Editorial

Citation

Thistlethwaite, P. (2011), "Editorial", Journal of Integrated Care, Vol. 19 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/jica.2011.55319faa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Integrated Care, Volume 19, Issue 6

When you receive the next Issue of Journal of Integrated Care (JICA) in February, it will look different from this one. The page size is being reduced by the publisher and, therefore, the printed journal will have a “chunkier” feel: so be prepared. This is the final step in the process of making the look of this journal fully consistent with other Emerald journals: modifications were made earlier this year to the look of the front cover and the layout of individual papers. We will start 2012 fully integrated into the Emerald family.

Some of you may also have noted that the acronym for the journal is now JICA (not JIC). This is because Emerald already had its own JIC. It seems strange to have to adopt this new language, and I anticipate lapses, over a long period of adjustment. This is appropriately redolent of many papers over the years in this journal which have reported the persistence of old cultures during the process of integration!

Behind the scenes, our Editorial Board is changing too. The agreed plan is to have a smaller main “advisory” board to support me as a team in shaping the development of the journal as a whole; and also a “review” board whose members will be more focussed on the quality of individual papers, or will advise more informally on specific topics. We offered the 30 members of the old Board a choice. A few people have taken the option of retiring from the board, which we expected. And we express our grateful thanks to these folk for support over many years in some instances. So far, nearly half of the old board have opted for the new advisory board, which is a very pleasing response to receive. We have also invited one new member to join: Professor Gerald Wistow who requires no introduction, and who is now contributing a series of articles. We perhaps ought also to consider adding someone to provide an international dimension.

But there is a dilemma here: the board still seems quite large for teamworking. But, by definition, integrated care must encompass a wide range of interests, perspectives and causes. To represent these you need a large board. There is also the need to get a balance between academic interests which are a core element for any journal, and wider “business” interests from people who think about policy, those who implement it, and indeed from those who need care and support. In the widest sense of the phrase, they represent customer interests. Although it is unbecoming to pigeon-hole individuals, the emerging board demonstrates a convincing balance at this stage: people with academic interest in the topic; people with experience in local government, the NHS and housing; and a strong voluntary sector voice. Individual members themselves have often crossed sectors during their careers and may have deep knowledge from evaluative research and consultancy.

We are also introducing teleconferences for Board meetings. In theory this means we will make fewer demands on the time of members: travel time to meetings was a big factor in low attendances at meetings of the old Board. How easy will a teleconference of, say, a dozen people work out in practice? We will see how all this goes, but no editor can get by without reliance on the personal guidance, knowledge and networks of board members.

Best wishes to readers for Christmas and for 2012. We cordially invite you to make contact in any capacity to help us take integrated care forward.

Peter Thistlethwaite