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Notes that living with arthritis involves pain and fatigue, physical limitations, problems with social relationships and loss of social and leisure activities. Describes the psychosocial challenges associated with living with arthritis and examines whether, as a result of attending an arthritis self‐management programme (ASMP), participants felt more capable of meeting those challenges. Interviews were conducted with 16 participants before they attended the ASMP; two weeks after completing the course; and at eight months. During the ASMP, participants benefited from developing an empathic relationship with their peers, thereby reducing feelings of isolation. The ASMP also promoted positive behavioural changes such as exercise, relaxation and pain management. A greater sense of personal control served as a precursor for involvement in initiatives aimed at providing solutions for their local arthritis communities. Suggests a self‐management programme can provide a forum that facilitates peer support and improves coping skills.

This article considers the potential of a self‐management programme for primary care treatment of patients with chronic disease and co‐exisiting mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. The authors conclude that a growing body of evidence suggests that such a resource should be high on the list of referral options for GPs and other health professionals.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the benefits of cooking one-to-one, alongside commensality (eating together) for improving offenders’/ex-offenders’ health and well-being, measured in terms of improved social skills, cultural competencies and successful resettlement.

Fieldwork conducted over nine months included; participant observation of lunch times (n=56) and cooking one-to-one with trainees (n=27), semi-structured interviews (n=23) and a “photo-dialogue” focus group with trainees (n=5) and staff (n=2).

Commensality is beneficial for offenders’ health and well-being. Further, preparing, cooking, serving and sharing food is a powerful means of improving self-esteem and developing a pro-social identity.

The original focus of the research was commensality; it was during the study that the potential for cooking as an additional tool for health and well-being emerged. A future longitudinal intervention would be beneficial to examine whether the men continued to cook for others once released from prison and/or finished at the resettlement scheme.

Everyday cooking to share with others is an invaluable tool for improving self-worth. It has the potential to build pro-social self-concepts and improve human, social and cultural capital.

Cooking lunch for others is a part of strengths-based approach to resettlement that values community involvement.

Cooking and eating with offenders/ex-offenders is highly unusual. Further hands-on cooking/eating activities are beneficial in terms of aiding self-confidence and self-respect, which are vital for improving offenders’/ex-offenders’ health and well-being.

Over the past two decades, technology-facilitated communication between brand and consumer has become common. One way in which technology can be used to build brand relationships in the online environment is by using brand avatars. This study considers social aspects of brand avatar communication, with the aim of determining if including an element of “socialness” adds to the impact of the brand avatar.

Specifically, the authors test three outcome variables core to building strong consumer relationships through experimental design comparing an avatar's communication style (transactional vs social) while considering the potential covariate of motivational orientation.

Overall, multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) results indicate that social functions provided by the brand avatar are more likely to facilitate the consumer–brand relationship (CBR) process than transactional functions. This study provides managerial support for using an avatar with social communication capabilities.

As social interaction becomes more expected by consumers in the current media landscape, understanding how to meet those demands on a large scale, through brand avatars, is valuable.

Online retailing is continuing to grow at a time with many fashion brands are closing retail stores. Social media is now an essential component within the purchase journey of a fashion consumer. As social media networks continue to develop transactional capabilities, this has giving rise to the expansion of social shopping. Fashion brands need to consider how best to optimise social shopping opportunities as an extension of the retail shopping experience. Reviewing developments within retailing, a conceptual model of social shopping is proposed, which places mobile technologies as central to the social shopping experience both on social media and in store.

The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Service System was created in 1973 in the United States as a way to help people with disabilities access necessary supports and services to return to work and live independently. The program receives federal funds and operates in all 50 states and territories. The program is designed to allow consumers to develop a rehabilitation plan in collaboration with a VR counselor and receive necessary services and supports in order to meet their rehabilitation goals. Unfortunately, there are serious issues with access to services and rehabilitation success for minority individuals in the program, particularly African Americans. The chapter will first provide a brief overview of the Rehabilitation Act and its purpose, then we will introduce some of the research that has been conducted to evaluate the program over the years, with particular emphasis on the outcomes for African Americans, and then will focus on a series of studies that have been conducted by the authors in the state of Illinois. The chapter will conclude with some suggestions about ways in which the system could be improved and ways to empower African Americans in pursue of their rehabilitation and independent living goals, including peer-support and supported employment.

This chapter reports on research that explores new and emerging extended reality [XR] technologies and how they might provide opportunities to trial, investigate, and put into practice their potential to reverse processes of atomisation, polarisation, and intercultural discomfort, in our contemporary society. This transdisciplinary practice-led research was underpinned by disciplines of computer science and engineering, social sciences, history, diverse community economics, human ecology, and Indigenous psychology. The collaboration between these various disciplines with the Māori and non-Māori community members allowed researchers to understand current societal stressors, prioritise relationality, and explore our shared values in the creation of XR experiences for exhibition in the galleries, libraries, archives, and museums [GLAM] sector.

A discursive design framework motivated, inspired, provoked, persuaded, and reminded inspiring collaborators, and visitors to the exhibitions, the value of (re)connecting with people and overcoming interracial awkwardness through these curated experiences. The XR technologies provided women a platform to discuss and reimagine first encounters between people from different cultural backgrounds. The technologies included a 180° stereoscopic projection, Common Sense, in which Māori Elder Irene Hancy shared her insight about social engagement and haptic HONGI in which visitors were greeted by a Māori woman Tania Remana via augmented reality. This research has been motivated by a desire to promote and support intercultural understanding in Aotearoa New Zealand, and it extends research by other non-Māori and Māori scholars.

This paper aims to evaluate the aims and methods of appraisal, and the difficulties encountered in the appraisal process.

The paper uses a review of the literature to evaluate the development of appraisals and argues that the critical area of line management development that was identified as a critical success factor in appraisals has been ignored in the later literature evaluating the effectiveness of performance appraisals.

The review identifies the lack of theoretical development in appraisal and argues the psychological approach of analysis and a more critical realisation of appraisal, re‐evaluating the challenge to remove subjectivity and bias in judgement of appraisal.

Further evaluation of key interpersonal skills is required for appraisal systems to develop performance.

The use and design of performance pay in public and private services linked to appraisal have not always improved organisational performance and can contribute to reduced motivation.

Little research has evaluated the current increases in using appraisals and the changes in focus from appraisal to performance management. The paper adds value to the existing body of knowledge and offers insights for practitioners and researchers.