A cause for celebration

Abstract

In the current climate where there often appears to be little to celebrate, we have something we would like to celebrate with you. We have succeeded in becoming joint Academic Editors of the International Practice Development Journal and we couldn’t be more pleased! The qualities we bring to the role are based on backgrounds that are similar yet distinct. Kate has been a member of the Foundation of Nursing Studies team for 20 years, and has a previous clinical background in acute nursing and health visiting. Caroline is an academic at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, and an associate member of the Centre for Person-centred Practice Research, with a clinical background in community nursing, quality and practice development. Where we connect is as committed practice developers and participatory researchers, with extensive and continuously growing knowledge of the philosophical, theoretical and methodological underpinnings of person-centred practice. We see our differences and shared interests as strengths that we can bring to our editorial partnership. We can draw on our individual attributes to be efficient in terms of role allocation, while giving each other support and opportunities to continue to grow in areas we feel we need to develop as Academic Editors. We celebrate the journey the IPDJ has travelled to become a high-quality journal of choice for health and social care practitioners, social entrepreneurs, educators and academics with an interest in person-centred practice, participatory ways of working and researching and practice development, as well as related fields of inquiry, improving and transforming practices and cultures of care. We also celebrate the contributions of previous Academic Editors, Professor Jan Dewing and Dr Gemma Stacey, acknowledging the strong foundations they have created for us to build on. And as we take forward their work, we are also building on our own longstanding involvement with the journal. Kate was instrumental in its creation in 2011 and has helped steer it as Managing Editor and Associate Editor, while Caroline has been involved as a reviewer for a number of years and more recently as a member of the Editorial Management Board.