'LA Gun Club' (2016) by Jane Hilton

intent - maximum damage - social/vicarious trauma - policy fatigue(s)

Individual
   |

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

Group

With thanks to Jane Hilton

https://www.palogallery.com/exhibitions/35-la-gun-club-jane-hilton/overview/

Top left: intra- interpersonal
Target E. Age: 26. Occupation: Architecture student. Gun: Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum revolver.
"I wanted to use the same gun as Clint Eastwood used in the movie Dirty Harry."

Top right: sciences
Target G. Age: 37. Occupation: Range master for a gun club. Gun: Beretta 92 FS 9mm pistol.
"I have the perfect job. I own many guns, I just love looking at them. I'm not bothered about shooting them. My favourite is the Kimber Warrior because it shoots large bullets."

Bottom left: sociology

Target A. Age: 35. Occupation: Federal security. Gun: Glock 22 .40 caliber pistol.
"I cannot believe I shot that hostage's ear on my target. I learnt to shoot when I was in the military Marine Corps infantry."

Bottom right: political
Target H. Age: 32. Occupation: Stay at home Mom. Guns: Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver, Beretta 9mm pistol and Colt 5.56mm rifle (shooter's own).
"I own all 3 guns I used to shoot my target. Me and my husband go to different gun clubs all the time."

My source:
Alexander James, SNAPSHOT: 'LA Gun Club' (2016) by Jane Hilton. FT Weekend, Life&Arts, 17-18 February 2024. p.19.

HIFA Discussion: Alcohol Use Disorders - Do people understand the harms of alcohol?

Dear All (with further editing since posting)

The discussion, points, angles, questions ... are coming thick and fast it is difficult to keep up.

Many thanks for the summaries; and of course the discussion which archived also acts as a resource - repository:

https://www.hifa.org/news/hifa-announces-deep-dive-discussion-alcohol-use-disorders-starts-5-february-2024

I wonder whether the question: 

"Do people understand the harms of alcohol?" must always be placed in context?

It is radically different when asked of the tee-total, dry, safe drinker; and someone (still) actually in their alcohol drinking?

It occurs to me that alcohol, even more so than 'other' substance misuse (heroin...) represents what must be *the* contradiction, paradox in healthcare - except the tragic loss that is suicide.

Contrast substance misuse inc. alcohol, with 'help-seeking' and 'The Sick role'

https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/ed-mitchell-2/

Plus, the (medical) sociology of the decision to consult/refer, and how in mental health (UK), the mental capacity act is apparently being misapplied ('policy-drift'?**):

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/blogs/are-mental-health-and-capacity-laws-at-risk-of-being-toxic

https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2017/08/23/flawed-use-mental-capacity-act-key-theme-safeguarding-adults-reviews-report-finds/

Individual
   |

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

Group

	continental drift
	policy drift?

Previously, I highlighted how as a Community Psychiatric Nurse 1985-1995 (adult) .. if a patient/client was not working to control/reduce their alcohol consumption they may be 'counselled' re a pending discharge and referral back to their GP - family physician. In supervision with the team's manager they would want to know what is 'happening'. It being important not to create (social) dependency, or worse support someone in their alcohol misuse.

There was a sense, still is(?) that in substance misuse (across forms) - the individual has to reach 'rock-bottom', literally the 'gutter' that is the point they decide (really?)** to live, or carry on to suffer irreversible brain damage, or premature death. Regards the 'brain damage' it was a struggle for 45-60 minutes given the impact upon short-term memory, what time, .... is it indeed? When the patient was not living alone, how did the relative, family cope?

Is having to reach the gutter, the bottom, a trope/myth? In psychosis rather than assume the patient is beyond being reached prior to being medicated there are psycho-social interventions that can be commenced: being available / with. Here though this is usually 'first episode'. There is no analogue here, unless first admission to an in-patient unit is taken as a golden opportunity? But this also depends on its nature (funding, staffing - expertise), a general adult mental health ward, or specialist unit.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048347/

What is the current strategy?

In terms of 'HIFA' - and the person that counts**, not only do they not have the 'information'; they do not have the EXISTENTIAL INFORMATION as it relates to them: 'Health Information for YOU'!

Again in Hodges' model we can contrast the dichotomy/polarisation of INDIVIDUAL :: GROUP.

The model's being situated; and able to encompass data, information, knowledge (facts, for example, and their delivery) - wisdom (Multi-contextual / transdisciplinary..).

I admire people who work in these services (learning disability and palliative care); as they must be severely tested as they retain an ability - the humanity - to 'see' the person whatever the patient's situation with their lack of awareness (capacity..?) and its critical salience.

Peter Jones
Community Mental Health Nurse and Researcher
Blogging at "Welcome to the QUAD"
http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/h2cm
h2cmng at yahoo.co.uk

Location: It was just a cappuccino.

**Which points to the relevance of the POLITICAL care/knowledge domain in Hodges' model.

Information and Records Management Society [IRMS] Conference Bursaries

Dear list,

Apologies for the cross-posting. I am forwarding this on behalf of the Information and Records Management Society.

If you think you can’t afford to attend the IRMS Conference or that it’s not the place for someone like you, it could be time to think again! That’s because we’re offering FREE bursary places that will give 3 people from under-represented groups an all-inclusive ticket to IRMS24 in Brighton on 12-14 May.

But you’ll need to be quick – the deadline is less than 2 weeks away!

There are 3 categories of bursary available:

1. New Generation – open to anyone aged 30 or under at the start of the conference on 12 May 2024
2. Diversity and Inclusion – offered to an information professional or student from an ethnic minority background, or who has a disability (or both)
3. International – available to IRMS members based outside of the UK and Ireland

Each bursary provides 1 fully-funded place at the whole event, including all conference sessions, food and refreshments, evening social events, and two nights’ luxury B&B accommodation at the conference venue, the DoubleTree by Hilton Brighton Metropole hotel. Please note we are unable to cover any travel costs.

You must meet certain criteria to be eligible for a bursary. If you do, then to apply, all you have to do is tell us who you are, which bursary you are applying for and why, and how you will benefit from being at the IRMS Conference 2024 – including which speakers or topics you are most excited about! We also ask how you would share your experience at the event.

You haven’t got long - the deadline for applications is Sunday 10 March.
For full details and to apply, go to www.IRMSConference.org.uk/Bursaries.

And spread the word - we want these bursaries to be available to the widest possible audience, so please share with friends, colleagues and contacts.

Thank you, and good luck! Joe
Joe Chapman IRMS Conference Director

Best Regards,
Ren

Reynold Leming
Managing Director
reynold AT informu-solutions.com
https://www.informu-solutions.com/

My source: Records Management List - Archive
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=RECORDS-MANAGEMENT-UK

HIFA Discussion: Alcohol Use Disorders - Language 'being drunk'

----- Forwarded message -----
From: Peter Jones, UK <hifa AT hifaforums.org>
To: HIFA - Healthcare Information For All <hifa AT hifaforums.org>
Sent: Sunday, 25 February 2024 at 06:35:47 GMT
Subject: [hifa] Alcohol Use Disorders (86)

This morning on Times Radio UK, Hugo Rifkind 1000-1300 from 10.58:30 UTC:

 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/radio/show/20240224-26978/2024-02-24 

- there was mention of research in Germany on language, finding that there are over 540 words for 'drunkenness' being drunk. Apparently, the key is adding -ed to many words.

https://www.research-in-germany.org/idw-news/en_US/2024/2/2024-02-19__I_m_gonna_get_totally_and_utterly_X-ed.__OR__Can_you_really_use_any_English_word_to_mean__drunk__

This stood out for me as Hodges' model can potentially encompass the full corpus of a language, with the various contexts in which language is applied/used.

Significant of course informationally, in evidence-based practice, and research, were 'definition of terms' are (usually?) essential.

Also reminded of national variation in clinical/medical terminology. Scottish slang for injection includes 'jag'.

For health communication and HIFA, clearly language is fundamental and presents a real 'can of worms' (sorry!) in sense-making, creating 'noise' in the communication channels.

Should health services/systems effect a (gradual) change (shift) of emphasis to education and prevention - with the requisite policy support (utopic?) then this will need to be addressed.

In checking this news, it appears Germany has a more acute problem with alcohol. Can anyone 'local' - please shed any light on this?

I will post again about the HIFA discussion with a week ... left and highlight the above.

Many thanks

Peter Jones
Community Mental Health Nurse and Researcher
CMHT, Prescott House, Salford NW England, UK (Mon-Tues)
Blogging at "Welcome to the QUAD"
http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/h2cm

h2cmuk AT yahoo.co.uk

Do we need to / can we 'cancel' Mental Health Nursing / Psychiatric Nursing?

Ever since August 15th 1977 (and prior to starting in the NHS), I've been acutely aware of the politics of my chosen career choice. Once again this explains my focus here since April 2006 and prior...

Make no mistake, starting as a Nursing Assistant at Winwick hospital, a Victorian asylum then two months later entering Warrington School of Nursing was a test. Quickly, you were preoccupied with trying to innovate and move beyond task oriented care, ritualised practice, trying to escape (the irony) from custodial care - despite the clink of keys (even on non-secure wards/clinical areas).

The quality of debate on Twi/X regards psychiatry is saddening.

The structure and domains of Hodges' model have been applied to the following editorial:

Wand, T. (2024), We have to cancel psychiatric nursing and forge a new way forward. Int J Mental Health Nurs. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13301

Individual
   |

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

Group

MIND Evidence-base?           neuro- Person - identity Yes, how do we conceptualise ... "Mental health nurse" (Long-term) "Psychiatric Nurse" (Crisis) What's in a Title: REGISTERED Nurse Mental illness nurse ENOUGH! Let's Fully integrate MIND-BODY! You/We must manage legacy Recognition of emotional intelligence, rapport-empathy; people who want to 'help' others Lived experience: Care in Community Contrast with 'pastoral care'? Counselling - pre-'therapist'? RMN, RNMH .. 1. Subservient to Medicine?* Use of power, pharmacology, beds - 'controlled' environment, place of safety, restraint, loss of freedoms .. 2. Therapeutic agents - therapist? (Never truly realised: Psychology - scope of practice, Banding, Career pathways). Conscientious objection.  VALUE - VALUES Diagnosis here?  Respond to distress ? - OR

BODY -biogenic         Evidence-base? Iatrogenesis DEFINE^: 'sustainable' in terms of: individual - population NHS Professions Demographics (time-scales) Environment Economic Ethics - Human Rights Curricula medical model bio-psycho-social model ... [ ^Research ] Modalities of care - student experience/placement has changed Nurse education - curricula What would a properly funded NHS/Mental health services 'look' like?   Models  of care DEBATE ongoing: Anti-psychiatry PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSIS biomarkers, genetics, neurological explanations - pathologising, safety of anti-psychotics, long-term use ... Demographics - workforce scope Diagnosis here?

Where - psycho-SOCIALLY has policy been thus far? Wither humanism? Therapeutic relationship - human connection Social history: Creation of asylums to standardise care for the insane Anti-psychiatry: Psychiatry as MECHANISTIC social control Role of language, history, expections, social justice, law-public safety ...  (can you 'cancel' here?) Lived experience, family, carers, peer support workers "Lifestyle Medicine" (Map the 6 pillars to Hodges' model) Social prescribing (research?) Attitudes, Stigma, Social media Sense-making, 'Faith' 1:Pop. Social care, community resources Integrated & Person-centred care Other models of MH care/services

- mechanistically assess risk?  Formal distinction (break): MH Nursing <-> Trad. Psychiatric family? POLICY: Community care set in aspic, NHS also: funding £££££? Innovation in POLICY? No slack resource - HOW to shift to prevention/education Sustainable health care What crises are you (health professions) responding to? Determinants of health:  social, commercial, economic, social, political, education ... Mental Health Law: inc. Consent, MH Capacity (now also a 'football'?) UNHCHR - Mental Health: ‘Mental health, human rights and legislation’ (World Health Organization and the United Nations, 2023) Former: RCP Reports on CPNs* National Reports: Suicides, Homicides, Forensic, Prisons Change [Progress!]: predicated upon research & evidence, not 'rebellion' as befits a profession - Duty of care?

Once you start to apply Hodges' model then additional content often presents itself. For example, (12th March) apart from people employed in tax and undertakers how many professions, would admit to a value system that aims for, seeks making the collective enterprise redundant? A utopic appeal no doubt, and this would for a population demand that the socio-political foundation (ills!) for our individual lives are finally addressed. What are referred to as the determinants of health. It is a sign of the times that trying to do a search on this, 'redundancy' / redundant is taken as related to the state of being employed, not an ideal.

If this sounds like pie-in-the-sky, consider the birth of social medicine - the NHS. Consider too the future of the NHS and we arrive at sustainable health care systems?

National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health
The University of Manchester - https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/ncish/

Homicide in England and Wales: year ending March 2023 -

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/homicideinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023

AI in the Creative Industries: An Interdisciplinary Conference [One week left!]

[reposting as there's just over one week left to submit abstracts for our summer conference on AI]

AI in the Creative Industries: An Interdisciplinary Conference [EXTENDED DEADLINE]

7th June 2024 - Hosted by Futureworks, Manchester UK

Artificial Intelligence has advanced extremely rapidly over the past months. Responses have been polarized; with some predicting the end of the world and others celebrating a technology with the potential to create a new industrial revolution. The biggest difference between these new algorithmic technologies and those that preceded them are the potential for new AI models to generate creative content. Visual art, photography, literature and digital scripting have been produced by AI, to varying levels of success. To the existing debates around AI (questions of ethics, consciousness, or cyborg theory, for example) have arisen new problems regarding the role of art and the artist in the age, not of mechanical reproduction, but mechanical production. Can a robot be creative?

This conference aims to bring together researchers from across media studies, music and sound, the visual arts, video games, film and TV, animation, sociology, history, literature, politics, philosophy and aesthetic theory, to interrogate the growing role of AI in the creative industries, its potentials (both negative and positive), and how we are to react to the rise of AI as both tool and creator.

Abstracts for 20-minute papers are welcomed on subjects including, but not limited to:

• AI creativity: is it truly creative?
• AI and transhumanism
• AI and the question of consciousness
• Copyright law and artificial intelligence
• Utilization of AI as a creative tool
• The depiction of AI in creative media
• The ethics of AI usage and its potential to help or harm
• The aesthetics of artificial intelligence

Please submit 250 word abstracts with accompanying 50-word bio and 5 keywords to organizer joe.darlington AT futureworks.ac.uk by 29th February 2024. 

Submissions are encouraged from academics, postgraduate researchers and non-academic speakers alike. Creative practitioners are also welcome, as are those working in the production or utilization of AI.

<>

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Universal and Generic: Hodges' model and conceptual frameworks, or

What the papers say . . .

The purpose of many research papers is to produce a conceptual framework, perhaps as a step towards a greater goal and objective.

Whatever the context or purpose of the conceptual framework:

• Theoretical Framework
• Conceptual Model
• Empirical Framework
• Descriptive Framework
• Analytical Framework
• Conceptual Framework for Policy Analysis
• Logical Frameworks
• Conceptual Frameworks for Program Evaluation
• Conceptual Frameworks for Organizational Analysis
• Conceptual Frameworks for Strategic Planning*

Hodges' model can be applied. This past week I saw a way to illustrate the scope of Hodges' model, which I will revisit. As ever, this merely scratches an itch on #MentalHealthNursesDay.

With apologies to authors and publishers - original citations follow:

Divya Sussana Patil, Ajay Bailey, Sobin George, Martin Hyde & Lena Ashok (2023) Unpacking the role of (INSERT [focus1..x/protected characteristic]) among (INSERT [Population]) for accessing healthcare in (INSERT [City, Town, Village, 3-words; Country]). Global Public Health, 18:1, DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2023.2274438


Ahuvia, I.L., Mullarkey, M.C., Sung, J.Y., Fox, K.R. and Schleider, J.L. (2023), Evaluating a treatment selection approach for (INSERT [modality, delivery]) single-session interventions for (INSERT [Life-stage, Condition/Diagnosis]). J Child Psychol Psychiatr, 64: 1679-1688. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13822

Xu H, Bayless TM, Østbye T, Dupre ME. Care sequences leading to the diagnosis of (INSERT [Disease] and [related]): An analysis of (INSERT [format / owner]) records. Alzheimer's Dement. 2024; 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13669

Original citations:

Divya Sussana Patil, Ajay Bailey, Sobin George, Martin Hyde & Lena Ashok (2023) Unpacking the role of transport inequalities among older adults for accessing healthcare in Bengaluru, India, Global Public Health, 18:1, DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2023.2274438

My source: https://x.com/HydeM1976/status/1718975653175796085?s=20 (and prompt)

Ahuvia, I.L., Mullarkey, M.C., Sung, J.Y., Fox, K.R. and Schleider, J.L. (2023), Evaluating a treatment selection approach for online single-session interventions for adolescent depression. J Child Psychol Psychiatr, 64: 1679-1688. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13822

https://x.com/acamh/status/1759539440605606159?s=20

Xu H, Bayless TM, Østbye T, Dupre ME. Care sequences leading to the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: An analysis of electronic health records. Alzheimer's Dement. 2024; 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13669

https://x.com/DukeGHI/status/1759978730192306179?s=20

*https://researchmethod.net/conceptual-framework/

South Sudan Medical Journal: 'Stroke' Vol 17 No 1 Feb. 2024

Dear reader,

The February 2024 issue is online here. 

It includes several items on ‘Stroke’ edited by Dr Eluzai Abe Hakim, Founder and Associate Editor of SSMJ. Note our new ‘Notice Board’ on the back page. The full contents are listed below.

We are pleased to announce that our articles are now indexed by Scopus, in addition to  African Journals Online (AJOL) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) as well as on our website. SSMJ is included in the EBSCO scientific research collection.

Please share this issue with your colleagues
and promote it through social media.

For example: “See the South Sudan Medical Journal’s February issue for articles related to stroke in Africa here @SSMedJournal #SouthSudan #SSOT” or retweet from @SSMedJournal.

Editorial

•  Address risk factors as part of clinical practice to prevent stroke Eluzai Abe Hakim 

Articles

• Reference intervals for serum creatinine and urea in the adult western Sudanese population Muaath Ahmed Mohammed, Ibrahim Abdelrahim Ali, Abdarahiem Alborai Abeadalla, and Omer Abdelaziz Musa
• Prevalence and perceptions of voluntary medical male circumcision among University of Juba students, South Sudan Kon Alier, Akway Cham, Jonathan Majok, Kenneth Sube Achan Nyang, Ezbon Wapary, James Malek, John Makuei, Jok Malith, Lual Mayuol and Yak Adim
• Paranasal sinuses in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis, Tanzania Enica R.Massawe, Happy E Somboi, Asterius Muganyizi, and Petra Joseph
• Hepatocellular carcinoma and aflatoxin in Sudan: The way forward Moawia Mohammed Ali Elhassan

Stroke Series Articles

• Stroke rehabilitation in low resource countries: time to provide an organised service Mehran Maanoosi
• Risk factors for stroke in the African populace: need for action Paul Bolaji
• Stroke units in low and middle income countries (LMICs) save lives: application of the western model of stroke care Omotayo Taiwo, Min K Koko, and Eluzai Hakim

Short Communications

• QUIZ: Unenhanced Brain Computerised Axial Tomographic (CAT) scan quiz
• Obituary: Dr Asia Dawud Kuek
• Obituary: Dr Lou Joseph Bosco
• Obituary: Mr Gideon Wurube Kara

Notice Board (Back Cover): Advertise in the South Sudan Medical Journal

Front Cover Image: Brain CAT scan of a stroke patient showing acute right non-haemorrhagic infarct in posterior middle cerebral artery territory as well as right basal ganglia with mass effect. (Credit: Eluzai Hakim)

The SSMJ team
Email: southsudanmedicaljournal AT gmail.com
Website: http://www.southsudanmedicaljournal.com
Follow us on Twitter/X @SSMedJournal and our Facebook Group

Questions in eclipse

 Last Friday 9th I had a Zoom chat for 30 mins, regards Hodges' model with faculty in the USA.

We touched upon:

• background to Hodges' model
• courses taught across the water and interests
• overlaps, inc. person-centered care - socio-technical
• informatics & literacies
• maths/logic

As an outcome it was suggested I forward some questions I'm currently of Hodges' model. Questions that for me, are challenging, put me in the dark, and may not even be valid?

Going through my draft notes I picked out 20, beginning with the working title:

Hodges’ Model as a mathematical object and relational ontology:
category theory or category mistake?

1. Can it be argued there is what amounts to a care locus - that can 'locate' person-centredness?
   
   
2. Can the model's domains be seen as functions?
   
   
3. Are the domains placeholders?
   
   
4. Is there a case to test, and if logical implement co-domains (e.g. parity of esteem)?
   
   
5. Are there other 'structures' in Hodges' model,  for example L-shaped forms, that is relations that involve three domains and (seemingly) omit one?
   
   
6. Are there practical - case studies - that can be associated with such structures?
   
   
7. Can Hodges' model be considered as a single conceptual space (Gärdenfors), or a series of four? (blog posts)
   
   
8. Can Hodges' model be used to identify and apply threshold concepts (Meyer & Land)? (blog posts)
   
   
9. Can we argue that the structure of Hodges’ model as defined by the axes extent, provides and invites inverse relations?
   
   
10. Is Hodges' model as a structure only (a template) equivalent to an empty set (empty set as an initial object)?
11. Is this a mathematical analogue (being neutral) to a practitioner's unconditional positive regard?
    
    
12. Taking its axes and four (care/knowledge) domains can Hodges' model be reduced to a graph?
    
    
13. If Hodges' model acknowledges/incorporates Cartesian duality, are there Cartesian products?
    
    
14. In these Cartesian products are critical operations, e.g. relating to psychotropics - physical health; eating disorder - physical/mental health; complex emotional needs - policy (evidence-based care)?
    
    
15. If the model is inverted, mirrored ... what follows: is the structure - function - consistency retained?

    
    
16. Is Hodges' model 'closed' in comparison with Buzan's (open?) approach to mind-mapping?
    
    
17. There is an 'equation of time': is there an 'equation of care'?
    
    
18. Thought experiments: (semantic distance... cognitive linguistics)
    
    

    Which concept (INTERPERSONAL :: SCIENCES) is closer to the ‘INDIVIDUAL’ axes; which is closest to the ‘GROUP’ (SOCIOLOGY :: POLITICAL)?

    
    

    Which concept (SOCIOLOGY :: INTERPERSONAL) is closer to the HUMANISTIC axes; which is closest to the MECHANISTIC (SCIENCES :: POLITICAL)?

    
    
19. Role of 'types' in Hodges' model - that is, patient / model as a whole as objects (with identity)?
    
    
20. What significance can be gleaned given commonality between several mathematical terms, e.g. group, object, (co-)domain and Hodges' model?

I can no doubt structure - group these questions, and I've not picked out many concerned with Hodges' model as a set, or, as yet, those venturing into category theory. I am wondering, what the commutative law might tell us about holistic, integrated care, and parity of esteem when applied through Hodges' model? Also refining 3-4 case examples to explore and illustrate the same?

While it is maths that prompts this diversion, perhaps ultimately health care disciplines can determine its own formal approach that can produce its own context-sensitive rules, that straddle mathematics/logic and the humanities?

In initial emails, I'd noted the forthcoming eclipse across the USA. Checking, my interlocutor is just N of the path of totality (I wish!) for April's total eclipse. I'm enjoying the darkness here too.

https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/

#TotalEclipse2024 #SolarEclipse2024

Distance: Shoulders and ships that pass ...

Over the past 10-20 years I've become more aware of the distance from scholars and people whose work is relevant to Hodges' model. Distance in the sense of their concomitant 'celebrity', hence the issue of how to make contact; and the stage of their career and my discovery of their relevance. Three people come to mind ... 

I've long admired the work of James Lovelock, and when writing on ecological themes in -

Lovelock in 2005: Wikipedia

Jones, P. (2008) Exploring Serres’ Atlas, Hodges’ Knowledge Domains and the Fusion of Informatics and Cultural Horizons, IN Kidd, T., Chen, I. (Eds.) Social Information Technology Connecting Society and Cultural Issues, Idea Group Publishing, Inc. Chap. 7, pp.96-109.

- I wondered about trying to contact Dr Lovelock. As the majority of people are aware his thought and books, especially the Gaia hypothesis with Lynn Margulis caught the public's imagination from first publication and through the 1970s. Was there a Horizon TV programme? James Lovelock's influence was not just in ecology, but also earth (planetary) sciences through work for NASA. In early 2021 I thought I would reach out, through his most recent book and publisher/agent. I passed a message, which was forwarded but I never heard anything more.

As a nurse - with experience in older adult community mental health, I was acutely aware that this senior gentleman - in every sense of the word - may not want to be mithered by a scouser*, now living near Wigan Pier. I stressed not wanting to disturb the Dr. I also thought, given Dr Lovelock being of independent mind - a maverick, he might on the contrary love to be disturbed. 

Sadly, I was too late, hearing the news of Dr Lovelock's death in 2022. Of course, I was seeking validation (and still am) for the project here. I can't help thinking though, that Dr Lovelock really would have 'got' Hodges' model.

James Lovelock: BBC Radio 4 The Life Scientific

<>

Philosophy has long been an interest B.A.(Joint Hons.) Comp./Phil.. In a way you have no choice as a nurse, especially trained in mental health and general nursing: the theory and practice invariably touch reality, consciousness, perception, subjectivity, objectivity, knowledge, being, perception, data, information, time and so on.

Once acquainted with Hodges' model, scale is the dimension that asserts itself. I wrote about this and referenced Mario Bunge in about 1998, on the old, now archived website:

https://web.archive.org/web/20100329050839/http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/infintro.htm

Scale is a constant and multicontextual focus, but interest was piqued once again as I try to look at Hodges' model mathematically (yes, who am I trying to kid!) - as an object and relationally. I was reminded of Prof. Bunge's work noting a paper that included 'isomorphic-ism':

Bunge, M. (1969). Corrections to “Foundations of Physics”: Correct and Incorrect. Synthese, 19(3/4), 443–452. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20114653

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10838-021-09553-7

Mahner, M. Mario Bunge (1919–2020): Conjoining Philosophy of Science and Scientific Philosophy. J Gen Philos Sci 52, 3–23 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10838-021-09553-7

There may be a brief email exchange with Prof. Bunge, a request for a paper or two. Any emails are now stored (CD-ROM and portable drive) in a Turnpike folder, an old email client. Last year I was disappointed again, to learn of Dr Bunge's passing in 2020. His focus on science, philosophy, and systems - hard / soft is also very informative.

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More recently, I came across the fascinating work of David Sallach, one paper (a conference from 2012) includes:

Sallach, D.L. Categorical Social Science: Theory, Methodology and Design. September 2012
Conference: Fourth World Congress on Social Simulation. Taipei, Taiwan.

https://www2.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/Sallach2012CategoricalSoSci4.WCSS-SS.pdf

Plus, developed further in table 2:

If time permits as an exercise, please consider Sallach's table 3 below. It may be interesting to map this to the domains of Hodges' model(?) [template]:

:

If you can see the potential utility of Hodges' model, you may also appreciate why Sallach's paper  resonates. Having emailed Dr Sallach, without reply, I did some checking. More sad news followed.

I, and no doubt many people will continue to discover and appreciate the legacy left behind by the above and many other pioneers. 

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I must acknowledge - Enid Mumford - whose work on socio-technical systems continues to inform my study and application of Hodges' model. This includes recognition of the many x-disciplinary bridges (or, barricades?) that can be found within Hodges' model. 

Clearly, much reading still to do.

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Returning to Hodges' model as a mathematical object, the 'distance' above is suddenly interstellar (and yes, sudden, as in faster than light!). I'm following videos, papers, and specific work-streams by  universities (I won't mention presently...) seeking to apply category theory to the social sciences. This suggests, at least, I'm not (completely!) wasting my time. If you have thoughts yourself on Hodges' model, the journey from Sallach's tables 1 - 2 not just 3, I'd be delighted to hear from you. 

There is another approach I will share this (N) spring. This author - researcher I have been able to contact.

*Scouser - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouse
(Re. Liverpool - further post to follow).

Nursing a dinosaur: Or, "Computer on your face? Still not cool" c/o Chen, NYT

A gifted copy of the NYT has already paid a dividend providing a post. There's another reporting the launch of Apple's $3,500 Vision Pro. 

Through Chen's tech report we learn, or are reminded that "Google, Meta, Snap, Samsung and Sony" and other companies, have been trying to create VR headsets as an experience for over the past 12 years. Familiar barriers to entry (for all) still make themselves known: physical - weight, energy - battery, purpose - getting tasks done, the graphics - 'tech', hence the market key - of cost. It is integrating these that might also be termed 'maturity' - the time is, finally right. The term has always been somewhat unfortunate but where is the killer-app?

Jurassic World: Aftermath. Credit: Coatsink

Chen's trials of VR headsets old and new includes what seems the ubiquitous dinosaur app.

I can relate to the 'dinosaur' moniker, given the veritable dinosaur represented by models of care and nursing theory; and yes that one, the dinosaur riding the bike to a new (health) career in 1977.

Apple bills this launch as the start of:

"'spatial computing,' which blends data with the physical world to make our lives better."

In a way, this oft-repeated situation can be summed up as socio-technical reality, travelling through various iterations until capability and maturity of technology come of age. 

Now it's not just hi-res graphics, it is video quality imagery. Recalling an interface in my first HTML editor, I wonder if there is an opportunity being missed?

Unpicking Apples' 'spatial computing' which in short = data + physical world + lives better (purposes) tech is persistently predictable in going for the commercial jugular. Perhaps there is an intermediate step which software developers have sought to leverage over many years. 

'Data' here, means care concepts, or as the context dictates. Hodges' model as a data, information, knowledge, educational (e.g., case study) portal. 

Given a specific context what concepts might we 'find' at a,b,c and d below; and elsewhere in the model? How do we characterise the 'individual', the group? While in a virtual (and conceptual / threshold space: Hodges' model!) this might, encountered as text be a less virtiginous and tiring  experience*? Hodges' model is an ideal fit in fact - well a candidate space at least.

Consider how far, since the early 2000s and 2012 (not to mention 1991) technology (hard and soft)  has come in terms of language understanding and AI - ChatGPT. Hodges' model can leverage this in the first instance. As a template Hodges' model is a proverbial virtual lab - a potential situated corpus - also awaiting its dinosaur.

Individual
   |

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

Group

a) user (sector) purposes concepts critical thinking reflection model, modelling	b) space 3D - graphics representation health / nurse theory models  of care
patient/carer engagement metric for: self care integrated care person-centred care integrated care c)	open source/commercial apps outcomes prevention sustainable health care determinants of health d)

Brian X. Chen, Computer on your face? Still not cool. Tech, The New York Times International Edition, January 30, 2024, p.14.
https://nytimes-en.com/2024/01/25/why-making-face-computers-cool-isnt-easy/

*https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-vision-pros-scary-side-effect/ar-BB1i6Hln

(The tech giants will battle it out.)

Images: 

Jurassic World: Aftermath - https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/jurassic-world-aftermath-brings-vr-horror-to-the-oculus-quest-this-week-2840584

Fossilized evidence of the dinosaur - as expected from the archive:

WHERE HAVE ALL THE NURSES GONE? (1991)

https://web.archive.org/web/20091205090804/http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/Introvrn.htm

The above is included in the fourth row of the SCIENCES collection of links at:

https://web.archive.org/web/20100327172004/http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/linksTwo.htm

HIFA Discussion: Alcohol Use Disorders (37) Do people understand the harms of alcohol? (9) How can they be better informed? (5)

Further to the post on 1st February 2024:

HIFA discussion on Alcohol Use Disorders, 5 Feb - 17 Mar 2024

- I have f/w some reflections (edited here). You may have your own experiences, skills, knowledge to contribute?

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As a teenager you were very aware of peer pressure (as a social expectation) to drink. Is it an acquired taste?

The media played a key role - advertising "Tetley Bitter-men", "Double Diamond - works wonders", Babycham, Advocaat, Martini Rosso .. and many of the popular TV series we consumed (pardon the pun).

Getting in the pub AND served was a right of passage - and a rather 'tame' one for a white, male.

In the family the harms and risks of alcohol were explained. 

Sometimes they were demonstrated at parties, weddings, the aunt, uncle - relative who was notorious for having too much.

Studying literature at school did have a role to play - although less directly.

Although on reflection when there were school assemblies I wonder if 'drink' (Church of England) was mentioned?
Interesting perhaps - the change in daily school routine.

I remember at a birthday party for a fellow class pupil at a social club, the birthday boy was sick all over the table - yes - had been drinking.

Tempered my attitude early on - c.15.

As a nursing asst. and student nurse you realised the other - dark - side. The key being the contradiction that alcohol represents:

• Drink to relax, socialise, be friendly, enjoy yourself;
• Impact of your health, risk of addiction, violence, (brewer's droop was an early lesson - tho not practically);
• IF YOU develop a drink problem then you're on your own and so is your family (there are of course agencies in developed nations - but the funding disparity - as in, gambling, tobacco?).

In a 'local' - public house - pub it was known in 1970s for some regulars (invariably men) to down c.12 (more?) pints in a night - even after drinking hours: they were heavy goods vehicle drivers.

---------
I may have posted before - how in 1987-88 I completed a study of alcohol (intervention) teams, Preston, Salford, Blackburn here in NW England. The consultant psychiatrist made a key point about the (much debated even then) use of economic levers to help reduce alcohol consumption.

Scotland have just updated their intervention:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/08/scotland-raises-minimum-alcohol-prices-by-almost-one-third

As a student nurse - I was already aware of some of the inorganic molecules that have been found in space: the original primordial soup!

The chemical names still remind me of a chemical plant, such as the former ICI plant at Widnes / Runcorn, Cheshire, England, e.g.:

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/heavy-industry-panorama-night-panoramic-view-chemical-plant-refinery-blue-sky-illumination-some-freight-85481422.jpg

This in-turn takes me to the miracle that is the liver - the biological chemical plant - with a potential powerful message in how 'alcohol' is broken down:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6527027/

Sometimes insight into this can work wonders in terms of motivation for change - the facts - not trying to scare (waste of time)...?

Which brings me to the obvious 'contradiction' in caring for people with a primary / secondary problem with alcohol.

Having a liver function test.

If it's OK that *means* I can carry on!!

I have over the years developed what imho I consider to be potentially therapeutic relationships with patients affected by alcohol.

I say potentially as I, with supervision, have had to withdraw input and discharge them. Even if the client can't 'draw the line', you cannot support the patient in their damaging alcohol consumption and related behaviours. The offer of further support was offered, with signposts should there be a change of  mind.

Alcohol, tobacco - vapes, the 'mental pollution' that can be passed as legitimate 'advertising', fake news ... still calls for a generic model, a universal conceptual framework for personal and global health - across literacies and forms of informatics:

'alcohol'
https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/search?q=alcohol

Just to close I saw an item (I will try to find...) on the preponderance of 'smoking' in films 1940s - present day.

Still a problem now.

Of course: advocacy for health requires constant vigilance.

Theater of War Productions - An Enemy of The People Feb 22 + 24

Cast Update! 

We are thrilled to announce that Kathryn Erbe, Frankie Faison, and Peter Francis James have joined the cast of An Enemy of the People on February 22 and 24, alongside David Strathairn, Francis Collins, Vivian Pinn, Victor Dzau, Brían F. O’Byrne, Jay O. Sanders, Keshia Pollack Porter, Gloria Addo-Ayensu, and many more! The project will present live dramatic readings of scenes from Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play An Enemy of the People to frame powerful audience discussions about the challenges to public in our culture today. Register below to attend in person or online! Check individual listings for confirmed cast members each night, as casts will vary and are subject to change. An Enemy of the People: A Public Health Project Thursday, February 22, 2024 7:00 pm - 9:30pm EST Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20001 Featuring performances by David Strathairn (Nomadland), Frankie Faison (The Wire), Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Peter Francis James (Oz), Jay O. Sanders (True Detective), Brían F. O'Byrne (The Wonder), Marjolaine Goldsmith (Company Manager of Theater of War Productions), Monica Feit (Executive Director, Health and Medicine Division, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine), Jeffrey Kahn (Director, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics), Keshia Pollack Porter (Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Tshaka Cunningham (Chief Scientific Officer, Polaris Genomics), Gloria Addo-Ayensu (Director of Health, Fairfax County Health Department), Emily Packard Dawson (Program Officer, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine), Nancy Kass (Deputy Director for Public Health, Berman Institute of Bioethics), Graham Sack (Filmmaker, Dracopoulos-Bloomberg iDeas Lab Fellow), Grelia Steele (Global Continuity and Crisis Manager, Guidehouse), Peter Marks (Former Chief Theater Critic, The Washington Post), Matthew Frieman (Viral Pathogen Research Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine), and Joshua M. Sharfstein (Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health). Register to attend in person or online An Enemy of the People: A Public Health Project Saturday, February 24, 2024 7:00 pm - 9:30pm EST National Academy of Sciences  2101 Constitution Ave, NW Washington, DC 20418 Featuring performances by David Strathairn (Nomadland), Frankie Faison (The Wire), Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Peter Francis James (Oz), Jay O. Sanders (True Detective), Brían F. O'Byrne (The Wonder), Francis Collins (Former Director, National Institutes of Health), Monica Feit (Executive Director, Health and Medicine Division, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine), Jeffrey Kahn (Director, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics), Keshia Pollack Porter (Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Victor Dzau (President, National Academy of Medicine), Vivian Pinn (Senior Scientist Emerita at the NIH Fogarty International Center), Ruth Faden (Berman Institute Founder; Philip Franklin Wagley Professor of Biomedical Ethics), Grelia Steele (Global Continuity and Crisis Manager, Guidehouse), Peter Marks (former chief theater critic, The Washington Post), Gloria Addo-Ayensu (Director of Health, Fairfax County Health Department), Graham Sack (Filmmaker, Dracopoulos-Bloomberg iDeas Lab Fellow), Nancy Kass (Deputy Director for Public Health, Berman Institute of Bioethics), Joshua M. Sharfstein (Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Marjolaine Goldsmith (Company Manager, Theater of War Productions), and Emily Packard Dawson (Program Officer, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine). Register to attend online

 
I will register have registered (online). There is a production of An Enemy of the People in London, but it is expensive from NW England.

This afternoon I enjoyed a delayed appointment with DUNE 2021 Part 1 IMAX, a brilliant cinematic experience that includes a performance by Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto Atreides.

See also: Ibsen , theatre ...