Hodges' Model: Welcome to the QUAD: 2025

Hodges' model is a conceptual framework to support reflection and critical thinking. Situated, the model can help integrate all disciplines (academic and professional). Amid news items, are posts that illustrate the scope and application of the model. A bibliography and A4 template are provided in the sidebar. Welcome to the QUAD ...

Saturday, March 08, 2025

AI, Nursing, Safety and presentation - 1st Aug 2-3pm

Hodges' model was not created primarily as a safety tool. It cannot claim to achieve or adhere to an ISO standard. ISO 45001 - health and safety management standard, for example. There is however a relation to clinical risk across healthcare professions, disciplines and clinical fields, including community and public (mental) health. To which of course we must now add planetary health. That said, the question of ISO safety and quality standards for Hodges' model has not been assessed. What exactly would certification entail? Would this process be appropriate for what is a generic - foundational tool?

What this means, however, is that as a situated model for reflection, reflective practice and critical thinking Hodges' model constitutes a deliberative step in the right (formal) direction. As noted previously, in template form, Hodges' model acknowledges the initial personal, professional and organisational standards that (must) shape our clinical encounters. That is, if assessed (as students - and our peers clearly are, and you would expect to be), unconditional positive regard would be observed, supported by the required standards of professional behaviour. 

There is another step here. The ethical and legal edict of 'do no harm' must also be central to care delivery, outcomes and evaluation. So from the outset, implicit in Hodges' model is the (NON-LEGAL) statement:

You, the practitioner - agent (student - and your mentor/supervisor) will not knowingly, or through professional ignorance, or neglect  cause physical, psychological, social (cultural), political (power), or spiritual harm to the patient - subject (or their carer - guardian/proxy).

There is no escape from AI and Large Language Models as I noticed in FTWeekend:

'Jilin University Hospital in the eastern city of Changchun has rolled out a diagnostic tool it claims can produce treatment plans through DeepSeek consulting the hospital's database, medical guidelines and drug efficacy results. Jinxin Women and Children's Hospital in south-western China said it had a tool for patients to track their ovulation cycles, with test results combined with the hospital's patient data to produce personalised fertility plans.

One doctor at public hospital in Hubei province in central China said the institution's leadership had issued a directive that DeepSeek should be used as a third-party arbiter if two doctors have differing views on treatment.
 
There have been rollouts in public hospitals in Chengdu, Hangzhou and Wuhan for less complex applications, such as digital nurses directing patients to the right consulting room or explaining complicated medical reports.
 
Several industry insiders warned against taking all the announcements at face value, as some companies were trying to capture investor enthusiasm around DeepSeek without meaningfully deploying its models. Meanwhile, government bodies are also under political pressure to be seen as aligned with China's AI darling.
 
The SOE tech supplier said "much work still needs to be done to make these models useful" for more complex work such as medical diagnosis. "It must be trained on enough medical data to produce good results. This will take time and needs collaboration from leading AI companies. It is not something hospitals can buld on their own."

Another doctor described a move to deploy DeepSeek last week at a hospital in eastern Zhejiang as a "publicity stunt".

Even if some announcements should be treated with scepticism, experts say the willingness to test out its models still marks a step change.'
Edited for formatting, some text is emphasised. A vast array of conditions can be substituted (parametrised) for 'fertility'. While nursing is mentioned there is little on testing, but for 'plans' we can read nursing assessment, plans, and evaluations. 

Returning to safety. Following an online chat yesterday, I've an online presentation to the Patient Safety Management Network [Patient Safety Hub] pencilled in for 1st August 2-3pm. Comprised of 40 minutes with questions following - I will, as discussed - focus upon:
  • Introduction to the model
  • How it can be applied in different situations – safety/risk/improvement
  • Examples of its use
This is progress - a step to develop Hodges' model and reveal the limits of the bio-psycho-social model.

^soe - state-owned enterprises.

Olcott, E., Ding, W. AI challenger DeepSeek spreads rapidly across China with the blessing of Beijing, FTWeekend, 1-2 March, 2025. p.13.

Friday, March 07, 2025

'Critical Notes on the Nature of Sociology as a Science'

4Ps

As a model of care (education, management, safety, systems, ...)*, or a conceptual model, conceptual framework, or however described, Hodges' model, as with its many peers is idealised.

You quickly 'see' that the 4Ps I've associated with the knowledge - care domains of Hodges' model are far specific, or limited to that domain alone.

In our dialogues, media and literature it becomes obvious that in addition to physical, sequential, and  natural (scientific) processes, there are also political,  sociological, and psychological, or mental  (interpersonal) processes.


I've always been drawn to the diagonal distances between the interpersonal-political domains; and that between the sociological-scientific. The latter I think about often as it makes the news regularly, when education is raised, literacy, the state of our schools, colleges, universities and (globally) the public's understanding of the sciences. So finding a paper heading for its centennial birthday caught my attention. Not just that, but the journal - Social Forces is (very much!) still with us aged 103 this year. Unsurprisingly, I like the way Woodard contrasts the mechanistic and humanistic:



Hodges' model
'For there is a further distinction to be made among evaluations of functional appropriateness. I may analyze the functional appropriateness of the gears and pulleys of a machine. That is applied mechanics, not the pure science of mechanics. For the function of the machine is tacked on to it arbitrarily and does not emerge from the data of the science of mechanics. But the same may not be said of hearts and lungs, of mental and emotional processes, or of social structures, functions, and processes. Here the functions are not extraneously tacked onto an arbitrarily assembled collation. They are inescapable emergents from the process of scientific analysis and are warp and woof of our data as it confronts us, in situ, in the natural universe. They are not in any sense superimposed.' p.32.

Interesting point regarding 'hearts and lungs' - to possibly return to? Also, as a template Hodges' model provides a 'warp and woof' for data gathering - a foundation.

Woodard, J. W. (1932). Critical Notes on the Nature of Sociology as a Science. Social Forces, 11(1), 28–43. https://doi.org/10.2307/2569615 

*Please give it a try whatever your field, and let me know your thoughts. ... h2cmng AT yahoo.co.uk

Thursday, March 06, 2025

Understanding Mathematics + Domains towards Corridors

It is for others to judge - whether it is helpful or distracting; but I find concepts defined by other disciplines, or professions illuminating and insightful. Especially so, when it comes to 'domain'. In Hodges' model - all four of them. Five! When (not if), we include the spiritual:
'Greeno (1991) argued that students develop understanding when

"a domain is thought of as an environment, with resources at various places in the domain. In this metaphor, knowing is knowing your way around ir the environment and knowing how to use its resources. This includes knowing what resources are available in the environment as well as being able to find and use those resources for understanding and reasoning. Knowing includes interactions with the environment in its own terms - exploring the territory appreciating its scenery and understanding how its various components interact. Knowing the domain also includes knowing what resources are in the environment that can be used to support your individual and social activities and the ability to recognize, find, and use those resources productively. Learning the domain, in this view, is analogous learning to to live in an environment: learning your way around, learning what resources are available, and learning how to use those resources in conducting your activities productively and enjoyably. (p. 175)"

In particular, in chapter 8, Nemirovsky et al. use the metaphor of becoming familiar with a new place (e.g., a town, a train station) and the process of learning a new mathematical concept.' p.7.

Greeno, J. (1991), Number sense as situated knowing a conceptual domain.,Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 22(3), 170-2 18. 

Understanding Mathematics and Science Matters
. Edited by Thomas A. Romberg Thomas P. Carpenter Fae Dremock University of Wisconsin-Madison. EA LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS 2005 Mahwah, New Jersey London. (I hope there is a 2nd edition?)

(I will try to add the Nemirovsky et al. reference when I can.)

Previously: 'territory' : 'map' : 'vocabulary'

Wednesday, March 05, 2025

Woman-Centred Care in Action: Midwives at the Forefront of Gender Equality

Dear women’s health champions and allies,

We are writing to invite you to the following two events:

In honour of International Women’s Day, join ICM and fellow advocates as we kick-off the second phase of the PUSH Campaign with a panel discussion and reception:

08 March 2025 from 6-9 pm

Manhattan, New York | (Upon registration, location sent for in-person participants and live-stream link for virtual participants)

Join panellists Tlaleng Mofokeng (UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Health), Maliha Khan (Women Deliver), Helena Grant (New York Midwives), Meggy Katigbak (ARROW), who will discuss why woman-centred care is everyone's business, and why midwives matter now, more than ever. RSVP using this link by Thursday, 06 March 2025. Please see the attached flyer for additional details.

In honour of the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Permanent Mission of Croatia and the International Confederation of Midwives’ PUSH Campaign are proud to present a photo exhibit titled

Woman-Centred Care in Action: Midwives at the Forefront of Gender Equality

UN Building, Corridor 1B

10-21 March 2025

We invite you to visit the exhibit and reflect on its powerful message: there is no gender equality without woman-centred care or midwives. The relationship between midwives and women has ripple effects on gender equality, health, economics, and rights.

Attached is the flyer with additional information.

We appreciate your kind dissemination among your networks, delegations, and interested colleagues.

Many thanks and best regards,

Merette Khalil (she/her)
PUSH Campaign Lead

PUSH Campaign: PUSH for Midwives (pushcampaign.org)

International Confederation of Midwives (ICM)

The global voice of midwives • The Hague • The Netherlands

Email: m.khalil AT internationalmidwives.org

Website: www.internationalmidwives.org

Tuesday, March 04, 2025

Postdoc “Citizen Science” (V25.0121) at Univ of Groningen

We're hiring:

Postdoc in Citizen Science at the University of Groningen

Are you passionate about public engagement with science and citizen science? Do you want to develop and work on projects that connect academia with society and make a real impact? We have an exciting Postdoc position available in our Citizen Science team!
Please note: You should be able to speak Dutch...

📅 Apply by March 23, 2025
🔗 Learn more & apply here: https://lnkd.in/emsFzdgJ

Feel free to share in your network.

Cheers,
Henk

Dr. Henk A.J. Mulder
Master Science Education and Communication &
Bèta Wetenschapswinkel (Science Shop @ Science LinX),
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (University of Groningen)
Dr. Henk A.J. Mulder
Energy Academy/IREES
kamer/room 5158.0222
Nijenborgh 6
9747 AG Groningen
The Netherlands
h.a.j.mulder AT rug.nl
http://www.rug.nl/staff/h.a.j.mulder/
http://www.rug.nl/society-business/science-shops/
http://www.rug.nl/masters/educatie-en-communicatie-in-de-wiskunde-en-natuurwetenschappen/

Individual
|
      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               
HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      
 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 
|
Group

my ACADEMIC CAREER
my LANGUAGE SKILLS
my LIFE EXPERIENCE
my PASSIONS


SCIENCES - ENGINEERING
'LIVED EXPERIENCE'
Enthusiast-Expert [patient, swimmer, x,y,z ...]
local, regional, national, international


PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
COMMUNITY ISSUES/AWARENESS
COMMUNICATION

CITIZENS
EVIDENCE-BASED POLICY
PUBLIC PRIORITIES
POLICY PRIORITIES

n.b. No endorsement of Hodges' model should be construed from inclusion of #h2cm above.

Monday, March 03, 2025

Finding a space for Lived Experience

Individual
|
      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               
HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      
 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 
|
Group

Whatever your personal - emotional - journey, your experience, ongoing expectations ... hope: hope-fully this is you. You can, or have discovered the potential here. Whether or not the strengths you possess, are recognised due to what others see elsewhere. 


Lived experience brings so many pathways. So many rooms and spaces to explore. Whatever the physical challenges: whether well: 'all-good thanks'; or dealing with one or more diagnoses - acutely, in recovery, relapse, may all points of the compass be open to you.


Whatever your life experience: your health career began down here [and across there ->], shaped by your life chances. These days they call them the determinants. They are many, and can influence your social network, whether you have one ...


As you (literally) negotiate - even if you fail repeatedly - the systems, that the system throws your way, trying to make ends-meet; in work or out, never under-estimate what a person can do. Here lived experience can pay dividends, across the divides that really matter.



Welcome to your space ...
and may it include hope shared and delivered ...

Sunday, March 02, 2025

Alliance for Responsible Citizenship

Last month on two occasions, I came across the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (which is a registered company)


In the Sunday Times, "Philippa Stroud: ‘Everyone’s moaning — I think humanity can sort things out’":

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/philippa-stroud-alliance-responsible-citizenship-km8z26b8b

and Financial Times "'Part megachurch, part political rally: inside London’s ‘rightwing Davos’".

https://www.ft.com/content/7ff1614c-38a2-4b5c-81d3-80cea1196dad 

Apparently, a right wing, conservative movement with a three-day conference, one commentary suggested it has struggled to define itself, which is understandable given the ongoing (increasing?) prompts for its creation.

You recognise early on in your nursing career and not just as a student (pre-Project 2000 UK), but as a Nursing Assistant that character is a key element in your professional development. By the time you qualify, you more accurately see that without a doubt it is your formative education that is a critical factor. That and your 'home' circumstances - and not necessarily the two-parents good, one bad formulation. This is why with students excluded from school, society is taking a wrong turn. There is obviously a problem but what is the 'correct' approach?

An 'alliance' already suggests a given level of organisation. By definition 'grassroots movements' must struggle to establish and retain their identity.

This is a project Hodges' model can help address - with a balanced but not necessarily a neutral output.


Individual
|
      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               
HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      
 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 
|
Group

identity
personality
attitude aptitude
character
faith
individual beliefs
religious engagement
courage
hope
threshold concepts
my destiny
well-being
trust


future
physical thresholds 
waste
climate change
circular economy
AI
truth - information disorder
science
technology
PAST - work - FUTURE
our future destiny -
(what does the clock say?)
future generations?

grassroots social movement
arts
family
community
culture - diversity
social - cultural identity
society - support
social change
social capital
social contract
social values
our shared destiny
our children's children
welfare - living wage
employment - leisure
quality of life

power
political systems
past policy UK: 'Troubled Families'
economics
organisations, institutions
corporations
political (manifest!
colonialism ) destiny
policy
systems
political engagement
health of leaders
trust
international law - justice
control of fraud, corruption, crime
human rights
political thresholds


Saturday, March 01, 2025

Paper: Human social genomics i

Abstract

'The exciting field of human social genomics provides an evolutionarily informed, multilevel framework for understanding how positive and negative social–environmental experiences affect the genome to impact lifelong health, well-being, behavior, and longevity. In this review, we first summarize common patterns of socially influenced changes in the expression of pro-inflammatory and antiviral immune response genes (e.g., the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity), and the multilevel psychological, neural, and cell signaling pathways by which social factors regulate human gene expression. Second, we examine how these effects are moderated by genetic polymorphisms and the specific types of social–environmental experiences that most strongly affect gene expression and health. Third, we identify positive psychosocial experiences and interventions that have been found to impact gene expression. Finally, we discuss promising opportunities for future research on this topic and how health care providers can use this information to improve patient health and well-being.'

Slavich GM, Mengelkoch S, Cole SW. Human social genomics: Concepts, mechanisms, and implications for health. Lifestyle Med. 2023; 4:e75. https://doi.org/10.1002/lim2.75
 

Lifestyle Medicine
For ongoing study of Hodges' model this is an interesting paper, especially in seeking to bridge the humanistic and mechanistic axis, and the social (soft) sciences and (hard) sciences. In trying to view Hodges' model as a mathematical object (categories, objects, relations ..) and extend the bio-psycho-social model (as needed urgently) of medicine (health and social care) the focus of this paper can help us explore the determinants.

It may be possible using Hodges' model, to identity (isolate) some specific ways in which conceptual models are idealised. They can reveal the nature and extent of situations - compositions, formulations and relationships (scope of practice?), but in practice of course we cannot set a situation* in aspic.


This may be important (essential) when we consider the determinants of health globally (across all the domains of Hodges' model).


Individual
|
      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               
HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      
 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 
|
Group



Genomics

Social Genomics




*Hodges' model is situated.

To revisit ..

Friday, February 28, 2025

RARE DISEASE DAY FEB 28 2025

Ava and Tammie

Individual
|
      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               
HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      
 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 
|
Group

IMAGINATION
IDENTITY
EXPERIENCE
EXPERTISE


ACTION
RESEARCH -
qualitative - quantitative
ACCESSIBILITY


SUPPORT
AWARENESS
COMPANIONSHIP
SOCIAL NETWORKS
FAMILIES


FUNDING
ACTIVISM
COOPERATION
COLLABORATION
COORDINATION




Previously: 'Rare'

Thursday, February 27, 2025

(In-person) Seminar: Healthism, Neurodiversity, and Respectability Politics

Accustomed to posting news of many seminars and events that I cannot attend, this one does produce some frustration in that it is of marked interest but in-person. I am reaching out, seeking slides, and papers, and will follow-up, as for me, Professor Kukla's seminar really 'speaks' to Hodges' model. The relation conjoins the individual and collective, as it did originally for Brian Hodges in creating the eponymous model:


Hodges' model is invariably potentiated, as are all conceptual (idealised) models to encompass self-care, individual health care through to family, public and population health. As posted previously, the family(!) of -isms can be represented too:

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

Seminar Series in Analytic Philosophy 2024-25: Session 15

Healthism, Neurodiversity, and Respectability Politics

Quill Kukla (Georgetown University)

28 February 2025, 16:00 (Lisbon Time – WET)

Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Sala Mattos Romão [C201.J] (Departamento de Filosofia)

 

Abstract: “Healthism” is the pervasive ideology according to which each of us is responsible for valuing and protecting our own health and prioritizing health over other values, while society has the right to enforce, surveil, and reward healthy living. Neurodiversity and other forms of cognitive difference are generally understood through the lens of health: they are taken as diagnosable pathological conditions that should be treated or mitigated via medical interventions. Putting these two ideas together, neurodivergent people are supposed to try to be “healthy,” through pharmaceuticals, behavioral therapy, and the like, and society has an investment in making them be “healthy.” But neurodivergence is not a morbidity in a typical sense, so it is unclear what “health” means in this context. In practice, our societal standards for health for neurodivergent people are defined in terms of what avoids disrupting neurotypical expectations and systems or making neurotypical people uncomfortable. “Health,” for neurodivergent people, is in effect respectability—it is not defined in terms of their own needs or flourishing but in relation to the norms and needs of others. This can be seen from a close reading of diagnostic definitions and official medical “treatment” methods and goals. Trying to “treat” neurodivergent people by making them respectable citizens who are palatable within neurotypical productivity culture is usually likely to backfire; typically bad for their own well-being, and a social loss.


See also: 'recovery'

Jones P. (2014) Using a conceptual framework to explore the dimensions of recovery and their relationship to service user choice and self-determination. International Journal of Person Centered Medicine. Vol 3, No 4, (2013) pp.305-311.

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Feb 2025 Black History Month - Maths & Nursing

 Contributions of Famous Black Mathematicians

Image c/o https://mathandmovement.com/

and Major Nancy Leftenant-Colon

'Trailblazing black nurse who made national news by being the first to join the regular US army'.

Leftenant-Colon, above centre - joined the regular military in 1948 as
a member of the US Army Nurse Corps. Her work had to be outstanding

Nancy Leftenant-Colon


My source: print copy -
Register, Major Nancy Leftenant-Colon. Obituaries. The Times, 15 February 2025, pp.70-71.
and photograph plus caption.

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

So, I can proceed, fall flat on my face - [ concepts-maths iii/iii ]

- and utilise the inevitable!

'Decades after struggling to understand math as a boy, Alec Wilkinson decides to embark on a journey to learn it as a middle-aged man. What begins as a personal challenge—and it's challenging—soon transforms into something greater than a belabored effort to learn math. Despite his incompetence, Wilkinson encounters a universe of unexpected mysteries in his pursuit of mathematical knowledge and quickly becomes fascinated; soon, his exercise in personal growth (and torture) morphs into an intellectually expansive exploration.' 
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250168580/adivinelanguage/

 

A Divine Language

As observed many times in the literature and here on W2tQ writing about Hodges' model, healthcare - medicine and nursing are both a science and art. Hodges' model is an invitation to the arts in liberal form, with an emphasis on practice: social sciences, humanities, physical sciences and even mathematics. 

There is now quite a bank of posts on W2tQ tagged art/arts and more specifically prints. I still plan to attend a workshop on printing. As ever, in my head, my mind's eye - I've an amazing, brilliant .. (!?) arts project, just waiting to be released. A true collage of the care concepts.

If Hodges' model is 'simple' in its basic form, then it is clearly possible for other people to create their own artistic impressions, interpretation of Hodges' model. My effort would of course be unique, as would theirs. There could be a competition and I end-up missing out. Not even short-listed for a prize; a victm of familiarity perhaps? 

Quite 'naturally' in a way, or at least by way of childhood experiences, a need for therapy and validation; I have also arrived at a belief that there is a mathematical project here (Oh, for goodness sake! Is there no end to this?). 

As posted before, like Alec Wilkinson I am no mathematician. Embarrased, shamed to a husk at school on many occasions, I encountered math teachers who must have empathised. Well, that's one way to explain the appreciation of maths I have always felt. Or more accurately, a love of knowledge; of which maths and logic are a part? Since I can hardly understand, I am more in love with the idea of maths, than mathematics itself. I have always been in awe of maths and people who 'get it', even if that is only  mastery of the high school mathematics curriculum.

Convinced that there is more to Hodges' model than meets the eye, I have thought of following Wilkinson - who tries to be systematic - to underpin a book - back into the nightmare lands of my youth. Should I retake GCSE maths? 'There be dragons', without a doubt. The heat can be recalled, like it was yesterday. This isn't just a dragon, it is a chimera. At times it wants to be a friend, providing familiar terms, domain, set, and group. Wilkinson's quest is structured and seeks a reasoned and disciplined approach. Why am I bothering? I have a choice surely? Nursing, health, global health can all collectively furnish many items of epistemological fruit. No need for calculative flagellation. Through Hodges' model you can productively span the disciplinary bridges once again: call in - sociology, economics, policy and more. How many Königsberg bridges do you need?

While the artist in me, might waste time. In pointing to Hodges' model as a potential mathematical object, this little seed might fall on fertile and (much) more capable ground(?), as Wilkinson describes:

'Mathematics might be the only creative pursuit in which inevitability figures. Other artists might be defeated by a task beyond their capabilities, but they do not live with knowing that sooner or later, if their work is consequential, someone will do what they haven't been able to do. Mathematicians work within a discipline in which, so long as their suppositions are correct, there is always a precise and irrefutable answer, even if they can't find it.' p.135.

I can hope for this at least.

Alec Wilkinson. (2022) A Divine Language. Learning Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus at the Edge of Old Age. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250168580/adivinelanguage/

Previously: How 'divine' is the language of care?

n.b. At some point I will go though all the posts and unpublish/delete items that add little to the core.

Monday, February 24, 2025

SSMJ February 2025 - South Sudan Medical Journal

Dear Reader,

The full issue of our February 2025 issue is online here; the articles are listed below. 

Editorial 
  • South Sudan cholera outbreak: A call to improve sanitation Ruot Garjiek Teny 
Research Articles 
  • Prevalence and associated risk factors of hepatitis B virus infections among women of reproductive age in Juba, South Sudan Ezbon WApary, Akway M. Cham, Oromo F. Seriano 
  • Management and outcome of women requiring massive blood transfusion after childbirth: A cross-sectional study at Muhimbili National Hospital, Tanzania Wangwe Peter Joseph, Sawe Eshi-Fisha Linda, Meda Elineema Robson 
  • Addressing barriers in paediatric tuberculosis reporting: A qualitative study of private healthcare providers’ perspectives Suryanti Chan, Idris Adewale Ahmed, Hamzah Hamzah 
  • Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers of malnourished children at the Al Sabbah Children’s Hospital, Juba, South Sudan Francis Beek Akook, Nyok Daniel Ngor 
Case Report 
  • Evaluation and surgical repair of retroperitoneal duodenal perforation following blunt trauma: A case report Rashmi Ranjan Sahoo, Abhinav Voona, Nalini Naik, and Jyotirmay Jena 
Main Articles 
  • Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (Pink Eye) in South Sudan: A review Wani Mena The Establishment of the National Public Health Institute (NPHI) in South Sudan Nyinypiu Tong, Anthony Garang, Joseph Lako 
  • The third community health workers’ symposium, Liberia, 2023: What are the implications for South Sudan’s Boma Health Initiative? Kon Alier, Solomon Anguei, William Kuon, Christopher Ajumara 
Short Communications 
  • South Sudan’s journey to defeat Guinea Worm Disease: The role of President Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center Makoy Samuel Yibi Logora 
  • Letter to the Editor: President Jimmy Carter deserves a special recognition for his work to eradicate Guinea worm in South Sudan. Victor Vuni Joseph 
  • Letter to the Editor: Simulation-based education amid conflict: The Sudanese American Medical Association experience in Sudan Mohamed Almahal, Mohamed Ahmed, Omer Gomaa, Salaheldin Abusin, Ihab Abdalrahman
  • Obituary: Maj. Dr Santino Kuot Maluil 
  • Obituary: Dr Benjamin Peter Oduk 
See the back page for instructions on how to prepare and submit manuscripts for publishing in SSMJ.

Thanks to everyone who supports SSMJ - authors, editors, and, especially, our peer reviewers.

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

SSMJ is published by the Health and Social Science Research Institute of South Sudan (HSSRI-SS)

Copyright © 2025 South Sudan Medical Journal, All rights reserved

Previously on W2tQ:

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Care concept engineering - anyone? [ concepts-maths ii/iii ]

"Concepts are the building blocks for thought, and from Socrates onward one of the goals of philosophers in the Western tradition has been to analyse important philosophical concepts like knowledge, justice, beauty and freedom. For some, the motive was just to get clearer about these fundamental units of thought. For others, the goal was more ambitious. Not content to analyse our concepts, these philosophers hoped to improve them - an old project that has recently acquired a new name: "conceptual engineering". p.98.

"Well, good conceptual engineers, like good engineers in other domains, should start with as much information as possible about which options have already been tried and how well they have worked. If we are going to build a better concept of knowledge, or justice, or moral permissibility, or freedom, we would do well to begin by seeing how these concepts (or their closest analogs) are constructed in cultures around the world, and how well existing varieties work. We would also do well not to restrict ourselves to the millennia old method of cases in studying concepts. Over the last century, linguists, anthropologists, psychologists and neuro-scientists have developed many new methods and technologies for studying concepts. Philosophers who are serious about conceptual engineering should embrace these methods." p.100.


Stich, S., Machery, E., A Possible Future For Philosophy, The Philosopher's Magazine, 1st Quarter 2018. 80: 98-100. 
https://www.stephenstich.com/_files/ugd/0ad9d7_2679b985ce0e43b693d197c775c08e46.pdf

You can call it [conceptual engineering] whatever you wish; in nursing, concept analysis is well established for example. However described, you may find that Hodges' model useful. If you can demonstrate that Hodges' model is not suited to the task, due to its undoubted Cartesian credentials (baggage'), then this would also be progress.

There are no doubt many previous posts this one can be connected to. Most immediately is:

- to follow iii.

This issue of TPM is long gone. In the clear out, I'd drafted these posts.

Saturday, February 22, 2025

6º CONGRESSO INTERNACIONAL DA SPF - CONVITE À SUBMISSÃO DE RESUMOS/CALL for PAPERS

6º CONGRESSO INTERNACIONAL DA SOCIEDADE PORTUGUESA DE FILOSOFIA

CONVITE À SUBMISSÃO DE RESUMOS

A Sociedade Portuguesa de Filosofia, em colaboração com o Centro de Filosofia da Universidade de Lisboa, organiza o seu 6º Congresso Internacional, que decorrerá na Faculdade de Letras da mesma universidade, de 1 a 3 de setembro de 2025.

O Congresso é aberto à participação de todos os interessados em apresentar e discutir a sua investigação em qualquer domínio e metodologia dos estudos filosóficos. As propostas serão avaliadas anonimamente por membros de um amplo painel de especialistas.

ORADORES CONVIDADOS

Genia Schonbaumsfeld (Universidade de Southampton)
João Carlos Salles (Universidade Federal da Bahia)
Luísa Couto Soares (Universidade do Porto)
Olga Pombo (Universidade de Lisboa)
Viriato Soromenho-Marques (Universidade de Lisboa)

LÍNGUAS DO CONGRESSO: Português, Inglês, Francês e Espanhol

VALORES DA INSCRIÇÃO:

Participantes: € 80,00
Sócios da SPF: € 50,00
Estudantes (licenciatura, mestrado ou doutoramento): € 40,00
Estudantes sócios da SPF: 30€

DATA LIMITE para a submissão de propostas de comunicação: 1 de Abril de 2025

COMISSÃO CIENTÍFICA:

Álvaro Balsas (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Braga)
André Barata (Universidade da Beira Interior)
António Pedro Mesquita (Universidade de Lisboa)
Célia Teixeira (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
David Yates (Universidade de Lisboa)
Diogo Ferrer (Universidade de Coimbra)
Gil Santos (Universidade de Lisboa)
Irene Borges Duarte (Universidade de Évora)
João Cardoso Rosas (Universidade do Minho)
João Constâncio (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)
José Meirinhos (Universidade do Porto)
Magda Costa Carvalho (Universidade dos Açores)
Nuno Venturinha (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)
Pedro Galvão (Universidade de Lisboa)

EMAIL DO CONGRESSO: 6congressospf  AT gmail.com

INSTRUÇÕES PARA SUBMISSÃO DE RESUMOS E MAIS INFORMAÇÕES

Consulte a página do congresso no site da SPF: www.spfil.pt/6congresso

__________________________________________________________

ENGLISH

6th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PHILOSOPHY

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

The Portuguese Philosophical Society, in partnership with the Centre of Philosophy of the University of Lisbon are organizing the 6th International Congress of Philosophy, to be held at the University’s Faculty of Letters on 1 to 3 September 2025.

The Congress welcomes all researchers interested in presenting and discussing their research in all domains of philosophical studies and according to all philosophical methodologies. Abstracts submitted will be anonymously refereed by members of a large panel of experts.

INVITED SPEAKERS:

Genia Schonbaumsfeld (University of Southampton)
João Carlos Salles (Universidade Federal da Bahia)
Luísa Couto Soares (Universidade do Porto)
Olga Pombo (Universidade de Lisboa)
Viriato Soromenho-Marques (Universidade de Lisboa)

CONGRESS LANGUAGES: Portuguese, English, French and Spanish

CONGRESS SECTIONS

Each proposal must indicate that it intends to be associated with one and only one of the following sections:

Teaching Philosophy (PE)
Epistemology / Philosophy of Knowledge (ET)
Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art (ES)
Ethics and Bioethics (EB)
African Philosophy (AF)
Philosophy of Science (SF)
Philosophy of History (FH)
Philosophy of Language (FL)
Philosophy of Mathematics (FMA)
Philosophy of Mind (FME)
Philosophy of Nature and Environment (FN)
Philosophy of Religion (FR)
Philosophy of Law (FD)
Philosophy and Gender (FG)
Phenomenology (FE)
Luso-Brazilian Philosophy (FB)
Political Philosophy (PF)
History of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (HA)
History of Modern Philosophy (HM)
Logic (LO)
Metaphysics and Ontology (MO)

FEES:

Participants: € 80,00
SPF Associates: € 50,00
Students (Bac, MA or PhD): € 40,00
Student SPF Associates: 30€

DEADLINE for submitting proposals: ­­­­­­1st April 2025

SCIENTIFIC COMITTEE:

Álvaro Balsas (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Braga)
André Barata (Universidade da Beira Interior)
António Pedro Mesquita (Universidade de Lisboa)
Célia Teixeira ((Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
David Yates (Universidade de Lisboa)
Diogo Ferrer (Universidade de Coimbra)
Gil Santos (Universidade de Lisboa)
Irene Borges Duarte (Universidade de Évora)
João Cardoso Rosas (Universidade do Minho)
João Constâncio (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)
José Meirinhos (Universidade do Porto)
Magda Costa Carvalho (Universidade dos Açores)
Nuno Venturinha (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)
Pedro Galvão (Universidade de Lisboa)

CONGRESS EMAIL: 6congressospf AT gmail.com

HOW TO SUBMIT ABSTRACTS AND FURTHER INFORMATION on the congress page at the SPF site: www.spfil.pt/6congresso

My source:



E-mail: iestudosfilosoficos AT gmail.com

Friday, February 21, 2025

Rediscovering nursing ...? [ concepts-maths i/iii ]

   Individuals

 

'In the Introduction to his landmark book, Individuals Peter Strawson talked of the “massive central core” of human thinking that has no history … categories and concepts which, in their most fundamental character, change not at all”.'

'Strawson’s central core revolved around the need for us to identify persistent objects in a unified framework of space and time. He was not troubled that with the arrival of special and general relativity our concepts of space and time had changed, nor that our concept of middle-sized dry goods had changed to accommodate what we suppose to be their constitution by quantum particles.'




Blackburn, S. Rediscovering the Past, The Philosopher's Magazine, 1st Quarter 2018. 80: 72-73. 
https://archive.philosophersmag.com/rediscovering-the-past/

Strawson, P.F. (1964). Individuals (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203221303

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203221303/individuals-strawson

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Book review: #5 - Handbook on the Ethics of AI

Handbook on the Ethics of AI
If there is an overall theme to the book it is - rather inevitably -   anthropomorphism. Some argue it is consequential in nature due to the risks we are running. Sandry's chapter 10 Anthropomorphism and its Discontents begins by highlighting duality, dichotomies, and  oppositions that instantly come into effect in this emerging  theoretical, practical and policy field. If a term anthropomorphic can be 'loaded' this one carries extra baggage: history, religion, natural, aesthetic, philosophy, physical, existential. The dual issue of making a machine that looks human; versus, machines that could deceive humans (used remotely today and in situ in the future?) is considered. In our interacting with AI Tech, I found intention (and attention) of specific interest. Sandry seeks definitions, starting with dictionaries, the discussion is helpful across arts too. The reader is left well briefed and technically too: intrinsic and extrinsic forms, the role of the intentional stance, 3-factors. ...

Health is not a primary focus of the book. The index does not list healthmedicinenursing, at least not where they may be expected. The index is comprehensive but I wonder if it could be improved. Care is suggested through social robotics (p.147). Design figures again, anthropomorphically of course (p.147). Specific attention to ethics and Taking Care With Language are given (sections 6-7). I scribbled! again about care for tech - in the material, energy, and production 'costs' in an ecological sense. SUVs annoy me (sorry!) are they all necessary? On language, I thought back to McDermott D (1985) Artificial Intelligence Meets Natural Stupidity, In MIND DESIGN, Haugeland J (Ed), MIT Press, London, p.144-145:


Balance in subjectivity and objectivity of stances and resulting content / conclusions can be difficult to achieve and represent. The latter section prompts respond to frustration with the term anthropomorphism. I found myself in a couple's lounge, as a community mental health nurse, acutely aware of the role of proxies in dementia care; as Sandry described Paula Sweeney's 'fictional dualism' (8, 150). Hodges' model fits well here too, regards anxiety. To socialbots, I added carebots. There seems potential in sociomorphing.

As noted previously, reflection and relation-al points litter the text. In Jecker's chapter 11 A Relational Approach to Moral Standing for Robots and AI this is more explicit. Jecker refers to care of others - as animals too. In computer science and seeking to retain a socio-technical perspective, I've seen potential in capability and maturity frameworks. Section 2 provides some discussion of the former. One of the first words I looked up in the index was isomorphic. It wasn't listed but I found reference to it on page 157: '... a community of robots psychologically isomorphic to to human beings that share our psychology ...'. Maths is a focus here, even though I must try to utilise AI to aid my learning and understanding. This is - must be an outcome of reading HEoAI.

The section on (self-)counsciousness is engaging and not limited (again) to machine intelligence. Subjectivity arises again. I wrote a note re. the precautionary principle, my 'prompt' the ethical principle. A gift was dicovered in 3. A CONCEPTUAL REFLECTION and within 3.2 Relational Ethics, preceded by the potential of Kant, utilitarian and vurtue ethics. While not wishing to virtue signal I've long speculated on how other cultures could inform nursing theory and models of care. Jecker incorporates the African philosophy of ubuntu in relational ethics. Student's would enjoy this, especially as Jecker (Source: Author) provides tables laying out the ethical approaches and robot & AI capabilities. This can also encompass older adults and care contexts with social robots. Nussbaum's capabilities applied to human development is also adopted here - another useful reminder:

(And, once again I recall Nussbaum's talk on Aristotle.) In post #4 I wrote of the rubbish scene in the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence, but it's here (p.166) that I wrote the note. There is so much I'm skimming over - believe it not.

The conclusion in mentioning a hybrid future consisting of both humanistic and mechanistic agents appears to find an additional theoretical and practical ally in Hodges' model?


Chapter 12 by Navas is AI Ethics, Aesthetics, Art and Artistry visits the history and philosophy of this subject too, esp. from 1700s. With Žižek and Deleuze there is much prepatory reading for would-be undergrads - and general readers keen to have an awareness of contemporary issues. There is quite a triad here - disassembled - across several sections. I have quoted from the volume many times, but p.179 concerns empathy: 
'Empathy challenges the ongoing optimization of technology, because it takes time to exercise it. A person needs time to think about whatever issue, situation, thing, or person they may empathize with. In other words, empathy is essential for humans to understand and figure their relation to others and their surroundings. Empathy, if practiced reflexively, can lead to critical thinking. which may not lead to clear results but the activity may and often does end in "wasted" time if framed under the drive for efficiency, which is clearly something Al is designed to achieve. And lastly, empathy, because it has been foundational to art, is also part of art's long-term resistance against capitalism's exponential dependence on speed of production. At the core of AI ethics, then, we find speed of production and consumption coming in conflict with human existence itself. Humans are proving to be inefficient actors in the very system they built for their own benefit, which obsessively demands faster cultural activity from people, which (to be blunt) translates to an unapologetic and incessant desire for profit.' pp.179-180.
Section 6 on creativity AND speed is fascinating, especially as human-machine (brain) interfaces develop apace. Concerned as I am with what is a metacognitive tool, 8 Metacreativity formed the conclusion of chapter 12. The notes refer to generative coding which has come up in various webinars.

Silent Running: Film
Briefly, chapter 13 covers AI and the Environment. It is amazing (or not) how in a few sentences your mind can be changed? From "Really!" upon reading 'species culling', to this being explained in the crown-of-thorns starfish (hence COTSbot) and the toll on coral in Queensland. There are robots-for-ecology. I smiled returning to Silent Running's Dewey, Huey, and Louie becoming reality. Facinating point in: what is collective must be recognised in terms of causation. Appropriatly, PEAS is an acronym: probalistic weather event attribution studies are a reality in conjunction with remote sensing and tracking.

Drones are also developing apace, and applied robotics - tree-climbing. Less reassuring (adding to nature's precarity?) are artificial insects to undertake pollination; more positively reducing the impact of chemical and toxic spills. Simulation for training is well established in medicine and nursing; section 2.3 addresses this were PEAS form super-ensembles of data (I like that). PEAS can also have a role in determining an evidence-base and demonstrating it is hoped provenance for that evidence in the movement of populations, for example, climate refugees. In conflicts, human rights and justice, forensic architecture is of course well established: Forensic Architecture (Care Forensics?)

The summative nature in closing chapter 13 is a helpful approach which I will possibly try to duplicate.

Socio-technical approaches are found in chapter 14 Uses and Abuses of AI Ethics by Frank & Klincewicz. Understandably, boundaries play a large role, as you would expect in deliberating value and values, moral patients and agents. The Collingridge dilemma is discussed, regards putting in place controls for a technology while it is still in development, otherwise control may be lost (p.213). Diversity, a story of the moment - closes out this chapter. There is a 'nice' continuity across chapters to
15 The (Un)bearable Whiteness of AI Ethics by Syed Mustafa Ali et al. (the first note highlights the format is a dialogue). The (colonial) politics of north-SOUTH are duly noted and Africa (section 4). Section 8 points to technological (and health) colonialism. I take as a positive that the 'hyphen' also has a place (S.10).

The Savage Mind

Again related, as per the book's structured parts, chapter 16 Ethics beyond Ethics: AI, Power, and Colonialism by Kim prompts the reader to revisit the concepts of 'other', alterity even if 'understood'. I pencilled 'Savage Mind' here. Machines are posited as the colonial other. There will be a repeated argument as in response to humankind's going back to the moon (to stay) and on to Mars. We should sort Earth out first. So too for inclusion and the machines. What about the people who are excluded, disenfranchised and increasingly so? I wondered (previously) if (even) more could be made a transparency? Noting the word subaltern, it appears this has suddenly been attributed to Ukraine? On disability and ableism reminded also of radio history and 'Does He Take Sugar?'

The statement: 'Machines are perceived as distant - temporally, spatially, or socially - and different from human culture.' p.234. Is, so true.

INDIVIDUAL
|
      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               
HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      
 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 
|
GROUP
cognitive - conceptual
'spaces'
distance:
time, space
human cultures
societies
difference


'Binary-opposition' and the need to think outside of this is acknowledged. And as if (perhaps) to stress both distance and proximity, I wrote 'mobius' in the margin (p.238). Hutchings (2015) sounds a valuable reference: 'Ethical Encounters - Encountering Ethics'. The books I've read contribute to evidence to revalidate my nurse registration. I realise I've sold-myself short in listing the book's titles. Although not discussed here the remaining chapters are excellent critical reading at a time when diversity, equality and inclusion policies are being rolled-back and undone. I will highlight these:

  • 17 Disabling AI: Biases and Values Embedded in Artificial Intelligence (quoted in 'Do you fit the description?')
  • 18 The AI Imaginary: AI, Ethics and Communication
  • 19 Feminist Ethics and AI: A Subfield of Feminist Philosophy of Technology
  • 20 Buddhism and the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
  • 21 Queering the Ethics of AI

In chapter 16 'Ethics beyond Ethics...' just before the conclusion I will carry forward a sentence -
'Forming an identity requires that "I identify something or someone beyond me" - with one or more categories persons, non-human others, acts, ideals, values, or social systems' (p.243).
- and the points following, and end there.

Many thanks to David J. Gunkel (Editor), the many contributors, and Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd for my copy. I have greatly enjoyed and learned much from reading this book.

Handbook on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. David J. Gunkel (ed.). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. ISBN: 978 1 80392 671 1245
https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-the-ethics-of-artificial-intelligence-9781803926711.html





Images:
Silent Running 
https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/016/839/904/large/david-eagan-screenshot001.jpg?1553673214
The Savage Mind
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Savage_Mind_(first_edition).jpg

Related previous posts: 'general + AI'

*That early streak of competitiveness was clearly educated out of me.

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Frayn's - shared 'Home Address'

Frequently I've made the point that 'person-centred' means placing the individual, patient, carer ... whatever the context, at the centre of Hodges' model. At the same time this is of course an idealisation:

individual
|
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL
|
group

What is your
'home' address?


'Science, it turns out, is in this respect simply an extension of all the other means we have found of representing the world. As with pictures and narratives, the world is unimaginable without the focus of a viewpoint. To understand the world in any way whatsoever scientifically, historically, artistically, anecdotally, imaginatively we find ourselves compelled to assume a potential point of convergence from which everything is  viewed, measured, and recounted. About the entity that defines this point we know only that it is by definition invisible to us. And since the instruments of science, of logic and mathematics, and of art, are all products of this invisible entity, they will not serve to represent or explain it to us. Anything in the world, or out of it, can be perceived or thought about, or both, and represented in our various codes. The only thing that systematically eludes us, whichever way we turn, is the something upon which everything else depends. The conscious subject that gives meaning to the objective universe cannot give meaning to itself. Without it nothing can be understood; about it nothing can be said. 
'The point of convergence . . .' And already we've gone wrong. The self isn't a point, in any remotely geometrical sense, but a complex organisation; and the consciousness that it generates, and by which it is animated, is a complex phenomenon.' pp.401-402. (my emphasis)







Frayn, Michael (2006). The human touch: our part in the creation of a universe. 'Home Address', Chapter 5. London: Faber & Faber. 

A final post from my paperback copy, next - off to a good secondhand home. Previously: 'Frayn'.