This important book examines issues affecting the sustainability and spread of new working practices. The question of why good ideas do not spread, ‘the best practices puzzle’, has been widely recognized. But the ‘improvement evaporation effect’, where successful changes are discontinued, has attracted less attention. Keeping things the way they are has been seen as an organizational problem to be resolved, not a condition to be achieved. This is one of the first major studies of the sustainability of change focusing on the example of the NHS, by a unique team of health service and academic researchers. The findings may apply to a variety of other settings. The agenda set out in 2000 in The NHS Plan is perhaps the largest organization development programme ever undertaken, in any sector, anywhere. The NHS thus offers a valuable ‘living laboratory’ for the study of change. This text shows that sustainability and spread are influenced by a range of issues - contextual, managerial, political, individual, and temporal. Developing a processual perspective, this fresh analysis considers policy implications, and strategies for managing sustainability and spread. This book will be essential reading for students, managers, and researchers concerned with the effective implementation of organizational change.

Since this classic book was first published in 2003, sustainability has increasingly become mainstream business for leading corporations, whilst the topic itself has also been a hotly debated political issue across the globe. The sustainability phase models originally discussed in the book have become more relevant with ever more examples of organizations at later stages in the development of corporate sustainability. Bringing together global issues of ecological sustainability, strategic human resource management, organizational change, corporate social responsibility, leadership and community renewal, this new edition of the book further develops its unified approach to corporate sustainability and its plan of action to bring about corporate change. It integrates new research and brings illustrative case studies up to date to reflect how new approaches affect change and leadership. For the first time, a new positive model of a future sustainable world is included - strengthened by references to the global financial crisis, burgeoning world population numbers and the rise of China. With new case studies including BP's Gulf oil spill and Tokyo Electric Company's nuclear reactor disaster, this new edition will again be core reading for students and researchers of sustainability and business, organizational change and corporate social responsibility.

Analysing Health Care Organizations seeks to link the world of health policy and management with the academic field of organization studies in a novel and additive way. It outlines the main developments in UK health care management apparent over the last thirty years and explores how they might be (re)seen with the application of some important organizational theories and perspectives. This book draws out contemporary and enduring themes from current literature on health care organization and considers them from a range of theoretical perspectives. Drawing on robust areas of research and some key academics who contribute to work in this field, it is a book relevant both to experts in the field and to those seeking to develop an understanding of health care organization from a theoretical perspective. Analysing Health Care Organizations provides a state of the art introduction foundation for subsequent works that will extend its content; providing a broad introductory overview of this theoretical terrain and setting the scene for further research.

Drawing on theoretical research and empirical studies, this book examines how public governance can be transformed in order to enhance innovation. It scrutinizes the need for public sector reforms and analyzes how the gradual transition towards New Public Governance can stimulate the exploration and exploitation of new ideas.

This compact resource presents current data on health literacy as it affects child health outcomes, with a sharp focus on improving communication between healthcare providers and pediatric patients and their families. A frequently overlooked social determinant of health in children, health literacy is shown as a critical skill for patients and families and a key aspect of patient engagement. The authors’ evidence-based survey pinpoints common problems in healthcare providers’ verbal and written communication with pediatric patients, their parents, and/or caregivers. Readers will learn about practical health literacy strategies for addressing and preventing miscommunication at the individual and systems levels. These improvements are linked to immediate results (e.g., greater compliance, fewer medication errors) as well as improved long-term child health outcomes, including reduced health disparities and enhanced quality of life into adulthood. This transformative guide: Defines optimum health communication as necessary for working with all patients Identifies common barriers to clear health communication Traces the relationship between health literacy and child health outcomes, from the prenatal period and into young adulthood Offers guidelines for creating effective patient education materials and a safe, health literacy oriented patient-centered environment Integrates health literacy into health systems’ quality improvement plans Health Literacy and Child Health Outcomes informs students in MPH programs as well as public health scientists and scholars, and can also serve as an introductory text for students in public health ethics or a general applied ethics course. Public health professionals in diverse contexts such as local health departments and nonprofit organizations will appreciate its robust approach to ethical practice, professional development, and systems improvement. This will be a helpful guide for introducing health communication topics in medical education and allied health. Lastly, clinicians taking care of pediatric patients will find concise information and practical advice to apply in the clinical setting.

Knowledge Translation in Health Care is a practical introduction to knowledge translation for everyone working and learning within health policy and funding agencies, and as researchers, clinicians and trainees. Using everyday examples, it explains how to use research findings to improve health care in real life. This new second edition defines the principles and practice of knowledge translation and outlines strategies for successful knowledge translation in practice and policy making. It includes relevant real world examples and cases of knowledge translation in action that are accessible and relevant for all stakeholders including clinicians, health policy makers, administrators, managers, researchers, clinicians and trainees. From an international expert editor and contributor team, and fully revised to reflect current practice and latest developments within the field, Knowledge Translation in Health Care is the practical guide for all health policy makers and researchers, clinicians, trainee clinicians, medical students and other healthcare professionals seeking to improve healthcare practice.

Systems Thinking is a topic which is at the forefront of how we think about management in the Public Sector and Service Industries. This collection from leading thinkers in the field takes a case study approach to a variety of issues which encompass topics such as Banking, Electrical Distribution, Manufacturing and Adult Social Care.