Simon Chester Evans, Julie Barrett, Neil Mapes, June Hennell, Teresa Atkinson, Jennifer Bray, Claire Garabedian and Chris Russell
The benefits of “green dementia care”, whereby people living with dementia are supported to connect with nature, are increasingly being recognised. Evidence suggests that these…
Abstract
Purpose
The benefits of “green dementia care”, whereby people living with dementia are supported to connect with nature, are increasingly being recognised. Evidence suggests that these benefits span physical, emotional and social spheres and can make a significant contribution towards quality of life. However, care settings often present specific challenges to promoting such connections due to a range of factors including risk-averse cultures and environmental limitations. The purpose of this paper is to report on a project that aims to explore the opportunities, benefits, barriers and enablers to interaction with nature for people living with dementia in residential care and extra care housing schemes in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered from 144 responses to an online survey by managers/staff of extra care housing schemes and care homes in the UK. In depth-case studies were carried out at three care homes and three extra care housing schemes, involving interviews with residents, staff and family carers.
Findings
A wide variety of nature-based activities were reported, both outdoor and indoor. Positive benefits reported included improved mood, higher levels of social interaction and increased motivation for residents, and greater job satisfaction for staff. The design and layout of indoor and outdoor spaces is key, in addition to staff who feel enabled to promote connections with nature.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is based on a relatively small research project in which the participants were self-selecting and therefore not necessarily representative.
Practical implications
The paper makes some key recommendations for good practice in green dementia care in extra care housing and care homes.
Social implications
Outdoor activities can promote social interaction for people living with dementia in care settings. The authors’ findings are relevant to the recent policy focus on social prescribing.
Originality/value
The paper makes some key recommendations for good practice in green dementia care in extra care housing and care homes.
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HARROGATE will be notable as the venue of the Conference in one or two ways that distinctive. The Association Year is now to begin on January 1st and not in September as…
Abstract
HARROGATE will be notable as the venue of the Conference in one or two ways that distinctive. The Association Year is now to begin on January 1st and not in September as heretofore; and, in consequence, there will be no election of president or of new council until the end of the year. The Association's annual election is to take place in November, and the advantages of this arrangement must be apparent to everyone who considers the matter. Until now the nominations have been sent out at a time when members have been scattered to all parts of the country on holiday, and committees of the Council have been elected often without the full consideration that could be given in the more suitable winter time. In the circumstances, at Harrogate the Chair will still be occupied by Sir Henry Miers, who has won from all librarians and those interested in libraries a fuller measure of admiration, if that were possible, than he possessed before he undertook the presidency. There will be no presidential address in the ordinary sense, although Sir Henry Miers will make a speech in the nature of an address from the Chair at one of the meetings. What is usually understood by the presidential address will be an inaugural address which it is hoped will be given by Lord Irwin. The new arrangement must bring about a new state of affairs in regard to the inaugural addresses. We take it that in future there will be what will be called a presidential address at the Annual Meeting nine months after the President takes office. He will certainly then be in the position to review the facts of his year with some knowledge of events; he may chronicle as well as prophesy.
S. SITHARAMA IYENGAR, JOHN FULLER, SIDARTH AMBARDAR and N. PARAMESWARAN
A comparison of the Halstead and McCabe methods of measuring program complexity with a recently proposed metric, which is based on the analysis of dependency computations using a…
Abstract
A comparison of the Halstead and McCabe methods of measuring program complexity with a recently proposed metric, which is based on the analysis of dependency computations using a data flowgraph model, is presented. The sensitivity of the metric to changes in the data structure is discussed. Comments and criticisms of the measures are included.
THIS is the time of the year when, with the strong opening of the Spring publishing season, librarians take a review of matters which definitely concern books. There is a cant…
Abstract
THIS is the time of the year when, with the strong opening of the Spring publishing season, librarians take a review of matters which definitely concern books. There is a cant saying amongst certain eager librarians that their colleagues are too concerned with technical matters and too little, if at all, concerned with books. There may have been isolated cases of this kind, but it is merely untrue to say that the average librarian is not concerned, deeply and continuously, with the literary activity of his day. It is well that men should live in their own time and be thoroughly interested in the work of new writers. There is danger that exclusive occupation with them may lead to an unbalanced view of the book world. If one judged from the criticisms that occasionally appear in our contemporaries, one would suppose that the only books that mattered were the authentic fiction of the day, and by authentic is meant the books which go beyond average contemporary thought and conventions. Librarianship, however, is concerned with all books of all subjects and of all time. This note is merely a prelude to a number of THE LIBRARY WORLD which deals mainly with literature and with reading. Here we return again to the perennial fiction question.
Maja Due Kadenic and Torben Tambo
Agile project management methods are on the rise compared to linear approaches. The demand for the demonstrable resilience of enterprise processes is likewise strongly increasing…
Abstract
Purpose
Agile project management methods are on the rise compared to linear approaches. The demand for the demonstrable resilience of enterprise processes is likewise strongly increasing in many domains. This paper explores the potential contribution of agility within the domain of agile project management to the resilience of the operating model of an organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The article builds upon case studies and semi-structured interviews at selected larger Danish enterprises.
Findings
Responding to disruptions favors adaptive and flexible approaches, which are more achievable with agile methods. By exploring the patterns of agility and resilience throughout case studies, the authors derive at a 7-step approach for considering the potentials of agility to ensure the resilience of the operating model from the top level of leadership to the foundational level of technology.
Research limitations/implications
This article seeks to contribute to a more profound understanding of the impact, potential and actionability of agile project management in the light of operational resilience.
Practical implications
It is demonstrated that agile methods are attractive for ensuring the constitutive elements of the resilience of the operating model in terms of conscious contingencies and choices involving (rapid) changes.
Social implications
During the COVID-19 period, agility has been a key instrument in ensuring business survival, e.g. by switching markets, products or sales channels.
Originality/value
Agility has the potential to build a strategic dimension of resilience, a synergistic relationship, which is linked to the responsiveness of an organization to change promptly, with a view toward renewal and transformation.
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THE problem that Dr. E.A. Savage introduced in our last issue may well be one of the crucial debates of this winter. When it is remembered that there was a time, as our writer in…
Abstract
THE problem that Dr. E.A. Savage introduced in our last issue may well be one of the crucial debates of this winter. When it is remembered that there was a time, as our writer in Letters on Our Affairs asserts, when it was thought inadvisable for a public librarian to be Hon. Secretary of the Library Association, we can see that times have changed. There is no doubt that the Brighton Conference showed the impossibility of adequate discussion of purely professional matters when authority members are present. The manner of achieving what many desire, and yet to retain the goodwill' of intelligent authority members, is what has to be determined.
Teresa June Atkinson, Rebecca Oatley and Simon Evans
The purpose of this paper is to report on a scoping review of the advantages and challenges of extra care housing (ECH) provision in the UK for people living with dementia. Access…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on a scoping review of the advantages and challenges of extra care housing (ECH) provision in the UK for people living with dementia. Access to suitable housing is a fundamental right for people living with dementia and can enable people to live as well as possible (Twyford and Porteus, 2021). Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of different models of housing with care has been identified as a research priority by people living with dementia (Barrett et al., 2016) but “there is no current consensus on the best model of specialist housing for people with dementia” (Twyford and Porteus, 2021, p. 29).
Design/methodology/approach
This scoping review identifies the advantages and disadvantages of living in ECH for people with dementia. It is the preliminary stage of a study that seeks to develop knowledge about different models of ECH for people living with dementia (Atkinson et al., 2021).
Findings
Advantages include the promotion of independence, flexible staffing, safety and security, social inclusion, physical design and integrated service provision. Disadvantages include barriers to entry, tensions between independence and support, managing advanced dementia, resourcing flexible care, managing social exclusion, loneliness and stigma and a disabling environment.
Research limitations/implications
The scoping review reinforces the need for further research into different models of ECH provision in the UK for people living with dementia. The review provides insight that is of benefit to all stakeholders involved in ECH and contributes to the development of evidence-based provision called for in the recent All Party Parliamentary Group inquiry (Twyford and Porteus, 2021).
Originality/value
This scoping review summarises the current position for people living with dementia in ECH.
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The paper seeks to bring focus to the significance of the role of directors in corporate performance. The principles of good governance are not unknown to the Indian traditions…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to bring focus to the significance of the role of directors in corporate performance. The principles of good governance are not unknown to the Indian traditions. Today adoption of good corporate governance practices has emerged as an integral element for doing business. Understanding how boards impact on corporate performance is a question central to the corporate governance research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explores the theoretical and historical link to the structure and functioning of the board of directors with special emphasis of the norms established by the Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Findings
As global business interest in India keeps growing, so does the expectation that Indian companies must play – and be seen to play – by rules that are clear to international investors. Demands have long been heard for greater transparency in the way Indian companies do business. The reforms, ordained by the SEBI, are laid out in amendments to Clause 49 of the companies listing agreement with Indian stock exchanges, a section that pertains to corporate governance. Among the requirements are: more independent directors on boards and audit committees; a code of conduct for board members; a larger role for the audit committee; mandatory risk assessments and certification by the chief executive officer and chief financial officer of the effectiveness of internal accounting controls.
Originality/value
The paper advances the understanding of board structure and performance in Indian corporate governance system by examining the norms established by the SEBI.
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Jill Atkins, Barry Colin Atkins, Ian Thomson and Warren Maroun
The purpose of this paper is to attempt to provide a ray of hope, in the form of a Morris-style utopian dream of a sustainable world, as a basis for new forms of accounting and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to attempt to provide a ray of hope, in the form of a Morris-style utopian dream of a sustainable world, as a basis for new forms of accounting and accountability in contemporary society.
Design/methodology/approach
The method is four-fold, weaving together an auto-ethnographic approach, a contextual dialogue between accounting academics and lobbyists, a Morris-inspired utopian metaphor and a stakeholder accountability event in the form of oral disclosures written as a song cycle.
Findings
Current efforts at integrated reporting are unlikely to change how large companies do business in order to address the risk of climate change in the short term. If the UN reports on climate change are correct, the authors need to take immediate action. The authors argue that, instead of waiting for climatic disaster to lead to a paradigm shift in corporate practice, “monetisation” of the costs of climate change is one way to encourage integrated thinking and sustainable business models. This relies on existing finance and accounting discourse to create a new “field of environmental visibility” which engenders environmental awareness on the part of the world’s companies and policy makers.
Practical implications
This utopian image may not appear a practicable, realistic solution to current problems but represents a starting point for optimism. It provides inspiration for policy makers to develop better forms of sustainability reporting, more suitable to the accelerating rates of climatic change.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge this is the first attempt to develop Morris’s News From Nowhere as a basis for building new forms of accounting and accountability.