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This article aims to analytically review the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model used in the Pacesetters national programme evaluation.

The evaluation team's two-fold role is outlined: supporting project teams to develop PDSA plans and collect evaluation data. Four case studies are used to show the PDSA model's application and effect in a participatory action learning approach. Despite limitations, it is clear that all four case studies illustrate the PDSA model's potential benefits in a participatory evaluation approach, which involves public and patients.

The model's effectiveness is premised on several enabling factors such as: teams appreciating the model; a climate that values all learning and open to re-planning; engaging any external evaluators whose role is clearly communicated to all project stakeholders in a timely fashion.

There are clear intentions to promote evidence-based commissioning in the UK that values patient and public involvement. The PDSA model has the potential to test and implement changes in real work-place settings and to involve the public in evaluation.

Case study analysis identifies new reflections on the PDSA model's use to support innovative NHS practice development with public involvement in a participatory approach.

The purpose of this paper was to capture carers’ views of a service in Bristol funded jointly by the Local Authority and the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, which offers support to carers in the form of a one-off payment which they can use for anything they choose.

A multi-method evaluation of this integrated service was conducted between August 2012 and October 2013 to explore its impact on carers’ health and well-being. This paper presents findings from 40 interviews conducted with carers as part of the evaluation.

Many carers have little respite from very stressful situations; the break enabled them to focus on their own needs. Carers’ needs included actual short breaks away with or without those being cared for, as well as items like household equipment or exercise classes.

The study was centred on an innovation and integrated approach to support carers in one city and provides a snap-shot of the short-term effects. Longer lasting effects are not known.

Most carers found the support beneficial, and in some cases reported a positive effect on their own health and well-being. Effective inter-agency communication and collaboration is essential for the success of the integrated service.

There is limited research available on the outcomes of integrated approaches to support carers.

Cross-national research on cultural differences can help understand what drives, in differing contexts, mentors' commitment to school-based mentoring programs. This comparative study aims to explore whether adult volunteers, from Scotland and Italy, experience being mentors of vulnerable youth differently.

Data from interviews (n = 20) and questionnaires (n = 114) were used to test hypotheses concerning volunteer mentors' perceptions of their role and abilities, as well as motives for participation. According to cross-cultural theories, Scottish mentors should be more likely to identify mentoring with establishing friendly relationships with mentees and promoting youth self-empowerment. They should also be more self-confident and value-driven as volunteers.

Despite the mixed support for the assumptions concerning how the mentor role is conceived, Scottish mentors were less likely than Italians to doubt their abilities and more driven by other-focused and generative concerns.

The study reveals significant variations in how volunteers from countries featuring different welfare regimes and cultural orientations experience mentoring. The research advances the understanding of how culturally sensitive approaches can foster mentors' engagement.

Frequent disasters pose a significant threat to Indigenous societies, knowledge and cultures in the South Pacific. This paper will highlight the imperative to recognize and incorporate women and Indigenous knowledge in strengthening disaster risk reduction (DRR) within these societies. While existing research often emphasizes women’s vulnerability in disasters, there is a notable gap in documenting their resilience (Moreno and Shaw, 2018), particularly stemming from Indigenous women’s traditional roles and practices (Bajracharya et al., 2022).

This paper will identify the application of traditional knowledge in responding to disaster risk and early warning systems, examine traditional knowledge systems and structures in local communities and assess the contribution of Samoan women in disaster preparations.

Findings show the importance of recognizing and valuing the traditional expertise of Samoan women, providing essential insights for the development of contextually appropriate and sustainable disaster preparedness strategies.

With Samoa as the case study, this paper will employ culturally relevant Pacific research approaches to investigate women’s preparedness and response capacities to disasters.

Library association policies and guidelines are important to study because they reflect consensus values of the profession. As such, they can shape the association, itself, and set the tone for the values of its individual members in their professional practice. From the titles alone, these documents proclaim themselves to be guides for the development of individual library policy. Additionally, as library and information science (LIS) graduate education programs are accredited by national associations, LIS schools pay attention to association policies and guidelines to help shape professional and continuing education. In these ways, they have a role in shaping professional ideology around a topic. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The services to persons with disabilities policies from three national-level LIS organizations were analyzed through a thematic analysis.

The guidelines speak to a shared understanding of disability and accessibility around the themes of library staff, library policies and library resources and services. While not surprising, additional themes around disability context and legislation show a shared understanding of accessibility that is much broader than what the legislation requires.

An analysis of guidelines on services to persons with disabilities from the American Library Association (ALA), Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) is of interest because of the ways these organizations intersect. The ALA and ALIA have reciprocal agreements so that students in LIS education programs are recognized as equivalents. Second, the ALA accredits library education programs in Canada. Given these intersecting relationships, the guidelines-shared notions of accessibility become of high interest.