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The research explored the way in which different services, providers and other key players work together in housing with care (HWC) schemes and the impact of this on the quality of life of the older people living in them, especially those with high support needs.

This qualitative study included interviews with 47 residents and five relatives at 19 private and not‐for‐profit schemes across the UK and 52 professionals from provider, statutory and other relevant organisations.

Most participants were very satisfied with the services in HWC but a third described problems linked to “boundary” issues, where gaps, delays or confusion had arisen at the interface between teams, organisations or professional groups. Gaps often occurred where tasks were relatively small: they affected the quality of life of older people with high support needs but did not necessarily outweigh the benefits of living in HWC.

We identify ways of improving integrated working in HWC and beyond. The paper is relevant to those commissioning and providing services to older people and to all those with an interest in integrating care and housing.

This is the first UK‐wide, cross‐sector study to focus specifically on the boundaries between roles and responsibilities and their impact on residents in HWC.

This briefing paper was commissioned by Help the Aged to inform a meeting held earlier this year. The recommendations from that meeting are summarised at the end of the briefing. The paper draws on the following sources: a short survey of national advice, housing and older people's organisations carried out in April 2002, a brief review of previous research reports on older people and housing advice, and a summary of current government and other initiatives relevant to older people and housing advice.

The purpose of this paper is to review the history and current state of provision of homeless medical respite services in the UK, drawing first on the international context. The paper then articulates the need for medical respite services in the UK, and profiles some success stories. The paper then outlines the considerable challenges that currently exist in the UK, considers why some other services have failed and proffers some solutions.

The paper is primarily a literature review, but also offers original analysis of data and interviews, and presents new ideas from the authors. All authors have considerable experience of assessing the need for and delivering homeless medical respite services.

The paper builds on previous published information regarding need, and articulates the human rights argument for commissioning care. The paper also discusses the current complex commissioning arena, and suggests solutions.

The literature review was not a systematic review, but was conducted by authors with considerable experience in the field. Patient data quoted are on two limited cohorts of patients, but broadly relevant. Interviews with stakeholders regarding medical respite challenges have been fairly extensive, but may not be comprehensive.

This paper will support those who are thinking of undertaking a needs assessment for medical respite, or commissioning a new medical respite service, to understand the key issues involved.

This paper challenges the existing status quo regarding the need for a “cost-saving” rationale to set up these services.

This paper aims to be the definitive paper for anyone wishing to get an overview of this topic.

A new report from the National Heart Forum argues that coronary heart disease could lose its position as the leading single cause of death in the UK if only knowledge we have now can be turned into effective policy action. Tackling health inequalities, largely due to relative poverty, must begin in childhood. National nutrition policies are needed to lower average blood cholesterol levels and unhealthy weight gain. Healthy choices in food and lifestyle must be available to all, not just the better off. Government strategies to tackle smoking must be matched by similar strategies for nutrition and physical activity. A failure to act, particularly to raise nutritional standards across the board, could result in an alternative scenario of huge and costly increases in the number of coronary care patients.

Describes the Bodycare ‐ Getting Kids Active scheme developed by St Edmundsbury Borough Council in response to the findings of a local children’s fitness survey, and which is now in its third year of operation. The scheme visits every primary and middle school in the borough and delivers a programme on healthy lifestyles. The programme is designed to appeal to all children ‐ not just sports lovers. It covers all aspects of health and fitness, from healthy eating to exercise. The scheme was designed to integrate into the Health‐Related Fitness module of the National Curriculum. Key attractions of the scheme are the use of heart rate monitors that enable cross‐curricular studies and the collection of “FitTick” stickers for sessions of physical activity. With a view to establishing the scheme in other parts of the UK, it is now available as an off‐the‐shelf package to other leisure providers.

Purpose – To develop a broader understanding of sense-making as an embodied process of social construction.

Methodology/approach – Extended conversational interviews (Seidman, 1991) were undertaken with 35 prominent theatre professionals in Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom exploring the events and relationships that shaped their relationship with Shakespeare and his work. Inductive analysis was carried out inspired by a variety of theoretical lenses, including Dervin's Sense-Making and Foucauldian discourse analysis.

Findings – Participants’ sense-making was quintessentially social in that it was not only linked to their social connections and relationships with other members of the company but also a process of social construction drawing on a variety of disparate, and sometimes contradictory, established discourses. In contrast to prevailing approaches in information behaviour, the findings emphasise the importance of understanding sense-making in a more holistic way: as a process involving emotions as well as rationality, bodies as well as minds.

Research implications – Information researchers need to adopt a more holistic approach to understanding the relationship between people and information: to recognise that atomistic approaches focussing on the purposive information seeking of individuals reflect an implicit systems-centrism rather than people's lived experience.

Practical implications – Information researchers and practitioners need to consider the social affective and embodied nature of sense-making and consider, for example the ways in which online social networking sites build on centuries-old communal knowledge-sharing practices.

Originality/value of paper – The study extends our understanding of the importance of affect and embodiment for people's sense-making, while at the same time demonstrating that they, like language, are the products of social construction, both the object and generator of discourse.