Holistic Skills Assessment and Assurance

Just lately - by virtue of mailing list subscriptions - I've received several calls for research proposals and notice of workshops providing advice on how to proceed. In response let me just say this is 'frustrating' - as I'm not in a position to:

• (OK, on your marks! Get set! GO!) - formulate the real question;
• seek partners;
• put in a bid;
• and put conceptual frameworks for (global) health and social care on the map.

They deserve to be there. For me the really interesting note to take home here is that these potential research projects could be grounded in several disciplines:

• nursing;
• health economics;
• informatics;
• public health;
• public and civic engagement. ...

While universal in scope they (e.g. Hodges' model) are not the universal solution.

They can and must complement other tools and resources as the care agenda shifts to quality and the measure of quality.

More than ever the holistic reach of not only 1st-line but 2nd-line ... staff is going to be crucial to how well policy-bearing organisations carry their load.

As the (quickly formulated, rapidly fixed) physical and emotional bandages are renewed and re-assurances given, we realise that (ill-) health is not just a condition specific conundrum. Health is a melange of choices, multiple diagnoses, beliefs, attitudes, educational opportunities, concentrated resources and much more that are difficult to focus. Strange thing this notion of inclusion. At the end of the day it comes down to:

The art of focusing without focusing ... ?

Holistic bandwidth means that that the holistic skills demonstrated at any time will be dynamic and vary according to the viewer, the context (and there will be several), the care domain and of course the measure(s). ...

Additional links:Measuring of health and health-related quality of life with the EuroQol-5D

Image c/o - Wordle - and based on this blog.