowance. The article concludes by addressing the problem of finding a suitable labour force to give older people support in their homes, and the need for joined‐up thinking on earnings restrictions for families living on benefits.
The bottom line: Incentives and disincentives for a wider range of housing and support options
Authors: Simons Ken
Published: August 2011

Relatively few people with learning disabilities have their own homes. To achieve a wider range of housing and support options, we have to ensure that there are consistent financial incentives. For strategies to be successful in introducing significant change, some of the financial and administrative inconsistencies in benefits, ILF, out of area placements and Supporting People will have to be addressed.
Fitting the bill: Developing a floating support service
Authors: Crutchfield Jonathon , Burnie Amanda
Published: August 2011

Floating support can provide a flexible peripatetic service to people in their own homes, with the aim of developing or maintaining independence. It is based on individually assessed need and support plans that promote time‐limited self‐help and links to other local services. The shortage of properly structured low‐medium support leaves people vulnerable to a crisis of homelessness or in expensive residential services. Mainstream housing providers may lack the time or experience to offer the right help. This paper shows how an effective service can be designed and managed.
Housing and the National Health Service Plan: Reconfiguring the deckchairs?
Authors: Bamford Terry
Published: August 2011

Since 1948 the Health Service has been a subject of policy on which Labour has consistently rated higher than the Tories in public opinion. But the standard of care within the National Health Service is seen as falling. What difference will the new plan make? There are undoubted good intentions, but also the potential for confusion as commissioning and service delivery are put in the structural mixer once again.
What older people say: Will NHS reforms and the National Service Framework address the concerns of older people?
Authors: Ellis Jonathan
Published: August 2011

This article explores older people's priorities for health and social care, noting a close relationship between those systems and the role to be played by housing services as the third vital branch of care. The article frames the debate within the context of the reforms of the NHS and social care, which provide an opportunity to ensure that services take account of the needs of the whole person on a multi‐disciplinary basis.
Living independently: Linking housing and care services for older people
Authors: Adams Sue
Published: August 2011

The vast majority of older people (90%) live in the general housing stock and 70% are owneroccupiers. One of the major challenges for planners in the housing, health and social care sectors is the development of a coherent joint strategy which enables older people to live independently in their own homes. Home improvement agencies (HIAs) aim to meet the housing and related support needs of mainly older home‐owners. Research carried out by Care and Repair England has been tracking and studying the diversification of HIAs into services areas which ‘cross the housing and care divide’. The results of this work have recently been published. They demonstrate both the range and the extent of new service provision by HIAs and its value both to older people wishing to ‘stay put’ and to planners charged with implementing cross‐sector work and prevention strategies.
Pathways to accessible housing: Assessing the need for wheelchairaccessible housing
Authors: Carter Alan
Published: August 2011

The Papworth Trust and Habinteg Housing Association have just launched the findings of a two‐year research programme into the need for better housing and support for disabled people. A planning model or ‘toolkit’ has been produced based on the approach developed by the researchers (Pathways Research), which can be used by any local authority to evaluate the housing needs of wheelchair users.
Training the social care and housing workforce: Setting the context
Authors: Spaull Jenny
Published: August 2011

‘Education, education, education’. If the first is for schools and the second for higher education, then the third should focus on the training and education of the workforce and unemployed. It has an impact on the housing and social care sectors ‐ but the range of initiatives and targets can be bewildering to the average organisation or employer. This article aims to provide an introduction to the training/education agenda in the care and supported housing sectors in England, and will focus particularly on care. (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may have slightly different arrangements.)
Settling for sustainability: Developing a joint strategy for supported accommodation in Kingston‐upon‐Hull
Authors: Sharland Penny , Britton Bruce
Published: August 2011

In 1999 voluntary and statutory sector partners in Hull agreed that they wanted to respond more effectively to the needs of all those in supported accommodation. We were commissioned to undertake a review of services and make recommendations that would inform corporate strategy formation. The results set out eight key areas for change. This article is a summary of the report produced. It urges all parties to put client needs first, whoever they are, and to commit to genuine partnership to achieve agreed aims. Supporting People gives Hull a real opportunity to develop effective services across all client groups, and demands an increased commitment to some of the most vulnerable people in the community.