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The aim of the study was to explore and compare the development of continence services in two contrasting trusts. The first was a community trust which had initiated a top-down purchaser-led continence service. The second was a combined acute and community trust which had introduced a bottom-up, organic continence service based on staff development. The research used a qualitative, interpretative design. Evidence-based guidelines for female urinary incontinence (FUI) were analysed and key organizational features elicited. These were used to frame and analyse 20 semi-structured interviews with a range of community-based professionals who provided a service to women suffering from urinary incontinence. The interviews identified practitioner knowledge and awareness of the evidence pertaining to the management and treatment of FUI and also the features of the organizational structure of service provision in their locality which facilitated or constrained the implementation of evidence-based treatment in this area. The findings suggest that evidence-based guidelines were more closely adhered to in practice, in the trust using organic approaches to service development. Top-down, purchaser led approaches were more prescriptive and circumscribed the scope of professional practice. This adversely affected access to services for women suffering from urinary incontinence. Organic approaches to service development produce more flexible, responsive services. It is difficult, however, to integrate this approach with strategic planning as the flexibility required maybe incompatible with managerial responsibilities for defining roles and organizational functions.

The Pyjama Foundation is an Australian charity working to improve the literacy and numeracy outcomes for children in foster care. The foundation delivers the Pyjama Foundation Love of Learning programme, a learning-based mentoring programme in which volunteer ‘Pyjama Angels’ visit children in care each week to read books, play games and engage in other learning-based activities.This study surveyed 121 Love of Learning mentors (‘Pyjama Angels’) to assess their perceptions of the relationships they had developed with the children they mentored and of the children's improvement in their literacy skills, a key aim of the programme.The statistical data analysis based on the structural equation modelling and multiple regression approach showed that several factors had a statistically significant impact on the mentors’ perceptions of the children's improvement in literacy skills: relationship with the child, child's engagement and tenure in the programme, and frequency of meetings. Age and gender of the mentors were not found to have a statistically significant impact on mentors’ perceptions of this improvement, while mentors’ perceptions of their relationship with the children was the most important factor influencing their perceptions of improvement in literacy skills. The study did not include objective measures of the children's literacy outcomes, so its results are limited to the mentors’ perceptions. However, this study offers valuable insights for mentoring programmes working with children living in foster care.

This article charts the innovative evaluation journey an Australian nonprofit organisation, The Pyjama Foundation (PJF), has taken when designing an evaluation instrument to gain feedback from programme beneficiaries. PJF sought to develop a formal, targeted approach to hear the perspectives of children living in out-of-home care, who are involved with their Love of Learning educational programme. The design process included two focus group discussions with foster carers, programme volunteers, and child development experts. From this, an evaluation survey for children to use was developed. The survey’s underpinning conceptual framework, based on key protective factors influencing educational outcomes for children in out-of-home care, is a key contribution of this research. In addition, the design and implementation issues PJF encountered contribute insights for other nonprofit organisations and evaluators and academic knowledge towards evaluations involving children and vulnerable stakeholders. Hearing children’s views on programmes they are involved in is vital in helping to develop safe spaces for children to engage, where their thoughts are valued and opinions matter. As such, the processes detailed within this article support the development of evaluation practices that value children’s voices.