A partnership approach to health promotion: a case study from Northern Ireland.

In recent years there has been a renewal of interest in community development and partnership approaches in the delivery of health and social services in Northern Ireland. The general thrust of these approaches is that local communities can be organized to address health and social needs and to work with government agencies, voluntary bodies and local authorities in delivering services and local solutions to problems. Since the Ottawa Charter was launched in 1986, government in Northern Ireland has stressed that community development should no longer simply be added on to key aspects of Health and Social Services, but should instead be at the core of their work.

Does delivery matter? Users' perceptions of the significance of trust in the delivery of the Personal Advisor Service in the New Deal for Disabled Persons.

Purpose: In the context of welfare pluralism where government in the UK has been contracting a number of public services out to a range of private and voluntary sector organisations, the aim of this study is to explore the extent to which decisions to become involved in employment support programmes are affected by the users' perceptions of those delivering the service.

Method: A qualitative design involving two focus groups of fourteen participants was employed to examine the attitudes and perceptions of participants in the government's New Deal for Disabled Persons. The study sample was purposefully selected from client records of Shaw Trust a national charity for disabled persons, one of the organisations who have been contracted by the government to provide this service.