Notes (ii) from Paipa Conference: Q & A

Q. What is the appeal and relevance of Michel Serres to the Health Care Domains Model [h2cm]?
c/o Fred Manrique / UPTC 

(As per the paper - Exploring Serres’ Atlas, Hodges’ Knowledge Domains and the Fusion of Informatics and Cultural Horizons. 2008)

A. I cannot remember how I came across this French philosopher (Bruno Latour?), but in 2004 I started to read some of his translated texts. Serres' work is not easy to read, but rewards perseverance. Thus enthused I wrote (in my spare time) and eventually submitted a paper to a prestigious nursing journal. This was rejected - twice. Using the feedback I was able to produce the paper that found publication in the informatics field. This is listed in the W2tQ bibliography. Serres' ideas were remarkable in how they spoke to me and reflected in many ways the conceptual framework of h2cm. I need to revisit Serres, but ideas of particular appeal include his use of several tropes:

• Harlequin: the uninvited guest (disease, illness?), mischief (health taken-for-grantedness), chaos (the unpredictable);
• blanc: in my presentation I included a blank slide. There it represents every new person, new page - no judgements, positive regard. A page for lifelong learners and being able to self-reflect.
• Hermes: the Greek God, the messenger - information and Serres' early study of information science. The 'underworld' - nursing and medicine - are not for everyone. The importance of ports as a means of information and cultural exchange - today economies see themselves as information ports and the rise of information portals.
• Serres states (as do other commentators) that the Internet will provide opportunities for new scholars, outside of established academic institutions.
• borders, boundaries - the middle: in life we often have to ask do we continue and cross the middle?
• The Planet: Serres is concerned for how we treat the planet. The health care domains can also be utilised to explore the physical and psychological impacts of climate change and the need to attend to human ecology. We are rocking the boat - Earth is our boat.
• ... plus many others - fluid, dynamics, life - rivers - choices, narratives, Home, Angels, statues.

Finally, within "... S E R R E S ..." you will also find H2CM!  

Please see the bibliography for the paper and contact me for a copy if you wish.

Additional links:
Serres on this blog.
http://michelserres.blogspot.com/

More Q and A to follow plus photos and slides. Photo source (PJ, Copenhagen shop window, 2010)

Notes (i) from Paipa Conference: Q & A and sessions

Questions from the delegates (once more interpreted by Andrea Ramirez) at the plenary session on Friday 25th February included  - with my response (extended here):

Q. Could you please give some specific examples of the model's application and its achievements?

A. The model was created by Brian Hodges to facilitate reflective practice and encourage holistic care - especially balancing physical and mental health - psychological - care. In the mid-1980s the model was used in several locations in England and the Isle of Man. The model was taught and learning assessed through case studies in community mental health nursing, learning disability and health visiting.

As highlighted in the presentation unlike other models of care h2cm has not had the benefit of specific research. The models of care we use must be evidenced based. The website and blog represent a call for research in the health care domains model. This is why I appreciate so much this invitation to Colombia and being able to present what I believe is a very useful and increasingly relevant care resource.

In terms of achievement there are an as yet limited number of papers published and listed on the blog in a bibliography.

A couple of individuals have contacted me for advice on using the model in academic work, which has also been posted on the blog (see application).

In my presentation and the plenary I did not mention the planned workshop in the afternoon!

Q. What has been the experience of applying the model in the practice (clinical area) and in the community?

A. The model is used in two centers for forensic psychiatry (low and medium secure) where the inclusion of the interpersonal and political care domains are pivotal in the tensions between the custodial context and need for person-centred nursing care that arise.

In forensic nursing the model informs care philosophy and is also represented in care documentation. A paper is in production describing the model and this application.

The model is I understand being used in a research project investigating bullying within midwifery. I will post more details on this when I have them. The researchers approached me seeking permission to use the model, I indicated the model's origin - as in "It is not 'mine'", and furnished a letter indicating the model's status. I understand the appeal of the model in this instance may be in scoping the research project.

Currently the model is helping me in my role (as a Nursing Home Liaison Specialist) to plan and deliver education sessions to residential care staff on communicating with people who are coping with dementia.

Being simple in structure and basic content once learned the model is accessible as an aide memoire, while you are assessing, planning and evaluating.

I have also used the model when working on informatics projects, as the model can help integrate the SOCIAL and TECHNICAL aspects of ICT.

More Q and A to follow plus photos.

Presentation(s) at 1st Int. Congress of Nursing Models and Theories in Colombia

I will revise this post over the coming week and add more, including one of the Spanish slides.

Many thanks to Danny Eduardo Rodriguez for meeting me at the airport (and to everyone who waited  with Eduardo). Hearing my name and seeing the university transport proved instantly reassuring. Thanks also Eduardo for the in-session translation - a great help and for your efforts to ensure I felt at home and a part of things: I certainly did. ... 

Well I am due to leave Paipa soon for Bogota El Dorado airport and the trip home via Paris. It is a beautiful day in Paipa. Very warm, bright sun, from my room I can see people water skiing on the lake.


Yesterday's presentation, workshop and Q and A session were very well received through a lecture and workshop. These would not have been as successful with the brilliant work* of Interpreter Andrea Ramirez on both occasions.
I had started to add some Spanish translations to my slides and these were checked and extended by Luz Stella Saray and Prof. Wilson Canon Montanez, (UDeS) to whom I extend sincere thanks (a good photographer too!).


In the morning session Andrea related each slide in Spanish after my account. For the workshop I had emailed the case study in English with a Spanish version c/o Google translate. This had been checked and improved and the format we followed was for students to read the case study and then individually draw out the aspects of Alice's case (fictitious yet based on 20+ years of experience) which they feel significant across the care domains. During this exercise for 20-25 minutes Andrea assisted again with some questions from individual students. Then in groups of 4-5 they collectively reflected on their 'results'. Finally each group in turn offered one item for each of the four domains. Astute questions from the floor and discussions followed. Not having done this before, with the addition of translation I was surprised at how well it worked: instant teamwork!

At 5.30 Luz had arranged to meet to discuss nursing in England. A little jet-lagged, I thought she meant with 2-3 colleagues, but in the end the room was filled as we were joined by 60-70 students in a circle. I can't believe that 90 minutes passed. The students and faculty are so very enthusiastic, charming, friendly and knowledgeable. Two days is not long to learn and make judgements, but from the student's questions they seem acutely aware of the specific health challenges and issues they face in Colombia. Their professor's approach in pursuing this meeting reflected an awareness of 'nursing as it is learned and practiced elsewhere'. I advised I was not able to speak generally, outlining my specific role and location. I let them know I was drawing from matters I do know (as highlighted on W2tQ) and personal experience. The notion of 'basic nursing care' is clearly and unsurprisingly universal given this encounter.

You do need to consider such travel very carefully: your health, security, travelling alone... The organisers took care of this assuring a personal meeting at the airport, transport and accommodation. The journey was hard for me from the UK. A short hop Manchester to Paris 1.15-30 was followed by an 11 hr and 10 hr flight back home passing through Bogota. Travel is difficult due to the condition of the roads, driving laws and the traffic situation that the populous of Bogota faces; but where there are 'gaps' (pot holes!) there is a way through.

I never would have believed I would set foot in South America. To stand under Orion and see Canopus was another dream come true. As Space Shuttle Discovery set off on her last flight I was making discoveries of my own in helping others do the same.

I am very grateful to GICS - the three Universities UPTC, UdeS and Unillanos who invited me and supported my attendance; plus my employer Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust and colleagues covering duty for new referrals at the Beechurst Unit, Chorley, Lancashire. This has been a marvellous experience, with many contacts made that I hope will grow in the future.

*Presenting in Spanish at the conference (Teoría “Marco de la Organización Sistémica” con enfoque en Familia), Dr Marie Luise Friedemann - RN, PHD and her husband informed me of Andrea's effectiveness and memory feat. Dr Friedemann, Profesora de la Universidad Internacional de la Florida, in Miami and I also hope to compare our respective interests.

Presentation London May 2011: The Future Role of Support Workers & Assistant Practitioners in Mental Health and Social Care

2011 looks like it will be busy:

In May I have been invited to present the Health Care Domains Model at a conference organised by M&K Update.

The Future Role of

Support Workers & Assistant Practitioners in

Mental Health and Social Care

My presentation will include:

Why does ‘having’ a framework matter?

• Explaining the health care domains model, its structure, knowledge domains and applications.
• How the model can support HCSWs to address personalised, integrated and holistic care. 
• The model in theory, practice and management – an illustration.

 There will be 10 minutes for Q&A too.

This is a great prospect as with Colombia this coming week.

OERU / OERF / UNESCO Press release: Towards an OER university - Free learning for all students worldwide

Please circulate: Joint OER Foundation / UNESCO press release.

The Open Education Resource (OER) Foundation is to host a strategic international meeting in Dunedin on 23 February, to commence planning for the provision of free learning to all students worldwide. Support from the United Nations Science and Education Organisation (UNESCO) to stream the meeting on the internet will allow the participation of education leaders and interested persons from around the globe.
Join the meeting as a virtual participant and help make OER futures happen.

Read more.


(If you blog about this important meeting -- please use the #OERU tag).

2011 will be a quantum shift year for the mainstream adoption of OER.

Cheers
Wayne
Wayne Mackintosh , Ph.D.
Director OER Foundation
Director, International Centre for Open Education,
Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand.
Founder and elected Community Council Member, Wikieducator
Skype: WGMNZ1
identi.ca

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "OER university" group.
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/oer-university?hl=en?hl=en
Visit the OER university page on http://wikieducator.org/OER_university

College of Social Work

At the moment there is an ongoing consultation relating to the creation of a College of Social Work. Here is an explanation from the website - http://www.collegeofsocialwork.org.uk/

Welcome to the home of the campaign for an independent, professionally led national college of social work across the UK. This website is dedicated to supporting the development of a fully independent national College of Social Work which will seek to improve and support social work by providing leadership by and for the profession.

The College of Social Work will lead the development of the profession and represent it in discussions with organisations that regulate, train, work with, and are affected by social work.

For further information on BASW or the campaign for the national college of social work, please visit http://www.basw.co.uk for the latest news, information and updates.

Take part in discussions online in BASW's member-only forum at MyBASW Exchange

If you would like to get in touch with your local BASW office, please find our contact details at http://www.basw.co.uk/contact

For several decades social workers have been my colleagues on the ground floor, doing the 9-5 turn and more. I once started a talk to a local constabulary on service development and thought the reception was a bit odd: the introduction met with a frosty tone in high summer. Things settled when I revealed I was a nurse, not a social worker. The audience highlighted the need - this was well over a decade ago - for more effective out-of-hours access to social work and mental health service colleagues. Things have improved markedly and with ongoing re-organisation pressures on the NHS and social services, the need for radical change has now shifted to social work itself.

I do hope the new College of Social Work will consider the health career model as a potential foundational and lifelong learning resource. The qualities and relevance of the model to the social work profession are manifold, and include the model's being:

• person-centred -
• the model is also socially oriented (25% of the model concerns the 'social' agenda);
• recognizes the oppositional experience of person - state / law;
• can support reflective models of practice for new learners and established staff;
  
• the vulnerable can be represented there - infants, adults, older adults ...;
• multidisciplinary in scope, or phrased another way - discipline neutral;
• multi-contextual in scope, individual (self), group (family, community), service (resources, policy), budgets (financial), recovery, strengths, information-education, quality and outcomes (reporting);
• a currency to support interprofessional education and training, and -
  
• prior to the above provides a tool for curriculum development.
  

Best wishes to our social work colleagues as they set out on their own journey, which can also provide a vehicle for sharing.

What's good for art students ....

Never take the stylus or brush
in your hand if you have not first
constituted in your mind all that you have to do.

Leon Battista Alberti, On Painting, 1435-36

My source: 16 May 2010, Visit to The British Museum, Italian Renaissance drawings.

Is this my excuse for taking so long with a new website?

Drawing - the stage of conceptual design

The health career model
- drawing -
for health and social care professionals, et al.. ...

"The Italian word for drawing, disegno,
also encapsulates the stage of conceptual design.
The ability to imagine a design
and then develop it on paper was an increasingly valuable skill."

The Purpose of Drawing: The British Museum, May 2010.

Additional link:
Disegno: Italian Fine Art Drawing

My source: 16 May 2010, Visit to The British Museum, Italian Renaissance drawings.

The health career model, reflection, curriculum development

There are many new insights and remembrances available in the content of -

Occasional Paper No 10 (PDF access)
Connecting Reflective Learning, Teaching and Assessment
October 2009 by Helen Bulpitt and Mary Deane

We tend to speak of reflection as if it is merely a case of being in the right place at the right time:
in front of a mirror or other reflective surface.

Among the issues raised in OP #10 (which I will expand and explore further) are:

• the need to embed reflection in learning, teaching and assessment at the curriculum design level;
• the existence of an optimal curriculum design that can foster effective critical reflection (Clouder, 2009);
• reflection to meet specific learning outcomes can be said to be 'reflection to order' (Dalley, Chap 2, 2009);

As this short list shows reflection is a complex and serious component and activity of learning. A central problem is in the assessment and marking of reflective writing (Deane, Chap 5, 2009; Dalley, Chap 6, 2009). Marking a piece of reflective writing what would we look for:

• Observation
• Structure
• Reasoning
• Critical review
• Argument
• Personal disclosure
  
• Writing?

There really is the basis for a paper here on the health career model, reflection and there on the horizon - curriculum development.

Image source:
http://www.reelcollectibles.co.nz/stargate.htm

HEA Mental Health SIG, h2cm & reflection

The HEA mental health SIG presentation yesterday on Hodges' model was very well received. The other sessions were also very interesting and of direct relevance to my role in the care of older adults and mental health. The other sessions were on national dementia strategy and a study of competencies, plus the use of a book club in student learning. I hope other opportunities will arise to spread word of the health career model at other events. The trip (British Museum and an hour in the National Portrait Gallery inc.), networking and dialogue that ensued was very enjoyable. The next meeting will be later in the year and may be in Glasgow, so check their site and I will see if I can post future details on W2tQ.

In addition to the potential of the model being recognised, I also had to defend some points and assumptions that I have carried for a long time:

• The Care Programme Approach and flexibility of community mental health nurses to employ the model;
• associating 'audiences' to specific care domains (as per the - dated - introductions to the model - click on the images);
• the level of the model - the fact it is 'high level'.
  

I say defend in the sense that I continue to hide behind the slogan: the website and this blog represent a call for research, evidence and verification of the model (I did this yesterday!).

Is my proselytizing virtually, to placement students and at events such as the HEA justified, or the result of over-valued idea? This model definitely has a role to play. It is one of many tools, in a way it is the toolbox.

Browsing the HEA website and other SIGs I found one devoted to reflection. As we wrapped up in the afternoon Charles Kasule (Communications & Resources Officer) brought in an occasional paper produced by the group:

Occasional Paper No 10 (PDF access)
Connecting Reflective Learning, Teaching and Assessment (250KB)
October 2009 by Helen Bulpitt and Mary Deane

This is a brief (pp.76) but very useful introductory reader on reflection. Reflection is central to the creation and application of the health career model being one of the original purposes. My presentation included a 15 minute powerpoint breather when we collectively reflected on dementia care across the model's care (knowledge) domains. I will read OP #10 and share my thoughts here over the coming months. Should anyone be interested in exploring reflection in theory, practice, or both please get in touch. Finally, I am very grateful to Bill Penson the mental health SIG facilitator for the slot and the HEA for making this and other occasional papers freely available. More to follow ...

Nursing: Art and Science ... Fra Angelico to Leonardo

I arrived in London at noon in preparation for the Higher Education Academy mental health SIG meeting tomorrow at King's College, which includes a presentation on the health career model.

The afternoon was spent at The British Museum exhibition Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance drawings:



Early in the life of W2tQ visits to the Tate in London and Liverpool prompted a blog post or two.

Visiting this stunning exhibition even before I fastened and feasted on the first drawing, the subtitled walls announced the various exhibition themes and for me instantly suggested links to health care:

Drawing the father of our three arts -
architecture, sculpture and painting
Georgio Vasari. Lives of the Artists, 1568.

sculpture equates to medicine-surgery

painting to nursing

our care models provide the architecture and palette*

We all draw (model) individually in thought and reflection, these are then shared in our various collaborations and engagements, media forms and records.

Do we need a 21st century renaissance
in the study and appreciation of models of care?

Additional links:
Financial Times: Review

*Red, Green, Blue, (Black & White)
There are a few more prospective posts arising from this museum visit - time - will draw them out.

Comment: session at Beyond These Walls - Public Engagement Colloquium

I am of course really pleased that Prof. George Kernohan employed h2cm in his presentation last month - Beyond These Walls - Public Engagement Colloquium which I posted on W2tQ.

Considering his abstract I have added some observations below that I hope will further highlight the model's potential utility in this and other areas.

To begin George is quite right to describe the model as -

'a relatively simple way to think about and summarise the variety of engagement types.'

This explains the model's use as a student resource, a foundational framework on which to superimpose their learning and map placement and professional development experiences. As a learning activity reflection is greatly concerned with the student's accounts of engagement with patients, colleagues, carers and the public at large. This also flags up the belief that the model has some generic educational purposes in health and beyond with patients, carers and the public.

The model should not however be restricted to simple representations and applications. Granted the safety, efficacy and value of the model remain to be proven, but hopefully the directions indicated here on W2tQ and in publications to date are worthy of further exploration? More complex - lifelong learning - uses of the model might include:

• case formulation
• psychological therapy formulation (CBT, family)
• self-directed care planning and budgeting (sign-posting)
• complex systems in health care
• policy and politics in health care
• reflection: students, client life story work
  
• integrating care recording
• and clearly public engagment in many contexts; research, management and service development.
  

I am adding my (italicised) comments to Prof. Kernohan's original abstract below:

The first quadrant [SCIENCES] deals with scientific response to individual signs and symptoms: where engagement aims to ensure that people comply with the healthcare intervention: engagement is about informing the patient and their informal carer about their physical needs and responses.

People comply when they understand treatments and this understanding needs to be demonstrated. There has been much emphasis on concordance, but this has to be earned as Prof. K. indicates.

The second quadrant [POLITICAL] deals with mechanistic and group activity: for example political interventions to agree rules, policy and systems. Engagement here refers to members of groups working under a specific governance system or approach– activists and unions lobby for change, in this care domain. Arrangements for protection of vulnerable people are set through engagement here. Ethical issues guide the group mechanistic activities.

The past couple of years has seen a whole new group of people acting in this domain. The Mental Capacity Act has resulted in various protections for individuals who are assessed as lacking mental capacity. Whilst this is quite specialist and the province of secondary care and social services, the public will increasingly be exposed to vulnerable adults in their community, on their street. (I saw a gent walk past last night - to be collected by a care worker and taken back to the near-by care home. There was some resistance as they reached the corner. Deprivation of liberty and best interest sprang to mind. ...)

There are numerous other examples: membership of the public in Foundation Trusts, consultation processes on service locations, the provision of information resources for the public.

Another critical policy factor here is QUALITY, how this is measured and the public engaged in those measures and their EVALUATION.

A hybrid approach WILL be needed. A single measure is insufficient and within h2cm inevitably skewed.

Thirdly [SOCIOLOGY], there are more humanistic aspects of care: speech, thought, narrative and free text: stories contribute to group actions. Here we have the social and cultural components to remind us that engagement must work in a social context.

I tend to ground speech and thought in the interpersonal domain (related to cognition) as the primary focus of nursing (health and social care) is the individual. Although communication (society) is impossible without thought and speech and there is a special link here in that the individual cannot acquire appropriate thought and speech without being socialised.

Stories have a definite home in this care domain. Stories are the foundation of what people share, who we are, heritage. Stories differentiate familiars and strangers - stories old and new. Narrative medicine is here, right now. Significantly, the rise of science is in diagonal opposition to the domain of stories.

The final domain [INTER-intraPERSONAL] emphasizes the role of the individual in needing tailor-made care, requiring dignity and respect. Here lies a more holistic type of care and is more ‘mind’ than ‘body’ where interpersonal aspects of engagement are more person-centred.

This domain and the proximity of the 'individual' axis is the focus of nursing care. The rationale for individualised, personalised, person-centred, client-centred care is found here. We need to cross the individual axis repeatedly in order to achieve holistic care. There is no single destination. This journey is never a 'single' in two senses: neither one-way, nor travelled alone hence George's objective in public engagement.

Across all four care domains, public engagement is a key sustaining action to make the model meaningful but also to provide some reassurance that engagement although complex and varied, can be managed in a logical way to enhance care.

I can see what George means by stating that engagement can be managed in a logical way.

Logic's extent varies across the care domains of Hodges' model; from the logical affirmation and assurance that underpins evidence based interventions to the decision algorithms that inform NHS Direct. There is also a need for recourse to several forms of logic as the model is traversed and negotiated. Folk theory, dreams, the chaos of elections and economic uncertainty, and the public's sense of demographic trends also have their place.

I understand that Prof. Kernohan's slides will be posted on the event website in due course.

Many thanks to Professor Kernohan for his recognition and publicizing of the health career model.

Image source:
Gogeometry.com - http://www.gogeometry.com/problem/p076_square_circle_area.htm

Reading the signs - Idealised Care

With the axes of the health career model labelled and the care domains - that fall between - identified, what can we read into and from the health career - care domains - model?

What basics of care and caring can we find there, what assumptions can we jump upon?

Here is a list ... (which also illustrates how the model grows with the learner) :)

• Health, well-being and social care are not declared in the face of the model, this suggests the model is high-level - generic.
  
• Health care (here) has at least seven disciplinary degrees of freedom:


• Sciences (biology, physics, chemistry)
  
• Politics
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Spirituality

• Health and social care theory and practices are reductive.
• Health care involves the traversal of space - distance.
  
• Health and social care has the potential to be depersonalising and alienating.
• Health and social care is simple and complex.
• The environment is inherent within the model in its varied forms.
• There is a moment of imbalance within the INDIVIDUAL - GROUP.
  
• Context is essential as a means to situate care (co-ordinate in an 'x','y' sense).
• The means is provided to situate the care context in a person-centred way.
• This model provides a template for personal and group reflection (shallow or deep).
  
• The model is open in terms of the final content, the content as expressed in care approach, philosophy, discipline, description (concepts, problems, priorities, strengths, a 'mash-up') is not dictated.
  
• In acknowledging the existence and primacy of the individual (located at the top so - must be important), the model provides a (potential) focus and vehicle for individualised, personalised, person-centred care.
• Whilst individualised care is at the center of care theory, practice and management, it cannot be defined purely by virtue of the INDIVIDUAL-group axis and the claim of an associated INTRA-INTERPERSONAL care domain.
• The individual must also be considered as a POLITICAL entity, a citizen, a legal entity that falls under the auspices of human rights. As such the individual is someone who can (or has previously) expressed their choices, wishes as to their health, care, well-being, best interests.
• Being an INDIVIDUAL within the family of humankind - 1 of some 6.x or > 7 billion - this person is unique and deserving of highest quality care, dignity and respect that should be accorded to all people.
• Health and social care whilst organisationally distinct (POLITICAL - POLICY) are to the INDIVIDUAL and carers (GROUP) concurrent, transparent and ideally integrated activities.
• Physical care (SCIENCES) can be, and is, defined in mechanistic terms; for example, time (objective), events, place, outcomes, observations / data (discrete, quantitative).
  
• Physical care is hence primarily objective.
• Emotional INTERPERSONAL care can be, and is defined in humanistic terms; for example, time (subjective), communication, responses to events (behaviour), feelings, beliefs, relationships (SOCIAL), expectations, fears, observations / data (subjective, qualitative).
• Physical care, emotional care is often mediated through the SOCIAL domain and the group - the family unit.
• Since this model indicates an initial structure and content the model is of potential use as a reflective resource for novice through to expert.
• The model is generic and as such not limited to health and social care.
• Such is the generic nature of the model it can support all learners in lifelong learning.
  
• The Spiritual is not there: it is ineffable. It is everywhere, everything, every'I' and everynow.
• Time is inherent in several forms within health and social care.
  
• The economics of health care is infused to all the domains, notably in the first instance to the SCIENCES and SOCIAL domains.
• The economic effects upon the individual in a humanistic sense, may be remote, but is inverse in terms of its impact.
• The model reinforces dualism: mind - body (but cognitively innoculates also).
  
• In highlighting boundaries, dichotomy, limits the model can stress the need for integration.
• The model suggests an antipodean fracture in relationships*: the patient and clinician (across physical care and mental health) inhabit the Northern hemisphere; while the carer (public), manager and policy maker the Southern.
• Health and social care is grounded in human communication (and that which is mediated).
• 'Sense making' must be a key issue in health and social care.
• Given the scope of the model, technology must be making a major impact across all fields of health and social care.
• The model can simultaneously represent the SOCIO- and the -TECHNICAL.
• A great many (potentially - all) values and standards are inherent in the model.
• This model can be represented using many media.
• This model is open to the Management Consultant's delicacy alphabet soup, i.e. using letters to represent approaches / methods, e.g. 4P's, 4C's.
• Health and social care can also be described holistically.
  

*Clearly, given the relationships and issues that arise this bears further examination and discussion.

This list is subject to revision - addition.

Image source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Antipodes_LAEA.png

Sun Microsystems blog: Pretty good example* of a Strategic (Design) Brief

The Sun Microsystems site includes a blog (Martin Hardee) with an article entitled as above that poses eight questions. These questions can greatly inform the process of creating a strategic brief (which is also provided for download). Although the item is from 2005 and the context differs - contrast a corporate website design and a future website for Hodges' model - there is value for me in answering the questions. So here goes... starting with the opening paragraph from the original blog post then the questions in bold, interspersed with my responses:

As I've mentioned in previous postings, the most important single step you can take in designing anything for the web is to create a strategic brief. This should be done early in the discovery phase of any design project. The reason it's so important is that it will make you focus and it will provide a guide map for whoever is creating and implementing your design. To write a strategic brief, you'll need to know a lot of important but oft-ignored basics such as:

A) Why are you embarking on this design (or new web site, or whatever), anyway?

The existing website was created in 1997 using Hot Metal Pro and written in HTML. The site was built as a personal and spare time project around the original course notes of Brian Hodges. These were in the form of Word files produced with secretarial support as part of a Post Graduate Certificate of Eduction project. As a result the current website has developed in a rather ad-hoc manner, with the addition of pages on informatics and information. The home page was re-designed in 2005 using Fireworks reflecting the model for which it is 'home'. At no point thus far has the website provided a community for users of Hodges' model. The site is currently static, without a database to support dynamic content development and a community of users.

Use of Drupal will provide a (truly) dynamic lever by potentiating the following:

1. sheer unadulterated enthusiasm and fun (lifelong learning - literacy skills);
   
2. a more professional footing (hosting...);
3. international customisation (multiple languages);
4. ultimately address several audiences (health, education, informatics and public);
5. find out what would-be users of the model want;
   
6. create some consistent styling;
7. provide an archive;
   
8. building on the foundation provided by the website and this blog W2tQ;
9. provide a foundation for future research (by producing my 1st Drupal site - a beta);
10. (As already noted I have wondered about linking this project to a research course, but at the moment I ask myself what's the point...?)
    

B) What are your business objectives and how would you measure success?

There are no 'business objectives' as such, but if this blog and a future site can generate some revenue to support purchase of hardware, (some) software and services then "that's about time". General objectives are to generate critical thinking and decisions on:

• content types to support the use of Hodges' model;
• phased development;
• interface design - use of Ajax, jQuery.

Ultimate (reach for the stars...) objectives:

• to invite users to contribute to the model's development;
• reopen the question of visualization in the social sciences;
  
• to learn of other conceptual frameworks that might also support 'global health for all';
  
• to produce a virtual learning environment that conjoins health, informatics and education;
• to influence nursing curricula development;
• to create a self-sustaining global community of users
• to cover some costs and let go. ....
  

C) Who are your various audiences or customer segments and what are their objectives (often different from your business objectives, btw)

+ students (health and social care); students (generic - PSHE);
+ all qualified care professionals
+ lecturers

The objectives here are diverse, but include completion of learning and course tasks, including essays and case studies, tools to support and demonstrate reflection and holistic / integrated care in theory and practice. Lesson plans and means of assessment are also essential, to what extent can students and professionals - indeed all users of a conceptual framework demonstrate - competency? This has to be through specific assignments and marked assessment which could include:

1. essay;
2. case study;
3. oral presentations, audio, video podcasts;
4. quizzes, e.g., multiple choice;
5. and possibly specific 'roles' through the Drupal site.
   

The politics of the educational establishment include that tools should be evidenced, safe, fit for purpose. There may also be a requirement to dovetail with use of dedicated learning management systems and standards such as SCORM. As such a new site should seek to incorporate such standards - through Drupal - in so far as they do not affect innovation and projecting the model into the future.

+ patients and carers

Patients and carers would often benefit from a means to facilitate dialogue with their keyworkers and the associated health and social care team. Hodges' model can help provide a schema, portal and media form for such dialogues. This dialogue can potentially act as:

• an aide-mémoire for the patient during a Consultant appointment (maximising the time available for both parties);
  
• a means for educational engagement (medication concordance, relapse prevention....).
  

+ policy makers and care commissioners
+ managers

These stakeholders are concerned with metrics, outcomes, quality and evidence.

+ information and communication technology staff

In addition to project management tools ICT staff would benefit from tools that support socio-technical perspectives.

For all the would-be users of Hodges' model the critical question is evidence. The new site should provide a foundation for research in Hodges' model and other conceptual frameworks.


D) What's the scope: How much are you going to tackle at once?

By using a content management system Drupal provides a means to be more productive (once sufficiently skilled!) in terms of addressing the objectives and scope delineated above.

This is the key question!

I need to acknowledge advice already provided from friends at the Drupal NW England group and Ruby community. Basically - do what you need to to get a site out of the door. What I must identify is the baseline functionality and design that will provide the foundation for a site. The baseline must include:

• roles and access rules;
• at least one specific content type (whether existing or new) for Hodges' model;
• RDF;
• accessibility.

E) What sort of constraints do you have in terms of product, business process, technology, or budget?

Hodges' model is nebulous and grand in its potential scope so it is vital that constraints are imposed on the project. A new PC and software will prove a great advantage leaving behind a trusted 7 year old machine. There is a no dedicated budget for the project.

The biggest constraint is time. This is non trivial and has already impacted this blog in that the comments are disabled. Early on the comments facility invited spam.

F) What existing projects and groups does this project need to coordinate with in order to avoid a train wreck?

None. The only legacy commitment are to move the existing pages to an archive that is readily accessible and signposted.

There are however two considerations:

1. Since first identifying Drupal as the platform to adopt, it was at version 4.7. It is now on the brink of version 7.0. This dynamic development environment presents challenges of its own.

2. As already highlighted if the new site is to reach the educational community it will be necessary to take heed of existing Drupal modules and resources, e.g. the DrupalEd distribution, The Scientific Collaboration Framework and assess their suitability - 'off the shelf'.


G) What kind of market and "voice of customer" research (including site metrics) do you already have?

In ten years with the existing site evidence shows that people do not have time to 'get in touch'; more needs to be offered. The existing website is 'failing' in terms of:

• as stated its dated design;
• site metrics - hits;
  
• publishing standards (academic, relevance, timeliness and currency, referencing, styling, semantic markup);
• and user engagement.

Despite the non-trivial constraint of time and website 'stasis' this blog is an emerging as a potential channel of engagement. The clustermaps and recently added 'flags of the world' demonstrate the global appeal of the content here and hopefully the model. Since there is little time for analysis of Google analytics data, the new site will utilise core statistic functionality and contributed modules as available (and proven).


H) What are the roles on the project? For instance, if you're engaging a design vendor what are they delivering vs. what are you delivering to the final mix?

As per the existing site and given budget constraints (i.e. there is none) there are no 'roles' on the project. All are up for grabs and presently rest with me. Hence the appeal of a content management system (Drupal) to ease the design and development burden.

Additional links:

Sun Microsystems blog post:
http://blogs.sun.com/MartinHardee/entry/pretty_good_example_of_a

Drupal

* The good example here is the title of the Sun Microsystems article and not necessarily my answers to the questions.

Image sources:
Drupal Groups
Chess piece:
http://www.mindful-leadership.com/Strategy%20Facilitation.htm

C4P: Int. Journal of Sociotechnology and Knowledge Development

International Journal of Sociotechnology and Knowledge Development

CALL FOR PAPERS - Special Issue on Knowledge Development and the Net Generation

Guest Editors:

Dr. Frank Ulbrich (corresponding co-editor)
Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden and Carleton University, Canada
Dr. Isa Jahnke
Dortmund University of Technology, Germany
Dr. Pär Mårtensson
Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden

Introduction

Members of the Net Generation use the Web differently, they network differently, and they learn differently. When they start at university, traditional values on how to develop knowledge collide with their values. Many of the teaching techniques that have worked for decades do not work any more because new students learn differently too. The Net Generation is used to network; its members work collaboratively, they execute several tasks simultaneously, and they use the Web to acquire knowledge.

We are in a period of transition and while many universities are starting to embrace new ways of knowledge development in tandem with the Net Generation, the general picture is that there is still a challenging path ahead of us. We would like to know about these new experiences and offer knowledge on how best to support knowledge development in universities that are starting to fully engage with the Net generation.

To be able to meet new changing demands in higher education, this special issue elaborates on the topic of how the Net Generation acquires and exchanges knowledge. We welcome research using a socio-technical approach that demonstrates how the Web can be used in higher education to facilitate students’ knowledge development.

Contributing papers may deal with any combination of the following issues and areas, but are not limited to them:

• Social networking and its impact on emerging, new learning infrastructures
• Social networking and its integration into existing learning infrastructures
• Social networking vs. traditional study groups
• Challenges for socio-technological change at the university level
• Technological-driven impacts on society or organizations after/during studies
• Outlook: Tools for knowledge development in the post-Net Generation era

We are interested in papers from all over the world that are both conceptually and empirically based. In terms of conceptual papers and theoretical frameworks, we seek to contribute to theory building by both re-applying existing frameworks and developing new constructs that help explaining socio-technological knowledge development through using modern information and communication technology. In terms of empirical data, we seek papers that report, for example, on experiences from using networking tools or new learning infrastructures to impart knowledge to students in higher education.

About the Journal

The International Journal of Sociotechnology and Knowledge Development publishes papers that offer a detailed analysis and discussion on socio-technical philosophy and practices which underpin successful organizational change thus building a more promising future for today’s societies and organizations. It encourages interdisciplinary texts that discuss current practices as well as demonstrate how the advances of—and changes within—technology affect the growth of society, and vice versa. The aim of the journal is to bring together the expertise of people who have worked practically in a changing society across the world for people in the field of organizational development and technology studies including information systems development and implementation.
http://www.igi-global.com/journals/details.asp?id=7823

Important Dates

Extended Abstract for Guidance: December 10, 2009 (optional)
Paper Submissions: January 31, 2010
Notification of Acceptance: March 31, 2010
Camera-ready Submission: May 31, 2010
Tentative Publication: Late-2010/Early-2011

Prospective authors should prepare manuscripts according to the Guidelines for Submissions published at http://www.igi-global.com/development/author_info/guide.asp .

Manuscripts should be no longer than 7,000 words (excluding references) and should be submitted through e-mail to frank_ulbrich@carleton.ca .

Corresponding co-editor
Dr. Frank Ulbrich

Please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards

Isa Jahnke (on behalf of the guest editors).
http://www.hdz.uni-dortmund.de/index.php?id=276
http://www.isa-jahnke.de

International Literacy Day - Literacy and Hodges' model: An umbilicus of meaning

Literacy has always been important - it pre-dates prehistory.

Nature is the hardest of all teachers.

Nature taught us to read ourselves, other people and things in the environment, the future and so on right through to our various forms of media and technology today.

Politicians, parents and educationalists constantly stress the state of the 3Rs for those in, leaving school and the general populace who whether willingly or not find themselves as lifelong learners. Now we are told times and the world are far more more complex. In addition to ability in Reading, wRiting, and aRithmatic - literacy comes in other forms that are increasingly essential to our individual connection with the world, and our collective capacity to solve major local and global issues.

The efforts of Gutenberg shame us when in the 21st century basic literacy evade so many:

Today one in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women while 75 million children are out of school.

Since its foundation in 1946, UNESCO has been at the forefront of global literacy efforts and is dedicated to keeping literacy high on national, regional and international agendas. However, with some 776 million adults lacking minimum literacy skills, literacy for all remains an elusive target.

UNESCO’s literacy programmes aim to create a literate world and promote literacy for all.

On the other hand Gutenberg reminds us of the need for stability if a people, a government is to provide the capacity and resources to support education and literacy for its peoples.

As mentioned above reading, writing and basic numeracy skills are now joined by other essential literacies. In the figure below I have (hurriedly) combined them with Hodges' model:


Here in the 3Rs we need to appreciate the child developmental factors that influence the acquisition, learning and refinement of basic literacy skills. The early detection of visual, hearing, and cognitive problems is crucial in ensuring everyone realises their full potential. The 3Rs span several of the care (knowledge) domains of Hodges' model. Children must be allowed to be children, hence the importance of play in emotional development and literacy.

As our societies become ever more visual to the extent of being described as visually polluted with excessive amounts of signage; spatial and visual forms of literacy come to fore. If the digital divide does not intervene then information, media literacy, and fluency in the use of computers, software, virtual interfaces and other digital devices represent the 21st century literacy?

Economic literacy extends beyond numeracy, not just a person being able to manage their own financial affairs and that of their family. This may also encompass - as the world has witnessed over the past two years - the economic management of whole communities, countries and the need for governance and accountability.

What then of political literacy in the figure above? In medicine and surgery great store is placed on informed consent before an operation or procedure is performed. Do people just 'vote' or should the electorate be informed as they grant permission to a political party to operate on their behalf?

When speaking to clients, carers and families a judgement must be made about the language used. Get this wrong either way - too jargonistic, technical or too simplistic and positive outcomes may be reduced.

In the future as populations continue to grow, cities are forced to flee rising tides and governments seek to relocate, spiritual literacy will assume an importance never seen before. That is why spiritual literacy surrounds Hodges' model.

Of course in health and social care encounters, of the many factors that are weighed the emphasis in professional caring and essential humanism is on acceptance and being non-judgemental.

Literacy must be judged.

It has to be judged if global health is to have any meaning.

Literacy and Health
- two vital pearls on the fragile thread called -
quality of life.

Conceptual heavy lifting ...

Whether you are teacher, lecturer or a student we are all lifelong learners.

As the new academic year starts in the Northern hemisphere, students will have new concepts to learn. They must also integrate these concepts with previous learning and experiences. Remember that while concepts are:

floaty, airy, light, abstract

collect enough of them and they become weighty and a confused delight of several degrees of significance.

Then health and safety dictates three things:

1. No heavy lifting
2. Do not omit vital concepts
3. Those concepts you do have - weigh them - carefully.

So, how do you manage your conceptual loads?


Original image source:
Scrap grab http://www.lifting-world.co.uk/equipment.htm

'X', 'Y', 'Z'... Based Learning

As a student or lifelong learner starting a course you expect that you will and are being exposed to the latest learning and educational methods and techniques*. The non-exhaustive list that follows is ... what shall we call it? ... non-trivial in its extent:

PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING
case-based learning
SOLUTION-BASED LEARNING
person-based learning
BLENDED LEARNING
e-learning
DISTANCE LEARNING
self-directed learning
ASSIGNMENT-BASED LEARNING
work-based learning
PRACTICE-BASED LEARNING
enquiry-based learning
GARDEN-BASED LEARNING
game-based learning
COMPUTER-BASED LEARNING
project-based learning
INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING
resource-based learning
CAMPUS-BASED LEARNING
movement-based learning
ADVENTURE-BASED LEARNING
classroom-based learning
SKILLS-BASED LEARNING
action-based learning
COGNITIVE LEARNING
team-based learning, ...

Hodges' model is person-centered, situated and capable of taking in multiple contexts.

So perhaps the most important word above is based ...?

*One of the original roles for Hodges' model was curriculum development, posts to follow on this topic....

Additional links:

Learning with 'e's

Issue 2, 2009 of The Cochrane Library

Issue 2, 2009 of The Cochrane Library is now available. Among the new and updated Cochrane Reviews you will find :

• Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments
• Music for stress and anxiety reduction in coronary heart disease patients
• Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community
• Extraction of primary (baby) teeth for unerupted palatally displaced permanent canine teeth in children
• Psychological therapies for the management of chronic pain
• Topical treatments for chronic plaque psoriasis
• Alcohol and drug screening of occupational drivers for preventing injury
• And many more … www.thecochranelibrary.com

Some of these reviews have been highlighted in Evidence Podcasts and are free to access.

Please see the Release Notes for a summary of the updates in this issue. Users can also access our Highlights PDF to learn more about the findings of new and updated Cochrane Reviews.
The Cochrane Library

The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions is now available in print format. It is published by John Wiley for The Cochrane Collaboration.

Editors: Julian P. T. Higgins MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge, UK Sally Green Australasian Cochrane Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

There is a 25% discount for Cochrane Review authors and an information page for the book where authors can also order, with a prompt to enter their discount code.

Wiley authors are entitled to a 25% discount not only on their own titles, but on all Wiley books, when ordering either via the site, by phoning customer services or filling in any printed order forms.

Sign up now for the Author Discount club by filling in the registration form. You will be sent a discount club card with a special promotion code printed on it. You will need this to order via on-line through the shopping cart (just type in the code in the discount information field) or through our customer services department.

Free Training and user guides:
Instructor-led virtual training sessions on The Cochrane Library. Self-paced online tutorials.

For User guides and Powerpoint presentations see the Help page on - Cochrane Library


Images and my source: John-Wiley mail-list

"EU: 50 years of rights and opportunities" a sort of "Encyclopaedia of European programmes"

Happy New Year to one and all....

How time flies! 2007 was a 50th anniversary for the EU, here are details about a valuable free resource about EU programmes....

If printed it would be like a book of 5,000 pages...

It is the multimedia Guide "50 years of rights and opportunities" a sort of "Encyclopaedia of European programmes" published by a network of social organization, as part of a project run in the frame of the Europe for citizens programme of the European Union.

The guide, available online at www.together50years.eu and also on a Cd-rom distributed for free, contains information on initiative and programmes in the fields of citizenship, culture, training, participation and job opportunities promoted by European institutions (not only the European Union but also the Council of Europe).

In the guide there's also a list of about 150 international institutions and offices offering training, internship and job opportunities to young people, graduated or not.

A NON-EXHAUSTIVE list of the programmes, initiatives and services included in the Guide, contains:

- Youth in Action
- Longlife learning (Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates, Comenius, etc)
- Culture 2007
- Tempus III
- Media
- Progress
- Executive Training Programme
- European Social Fund
- Junior Professional Officer
- UE-Canada Co-operation
- UE-USA Co-operation
- UE-Australia Co-operation
- Ue-Japan Co-operation
- Erasmus Mundus
- Aschberg-Unesco Bursaries
- Atlantis
- Eures
- Cedefop
- Epso
- Eqf
- Europass
- Eurodesk
- SALTO

...and many more...

On the website you'll also find how to acquire the Cd-Rom.

For further information do not hesitate to contact us at info@together50years.eu

My source: received from together50years.eu