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The purpose of this paper is to present learning on the strategies used by cooking skills practitioners and the programme theories, behaviour change mechanisms/contexts and intended outcomes associated with these in varied contexts.

Grey literature from Scottish cooking skills courses were reviewed using realist principles. Intervention implementation variables were identified and iteratively coded to uncover intended intervention strategies and programme theories. The lack of robust evaluation processes and outcome data in the grey literature prevented the testing of intended programme theories against outcomes. Alternatively, implementation strategies were aligned against behavioural-theory constructs contained in national guidance. Prioritised theories were further clarified/refined using practitioner and participant focus group data. Learning was used to inform future practice/evaluation.

Courses targeted and reached vulnerable individuals. Practitioners articulated multiple theories and assumptions about how strategies may work. Numerous strategies and behaviour constructs were used to target, tailor and reinforce cooking/food and wider social outcomes. Mechanisms were assumed to be triggered by different contexts and lead to varied outcomes. Strategies used were consistent with evidenced behaviour change constructs and guidelines. Interventions aimed to achieve non-cooking/social outcomes as well as cooking ones – including potential mediators of cooking behaviour, e.g. self-confidence. Contexts facilitated/limited the use of certain strategies. Limitations in course design, reporting and self-evaluation need to be addressed.

Recommendations for improving intervention commissioning, design and evaluation using realist principles are provided.

Learning addresses gaps in knowledge about the implementation of cooking skills interventions identified from systematic reviews and can improve course design and evaluation.

This paper aims to extend our understanding of the concept of crisis leadership based on perceptions of 48 Australian leaders drawn from various sectors including Australian politics, higher education, not-for-profit and corporate sectors.

This qualitative study employed semi-structured virtual interviews of 48 leaders from Australian politics, higher education, not-for-profit and corporate sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Leximancer text analytics program was used for data analysis.

Participants perceived effective leadership during a crisis as encompassing four macro themes: leadership as power, leadership as emanating from people, leadership as management and leadership as specific to the organization. While these findings reinforced extant literature on facets of effective leadership, leaders from different sectors differed on the relative importance of some leadership themes and their relevance to specific sectors.

While the data were collected from a convenient sample, our findings from multiple sectors in Australia extend our knowledge on crisis leadership by revealing differences in sectorial perspectives of crisis leadership. Further, these findings help refine the extant traditional explanations of leadership and especially offer an enhanced understanding of leadership during a crisis. Consequently, our findings support future research that could help identify specific attributes of leaders navigating organizational crises. Such future research could subsequently help develop a theory on crisis leadership based on a valid and reliable measurement for assessing crisis leadership effectiveness in diverse organizational settings.

Our study is based on multi-sector data and consequently lays a solid foundation for extending the conceptualization of leadership during crisis, and the need to reconceptualize effective leader attributes useful in crisis contexts. Theoretically, the current study extended recent research on crisis leadership, by examining the conceptualizations of crisis leadership within specific Australian sectors.

Old age is a complex and dynamic phenomenon. The relationship between old age and transport is also very complex due to the heterogeneity within this age group. Yet what is certain is that with age, a person’s functional abilities change. This chapter provides a summary of how older people can be vulnerable within the road environment. Using an established framework for understanding old-age vulnerabilities, this chapter explains the common exposure factors and threats that several older people face in the transport environment. These primarily deal with individual physical and cognitive characteristics, medical conditions as well as the appropriateness (or not) of infrastructure. Subsequently, common difficulties for older drivers, pedestrians and public transport users are discussed. The main vulnerabilities that result from such difficulties are related to an over-representation of older people in accidents and to a lower quality of life due to mobility inefficiencies. Yet, using the same framework, the compensation techniques that older people often adopt to minimise such limitations are also highlighted. Reference is also made to the issues related to the lack of awareness in old age and the corresponding inability to compensate. The review concludes by suggesting a way forward for further studies on transport vulnerability in later life.