Invite to an In-person Interactive Workshop to Advance Action on SDoH [Geneva]

Advancing the Social Determinants of Health during the World Health Assembly

Dear Colleague

Is it possible to share in HIFA Network the following announcement?

Thanks a lot for your precious help

Dr Eric Comte Director of the Geneva Health Forum https://genevahealthforum.com

HIFA profile: Eric Comte is Executive Director, Geneva Health Forum, External Affairs Directorate, Geneva University Hospitals. eric.comte AT unige.ch

Bonjour,

We are pleased to invite you to take part in an interactive workshop dedicated to advancing action on the social determinants of health.

Forty years after the Ottawa Charter, there is broad consensus on the importance of health promotion and the determinants of health. Yet, translating this knowledge into effective policies and concrete action remains a major challenge. In a context marked by climate change, growing inequalities, rapid urbanisation and geopolitical instability, the need for more integrated, preventive and equity-oriented approaches has never been greater.

Building on this observation, this session will bring together, NGO, practitioners, policymakers and experts to move beyond general principles and focus on what really enables implementation in practice. Through the exchange of real-world experiences and case studies, participants will collectively identify actionable lessons, key barriers, and practical ways forward.

The expected outcome is a set of clear, operational messages to strengthen collaboration across sectors and support the implementation of strategies addressing the social determinants of health in diverse contexts. The session will also provide an opportunity to identify concrete avenues for further work, including potential projects that the Geneva Health Forum could support.

The workshop will take place on Tuesday 19 May from 9.00 to 12.30 at Campus Biotech in Geneva.

We would be delighted to count on your participation and active contribution to this important discussion.

👉 More information and registration on the link : https://worldhealthassembly2026.genevahealthforum.com/rethinking-determinants-of-health-in-todays-global-context-from-knowledge-to-action/

Space is limited, so only register if you really want to attend.

Registration is free but required so we can print badges and organize the workshop.

Link with the World Health Assembly discussions

This workshop is directly aligned with the strategic discussions taking place at the World Health Assembly, particularly in relation to document EB158/27 on well-being and health promotion. This report highlights the growing recognition of health promotion and the social determinants of health as essential pillars of public health, while also emphasizing the persistent gaps in implementation and the need to strengthen multisectoral action, governance, and measurable impact.

In particular, it calls for better integration of health promotion across the full continuum of policies and systems, stronger cross-sector collaboration, and a renewed focus on addressing structural determinants of health, including through more effective implementation mechanisms and improved coordination across actors.

Our session contributes to this agenda by focusing on practical experiences and implementation challenges, with the aim of identifying concrete, actionable lessons that can help accelerate the translation of global commitments into real-world action. In doing so, it also seeks to feed into ongoing reflections at the global level and to support more effective implementation of the priorities discussed at the World Health Assembly.

You are receiving this message because you are a member of the community HIFA - Healthcare Information For All.

View this contribution on the web site

‘Life & health’: overview of global health, climate crises, SDGs and Africa Agenda 2030

26 December, 2025 

Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA) proudly announces its Maiden ‘Life & Health’ Symposium, a landmark convening designed to inspire dialogue, innovation, and collective action around one of the most pressing issues of our time: “Overview of Global Health, Climate Crises, SDGs and Africa Agenda 2030.” This inaugural symposium represents AHOA’s commitment to shaping forward-looking conversations that connect health, environment, and sustainable development across Africa and beyond.

The world is experiencing an unprecedented convergence of health challenges and climate-related crises. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss are reshaping disease patterns, food systems, water security, and livelihoods. These realities disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, where fragile health systems and socioeconomic inequalities amplify vulnerability. The ‘Life & Health’ Symposium seeks to interrogate these realities and offer integrated, actionable pathways aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa Agenda 2030.

At the heart of the symposium is a bold premise: health is both a driver and an outcome of sustainable development. Achieving good health and well-being (SDG 3) is inseparable from progress on climate action (SDG 13), clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), zero hunger (SDG 2), sustainable cities (SDG 11), and reduced inequalities (SDG 10). By convening experts across disciplines, the symposium will explore how these interconnected goals can be pursued through coordinated policies, resilient systems, and inclusive partnerships.

The Maiden ‘Life & Health’ Symposium is designed as a multi-stakeholder platform, bringing together policymakers, health professionals, climate experts, development practitioners, civil society leaders, academics, youth advocates, and the private sector. Participants will engage in high-level discussions, evidence-based presentations, and solution-oriented exchanges that bridge science, policy, and practice. The symposium will also provide a space for emerging voices and community perspectives, ensuring that local realities inform global ambitions.

A key focus of the symposium is Africa’s Agenda 2030, which contextualizes global commitments within the continent’s development aspirations. Africa stands at a pivotal moment: with a rapidly growing youth population, expanding urban centres, and increasing climate exposure, the choices made today will define health and development outcomes for decades. The symposium will highlight opportunities to harness Africa’s demographic dividend, promote climate-resilient health systems, and foster innovation that aligns with the continent’s priorities.

Participants can expect rich thematic sessions addressing:

I. Global health trends and emerging risks in a changing climate;

II. Climate-sensitive diseases and the future of prevention and preparedness;

III. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the context of climate resilience;

IV. Policy coherence and governance for integrated SDG implementation;

V. Financing and partnerships for sustainable health and climate action; and

VI. Youth leadership and community engagement as catalysts for Agenda 2030.

Beyond knowledge exchange, the symposium is action-oriented. It aims to catalyze policy-relevant recommendations, foster cross-sector partnerships, and inspire practical initiatives that can be scaled across regions. Afrihealth Optonet Association envisions the symposium as a springboard for sustained collaboration, research, advocacy, and capacity-building that advance health equity and climate justice.

The ‘Life & Health’ Symposium also reflects AHOA’s broader mission to promote evidence-informed decision-making and civil society leadership in health and development. By creating a recurring platform for dialogue and learning through the 52 Sessions in the 2026 ‘Life & Health’ Dialogue Series, AHOA seeks to strengthen the role of civil society in shaping inclusive policies, amplifying marginalized voices, and holding stakeholders accountable to shared commitments.

As the world accelerates toward 2030, time is of the essence. The interlinked crises of health and climate demand urgency, innovation, and solidarity. AHOA’s Maiden ‘Life & Health’ Symposium offers a timely opportunity to rethink silos, align strategies, and recommit to a future where people and planet thrive together, a future that will always seek to ‘Leave No One Behind’.

Afrihealth Optonet Association warmly invites policymakers, practitioners, scholars, development partners, youth leaders, and all stakeholders committed to sustainable development to be part of this historic inaugural symposium, as well as partner with AHOA through the 2026 Dialogue Series. Together, we can deepen understanding, strengthen partnerships, and chart a resilient pathway toward better health outcomes, climate resilience, and the realization of the SDGs and Africa Agenda 2030.

Continued - with links (and my source):

https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/%E2%80%98life-health%E2%80%99-overview-global-health-climate-crises-sdgs-and-africa-agenda-2030

And - Happy New Year to All!

Feedback on Hodges' model in 'mathematical' terms

Through HIFA, I noticed an introduction by a new subscriber - Mr James Twahirwa; and noted a maths-oriented skillset:

'HIFA profile: James Twahirwa works on Research and data analysis in Rwanda. He is deeply interested in contributing to the global effort to improve health equity through reliable, accessible information. His background in statistics, data analysis, and research methods equips him to support evidence-based decision-making and strengthen health systems.

By email, I got in touch seeking an independent reading of the draft h2cm-maths paper (part 1).

Prior to this, Mr Twahirwa kindly made the following observations on Hodges' model which he is happy for me to post here:

==============

Dear Peter Jones 

I find your work interesting and really well-positioned.

Overall impression

Your work is intellectually ambitious and unusually well-positioned. You are attempting something that many disciplines struggle with: creating a unifying conceptual framework that can bridge practice, theory, and abstraction without collapsing into reductionism. The fact that Hodges’ model originates in nursing and has sustained relevance across decades already gives it credibility as a practice-informed epistemic structure, not just a diagram.

Your effort to reinterpret it through mathematics and category theory is especially interesting, because health economics often suffers from exactly the fragmentation your work seeks to address: disconnected models of behavior, outcomes, ethics, and systems.

1. The 2x2 structure aligns naturally with health systems thinking

Health economics constantly balances dualities such as:

• Individual vs population
• Clinical outcomes vs social value
• Quantitative evidence vs lived experience
• Efficiency vs equity

A 2x2 framework provides a powerful way to hold these tensions without collapsing them into a single metric. This is one reason cost-effectiveness frameworks often feel incomplete. Hodges’ model appears capable of holding multiple dimensions of value simultaneously.

2. Conceptual clarity over mathematical dominance

Health economics has increasingly recognized that mathematical rigor alone does not guarantee insight. Your attempt to treat Hodges’ model as a conceptual object rather than a predictive algorithm is aligned with modern critiques of over-formalization in economics and health policy.

Where your work could be strengthened

1. Clarify the “mathematical” claim carefully

From a health economist’s perspective, the risk is not that the model lacks mathematics, but that readers may misunderstand what kind of mathematics is being invoked.

You may want to explicitly distinguish between:

• Mathematics as computation or formal proof
• Mathematics as structural reasoning (relations, mappings, constraints)

Making this distinction early will help avoid criticism that the model is “not really mathematical,” while still defending its rigor.

2. Connect to applied decision-making

To attract health economists and policy researchers, it may help to show how Hodges’ model could:

• Frame health technology assessment decisions
• Structure evaluations of complex interventions
• Support mixed-methods research designs

Even one concrete example (e.g., health service redesign, chronic disease management, or resource allocation) would strengthen its practical relevance.

3. Position the work in relation to existing frameworks

Your work resonates with, but is distinct from:

• Systems thinking in health
• Capability approach (Sen, Nussbaum)
• Complex adaptive systems
• Multi-criteria decision analysis

Explicitly stating how Hodges’ model complements or improves upon these will help readers locate it intellectually.

I hope this feedback may be of help

Happy festive season.

=================

Thank you Mr James Twahirwa. These comments are very helpful. You have identified the many strengths of Hodges' model and its uses. On the mathematics, you make many points for me to address and balance in terms of the overall intent and content of this 'project'.

Mr Twahirwa is now in possession of the draft paper. Any further thoughts are always welcome. While rather remote from clinical practice (a debate in itself) health economics is ultimately grounded in health services and health systems development. So this perspective provides a critical counterbalance to my clinical (business) as usual approach.

Point #1 is a primary motivating factor for this 'project'. I'm sure I can use structure as an anchor, while acknowledging that Hodges' model is a conceptual model, an idealisation. Additional feedback regards reasoning, decision making and Bayes also apply here:
[ ii Learn your lines and the hyperplanes will follow ].

In Point #2 I may be able to leverage research, drawing from #1:

'Mathematics as structural reasoning (relations, mappings, constraints)'.

Point #3 will be considered in-part through April's complexity conference; and revisiting former work on systems.

Both points #2 and #3 may find their home in a second paper (part 2), but this is fine, as it may support a step-wise workflow, and something akin to a logical progression(?).

As posted before any assistance greatly appreciated.

The Silent Pandemic? The Global Rise of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer - via HIFA

Last year, a team at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, UK published a real-world analysis of 203 patients with early-onset colorectal cancer (eoCRC). The study showed a dramatic surge in cases over a short period, with over half of patients presenting with metastatic disease, predominantly left-sided tumours, and a median symptom duration of just 3 months before diagnosis. The authors warned that eoCRC could represent an "evolving pandemic." 

See - http://doi.org/10.1093/oncolo/oyae239

Since then, incidence continues to rise across all continents, with similar patterns emerging in multiple national and international datasets.

Why This Matters for the HIFA community

• eoCRC is rising rapidly among people in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s.
• Most cases are sporadic, suggesting major gaps in understanding modifiable and early-life risk factors.
• Awareness among young adults and clinicians remains limited, contributing to delayed presentation.
• Meanwhile, short-form social media (e.g. TikTok reels) and AI-driven content are now the dominant information sources for young people - creating both opportunities and risks for public health.

Introducing Our Upcoming Initiative

We, the Special Interest Group in Digital Health & AI at WHO/Europe Youth4Health network, are launching a global project to develop evidence-based communication guidance for raising eoCRC prevention and awareness among young adults. The project will:

• Convene clinical specialists, youth advocates, communication scientists, social-media creators, and digital-health experts.
• Identify which prevention and awareness messages should be prioritised for youth.
• Define how these messages can be adapted effectively for short-form platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels.
• Examine how generative AI can support safe, accurate, and engaging content creation.
• Co-design prototype posts to illustrate how the consensus messages can be translated into youth-appropriate communication
• Our aim is to bridge the gap between emerging science, behavioural insights, and contemporary digital communication channels.

Why We're Sharing This Here

As we shape this work, we're keen to learn from the HIFA community:

• What approaches have you seen succeed in raising awareness of cancer symptoms among younger populations?
• Are there youth-driven or co-designed campaigns that we should look to as models?
• What are the risks you foresee when using short-form social media or AI tools for public-health communication?
• What considerations are especially important in LMIC contexts?
• How can we strike the right balance between urgency and fear-avoidance when communicating about cancer to young adults?

eoCRC incidence is increasing rapidly and globally. Communication strategies - particularly those targeting young people - have not kept pace with this trend. We would greatly value your insight and experience as we develop this work.

HIFA profile: Kathleen Guan is a multidisciplinary researcher passionate about all things digital behavioral health and (global) community engagement. Her PhD research focuses on involving young people in the co-design of personalized AI and emerging technologies, including adaptive mobile apps, LLMs, neurotechnology, and social media reels. By developing novel participatory approaches with a focus on preventative and precision health, Kathleen aims to inform how digital tools can meaningfully enhance everyday life and help reduce mental health challenges alongside chronic disease risks. To achieve this, she prioritizes community-based implementation by working closely with stakeholders across healthcare, engineering, policy, industry, education, and the arts.

Kathleen previously studied human rights and developmental neuroscience (BSFS, Georgetown; MRes, UCL) and has experience in public health and digital innovation (with WHO, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Qatar Computing Research Institute, various early-stage digital health start-ups) as a research collaborator and advisor. She chairs the Special Interest Group in Digital Health & AI within WHO Europe's Youth4Health Network. Kathleen has resided in 7 countries and worked in diverse settings across Asia, North America, and Europe, fostering her deep commitment to global health equity. She is always open to collaboration for social impact and can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleenwguan/.

c/o HIFA - Publications re. primary health care & community health

Dear [HIFA] friends and colleagues with an interest in primary health care and community health:

Since my last communication with you more than 6 months ago, the entire field of global health has continued to be upended by our US government, with unconscionable effects on millions of people around the world, on advancements in global health research and its ethical foundations, and on the careers of thousands and thousands of people working around the world in the field of global health. As I said before, and I repeat now the obvious, it will take decades to build back what has been destroyed and to regain respect from the rest of the world for the United States and the values that most of us hold dear.

William Foege, eminent global health leader and former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote this biting editorial <https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/18/rfk-jr-public-health-threats-william-foege-smallpox/> in which he said, among other things, 

"We will live through this drought of values, principles and facts and again apply our talents to improving global health and happiness. Do not back down.”

Atul Gwande, now one of the foremost champions of primary health care and community health of our time (even though he is, like me, an erstwhile surgeon!) and former Director of the USAID Bureau of Global Health during the Biden administration, gave an eloquent presentation of his perspective on the aftermath of the destruction of USAID on 28 April 2025 at the Harvard School of Public Health.

You can watch this here:
<https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=Atul+Gwande+presentation+at+Harvard+School+of+Public+Health+April+28%2c+2025&mid=26DA144398CF1F613D0A26DA144398CF1F613D0A&FORM=VIRE>.

Here are a few items of possible interest:

The Fourth International Symposium on CHWs will be held virtually next week.

I was most fortunate to be able to attend the second International Conference on Primary Health Care was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from October 6-10. It was a glorious event, with 750 attendees, mostly from Africa but with strong representation from UNICEF, WHO, Africa CDC, and other international organizations. 

The conference was sponsored by the International Institute for Primary Health Care – Ethiopia. <https://iphce.org/> Directors of PHC from 45 different African countries were present along with at least 50 community health workers from across Africa. There was palpable enthusiasm for the growing momentum for PHC across Africa.

Abhay and Rani Bang are world-renowned champions of community-based primary health care through their work with SEARCH <https://www.searchforhealth.ngo/> (Society for Education, Action, and Research) in Gadchiroli, India, with tribal people. Their seminal publications on the effectiveness of community-based primary health care and community health workers as well as their contributions to India’s national program for reducing neonatal mortality through home-based neonatal care, among others, have gained for them global recognition. Attached is an English translation of an article about their life’s work that was published in April Der Spiegel in the leading German magazine, Der Spiegel.

Nicholas Kristof has continued to share with the world some of the heart wrenching effects of the collapse of the United States Agency for International Development. The New York Times opinion columnist wrote <https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/opinion/trump-usaid-cuts.html> on 20 September 2025 on the human dimension of the shutdown of USAID, citing estimates that 690,000 will die in 2025 and 829,00 will die in 2026 as a result of cutbacks in USAID funding, and 3.1 million children will die during Trump’s second term from these cuts (a PDF is attached if the link doesn’t work for you [mod: HIFA does not carry attachments]).

Two recent publications on novel approaches to reducing child mortality have gained widespread attention.

One study <https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w34152/w34152.pdf> in Kenya provided a one-time transfer of $1,000 to poor families and observed a decline of nearly half in under-5 mortality as well as in infant mortality. Another study reported that wrapping

A recently reported study <https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12462887/> from Uganda found that giving mothers fabric treated with permethrin, a long-acting insecticide to protect against mosquito-born illnesses, as a baby wrap dramatically reduced malaria infections in the infants carried in them. There were 66 percent fewer cases among those children compared with babies in the untreated wraps. By the end of the six-month study, only 16 percent of children in the treated wrap group had been sick with malaria, compared with 34 percent in the untreated wrap group, many of whom had multiple malaria episodes.

Now available for purchase on Amazon.com are several important publications related to community-based primary health care and community workers.

Feel free to share this email and these resources with anyone else or with any relevant listserve you may have access to.

You are receiving this email because of your interest in primary health care and community health.

If you know of anyone that you think would like to be included in the listserv, just send me the person’s name and email address.

Warm regards, Henry

Henry B. Perry, MD, PhD, MPH Senior Associate, Health Systems Program Department of International Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore, MD, USA 21205 Hperry2 AT jhu.edu

HIFA profile: Henry Perry is a Senior Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA. Professional interests: Community health and primary health care. hperry2 AT jhu.edu

FINAL CALL: Have your say about evidence-based implementation! c/o HIFA

PARTICIPATE TO WIN PRIZES

View this email in your browser <https://mailchi.mp/nest360/improve-health-worldwide-complete-this-short-survey-10147215?e=f1722a9293>

LAST CHANCE TO INPUT - CLOSING ON 27TH JUNE!

Do you work on improving health and equity in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs)?

Have YOUR chance to: -Democratise research and evidence for implementation! -Ensure your setting is represented! -Win a £50 voucher in the prize draw!

Palestine, Uganda, and Peru shared the most replies so far!

BETTER HEALTH WORLDWIDE!

Complete this 10 minute survey about evidence-based implementation

You could win a £50 voucher!

Click here <https://newborntoolkit.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7a4ba8643fabeb1b06801b973&id=99accaa2ac&e=f1722a9293> and submit for a chance to win!

[content removed as not supported by HIFA]

English Do you work on improving health outcomes around the world?

Have your say! Why? To accelerate evidence-based implementation, with equity, for better health worldwide.

Who? People involved in any aspect of health service implementation and strengthening at any level of the system (e.g. health care provider, data analyst, policy maker).

How? Click here<https://newborntoolkit.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7a4ba8643fabeb1b06801b973&id=a29ce2fd65&e=f1722a9293> to have your say!

What? Participant information<https://newborntoolkit.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7a4ba8643fabeb1b06801b973&id=7579d3a077&e=f1722a9293> is attached to this message.

Evidence-based Implementation: Many life-saving interventions are not implemented effectively, with wide gaps between what is known and what is done, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

We are keen to hear perspectives and realities from implementers in all low- and middle-income contexts. 

We are seeking your insights to help close the gap from evidence to implementation!

We hope you will take a few minutes to complete this brief survey.<https://newborntoolkit.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7a4ba8643fabeb1b06801b973&id=422f1a8283&e=f1722a9293>

Answers can be anonymous and there is no requirement to provide identifying information.

This survey is being conducted as part of the Lancet Commission on Evidence-Based Implementation in Global Health<https://newborntoolkit.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7a4ba8643fabeb1b06801b973&id=ef480cd254&e=f1722a9293>. This study was funded by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.

A member of the study team can be contacted via ImplementersVoices AT gmail.com

Please share across your networks!! Let’s begin, click here!<https://newborntoolkit.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7a4ba8643fabeb1b06801b973&id=63a8e4c758&e=f1722a9293>

[content removed as not supported by HIFA - and my source.]

From Harriet Ruysen - Harriet.Ruysen AT lshtm.ac.uk

AI, Beliefs, Helplessness, Misinformation ...

Viewing this debate and SDGs both as information spaces, and mental health/illness can provide some insights.

'Learned helplessness' is an established phenomenon in psychological studies and history.

Adam Grant in Life&Arts, FTWeekend 29-30 March 2025, p.2. 

( https://adamgrant.net/book/think-again/ )
writes in 'HOW TO UNLEARN HELPLESSNESS'

'Many people believe that in a world of echo chambers and misinformation, it's not possible to talk anyone out of their convictions. They`re wrong. Even a bot can do it.

In recent experiments psychologists recruited thousands of Americans who believed in unfounded conspiracy theories ranging from the moon landing being faked to 9/11 being an inside job. After the participants described their views, the psychologists randomly assigned some of them to discuss these views with an AI chatbot that was prompted to refute them.

After less than 10 minutes of conversation with a ChatGPT-based LLM, more than a quarter of participants felt uncertain about their views - and those doubts persisted two months later. Short exchanges were even enough to move the opinions of strong believers.

Why? It's not just that ChatGPT has access to infinite knowledge. It turns out that AI chatbots are better listeners than the average human. The researchers found that chatbots were persuasive because they presented information that directly challenged the reasons behind people's beliefs.'

Also helpful, as per discussion to consider AI as a new / emerging 'information space' as a literal frontier, a new territory with unknowns that businesses wish to conquer and the public must learn to trust - even as users. What knowledge - understanding is needed of what is happening in the 'box'?

Once again (within Hodges' model) we can potentially draw in (ask questions of - all) the literacies:

3Rs, information, IT, media, culture, spiritual, financial, health, sciences, civic - national, international...

This also means to what extent are existing imbalances in parity of esteem - between the mind and body dichotomy perpetuated, even increased?

It is not surprising that there is an imbalance, in the distribution of datasets - LLMs on huggingface:

https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/en/datasets

e.g. INTRA- INTERPERSONAL [MIND]

BioBert 1.1
UCI ML Drug Review dataset - Subset 

LOST arXiv:2306.05596 [cs.CL]

Mindwell https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3601-0_34

SCIENCES [BODY]

eScience kidney factomics (PubMed titles)
BioBert 1.1
SAVSNET sample (VetCN) - Important in terms of Zoonotic diseases and planetary health*.

Image datasets: 

Lung Cancer IQ-OTH/NCCD 

Surface Crack Detection 

Oxford-IIIT Pet 

BreastMNIST 

DermaMNIST 

PneumoniaMNIST 

BloodMNIST 

RetinaMNIST

There is overlap also.

Ack. *As mentioned late 2024, the datasets were discussed at: https://www.bcs-sgai.org/health2024/

Posted to HIFA - with some editing

'ChatGPT (40) Differentiating reliable information from misinformation (12)'

Caring for babies and young children - what can older children do?

Dear All

I'm delighted to tell you that we have successfully raised funding for the completion of the Children for Health ten poster series.

On completion we will have many more posters than ten as we have other posters linked to projects on Diabetes and Eye Health, Oral Health and Life Skills.

All our posters feature 10 messages for young adolescents to learn and share (on the front) and lots of ideas on how to use the posters and additional activities to get children mobilised on the back. If you haven't seen our posters PLEASE take a look here. They are being used in so many ways!

www.childrenforhealth.org/resources

...and any feedback is always welcome.
Please also share with your networks.

I am looking for specialists in early years to help us revise our existing set of 10 messages on the topic of 'Caring for Babies and Young Children' for the new poster. It is a voluntary role. The process lasts about 3 months as we involve practitioners too and work with schools to get children reviewing the messages. It's usually about 3 rounds of review and then an art work review. I'd be very pleased to hear from those who feel they have the time and expertise to help.

Meanwhile take a look at our posters. We have three new ones!

WASH: https://www.childrenforhealth.org/WASHposter

Coughs and Pneumonia: https://www.childrenforhealth.org/CoughsPoster

Intestinal Worms: https://www.childrenforhealth.org/WormsPoster

HIFA profile: Clare Hanbury is director of Children for Health. She qualified as a teacher in the UK and then worked in schools in Kenya and Hong Kong. After an MA in Education in Developing Countries and for many years, Clare worked for The Child-to-Child Trust based at the University of London's Institute of Education where, alongside Hugh Hawes and Professor David Morley she worked to help embed the Child-to-Child ideas of children's participation in health – into government and non-government cchild health and education programmes in numerous countries. Clare has worked with these ideas alongside vulnerable groups of children such as refugees and street children. Since her MSc in International Maternal and Child Health, Clare focused on helping government and non-government programmes to design and deliver child-centered health and education programmes where children are active participants. Clare has worked in many countries in East and Southern Africa and in Pakistan, Cambodia and the Yemen. In July 2013, Clare founded the NGO, Children for Health and develops health education materials and and works on health education programmes alongside partners all over the world.

https://www.hifa.org/support/members/clare clare AT childrenforhealth.org

Source link: 

https://hifaforums.org/_/XsqxTWgj

World Health Day 2024

World Health Day 2024

Around the world, the right to health of millions is increasingly coming under threat.

Diseases and disasters loom large as causes of death and disability.

Conflicts are devastating lives, causing death, pain, hunger and psychological distress.

The burning of fossil fuels is simultaneously driving the climate crisis and taking away our right to breathe clean air, with indoor and outdoor air pollution claiming a life every 5 seconds.

The WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All has found that at least 140 countries recognize health as a human right in their constitution. Yet countries are not passing and putting into practice laws to ensure their populations are entitled to access health services. This underpins the fact that at least 4.5 billion people — more than half of the world’s population — were not fully covered by essential health services in 2021.

To address these types of challenges, the theme for World Health Day 2024 is 'My health, my right’. ...

https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2024

My source: HIFA

World Health 24/7/365 . . . also calls for a generic conceptual framework around which individual, family, community and population health can be assessed, planned, formulated, delivered and evaluated.

HIFA Discussion: Alcohol Use Disorders - Drink Aware and Change

Dear HIFA colleagues,

I would like to invite you to retweet the following that I have just sent on our X/Twitter account:

"Pls RT: I just took the DrinkAware test as if I drank 3 pints a day (well over the recommended limit). The result was "Great news! You are at lower risk of alcohol-related problems". We invite others to check. Thx NPW https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/tools/drinking-check#/ "

You can see the tweet and retweet here: https://twitter.com/hifa_org/status/1762399130154885617

We are unsure why the test - which is taken by 900 people every day - is providing such misinformation.

DrinkAware is funded by the alcohol industry.

Thank you for your help to publicise this issue.

Best wishes, Neil

HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil AT hifa.org

To which I replied:

RT'd as requested.. 

Reply from twitter ... 

This evergreen article was written 10 years ago
"Be aware of @Drinkaware "https://t.co/UGcVFb5gFB via @peter_g_miller et al

— Ash Paul (@pash22) February 27, 2024

McCambridge J, Kypri K, Miller P, Hawkins B, Hastings G. Be aware of Drinkaware. Addiction. 2014 Apr;109(4):519-24. doi: 10.1111/add.12356. Epub 2013 Oct 28. PMID: 24164565; PMCID: PMC3992896.

UPDATE 10th March

Dear HIFA colleagues,

Further to our discussions on HIFA, in the past week DrinkAware HAS CHANGED THEIR ADVICE to people who drink 42 units per week (3X the recommended maximum). Questions remain about how many people were misled by previous advice, whether that advice was deliberate, and whether WHO's AUDIT test (currently used as the basis for the DrinkAware test) should continue to be used by anyone as an unsupervised self-evaluation tool.

BACKGROUND On 22 February 2024 I reported on HIFA an apparent problem with DrinkAware, the UK's largest alcohol charity, funded by the alcohol industry. https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/alcohol-use-disorders-79-role-alcohol-industry-10-alcohol-industry-and-misinformation

I took their Drinking Check. I posed as a man who drinks 42 units per week (3X the recommended maximum) and DrinkAware told me: "Great news! You are at lower risk of alcohol-related problems. This means you are at lower risk of serious diseases such as stroke, heart and liver disease, and seven types of cancer and may already be noticing the benefits of lower risk drinking such as deeper sleep, more energy and brighter moods."

There was no advice to reduce my consumption.

This test was repeated by other HIFA members in subsequent days, with the same results.

On 4 March 2024 we reported our findings to the World Health Organization.

CHANGE IN ADVICE Today, 10 March 2024, I took the test again. As before I posed as a man who drinks 42 units per week. This time I got a different result:

"You are on the right track. You are at lower risk of alcohol-related problems... To keep your health risks low, the UK Chief Medical Officers advice is to drink no more than 14 units a week. If you are regularly drinking above 14 units per week there are tips and advice below about how to cut down."

INTERPRETATION Prior to 4 March 2024, DrinkAware was encouraging many heavy drinkers (up to 42 units per week) to continue drinking as they are.

DrinkAware claims that its Drinking Check tool was used by 250,991 people in 2021, so it appears that potentially tens or even hundreds of thousands of people drinking 14-42 units per week may have been misinformed.

At some point between 4 March and 9 March, Drinkaware changed their Drinking Check tool so that heavy drinkers (up to 42 units per week) are now advised to cut down.

SHOULD WHO's AUDIT TEST BE USED AS AN UNSUPERVISED SELF-EVALUATION TOOL?

Previous messages on HIFA have suggested that AUDIT should only be used as a clinical tool by health professionals, and not as an unsupervised self-evaluation tool. WHO's AUDIT manual notes: 'Care must be taken to tell patients why questions about alcohol use are being asked and to provide information they need to make appropriate responses. A decision must be made whether to administer the AUDIT orally or as a written, self-report questionnaire.' https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/67205/WHO_MSD_MSB_01.6a-eng.pdf

NEXT STEPS

How many people were misled by previous advice, was that advice deliberate, and should WHO's AUDIT test (currently used as the basis for the DrinkAware test) continue to be made available as an unsupervised self-evaluation tool?

I invite HIFA members to suggest next steps. Are you a health journalist (or do you know a health journalist) who might be interested to look into this in more depth? Please pass this on and/or contact me: neil@hifa.org

Meanwhile I shall report this new finding to WHO.

I look forward to your comments and suggestions: hifa AT hifaforums.org

Best wishes, Neil

Finally ...

Dear HIFA colleagues,

We now enter our 6th and final week of the deep-dive into Alcohol Use Disorders, where I invite you to reflect on what has been discussed so far (and what has not been discussed). In your view, what is the key learning in relation to the 5 questions we have explored:

1. Do people understand the health, socio-economic and environmental harms of alcohol? What matters to them? How can they be better informed? How to reduce stigma? 2. Do health workers have adequate knowledge to prevent and manage alcohol use disorders among their patients? What matters to them? How can they be better informed? 3. What is the role of the alcohol industry? What can be done to address misinformation from the alcohol industry? 4. Do public health professionals and policymakers have adequate knowledge to prevent and treat alcohol use disorders in their country? What are current national policies and what more can be done to fully implement those policies? 5. How can we define and measure alcohol use disorders?

To help with this, I have prepared a full compilation of our discussion so far (205 pages):

https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/publications_pdf/Alcohol_Use_Disorders_Compilation2.pdf

I shall now work on an edited version (selected text organised under subheadings for each of the 5 questions and for other topics) and will get this to you asap.

Many thanks, Neil

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

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?

<>

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.

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

Dear all on HIFA,

It's just 4 days to go before the official launch of our deep-dive discussion on Alcohol Use Disorders, 5 February to 17 March 2024.

Please forward this message to your contacts and networks and invite them to join! www.hifa.org/joinhifa

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

HIFA is grateful for sponsorship from the Ulrich and Ruth Frank Foundation for International Health known online as NextGenU.org.

Note: We have opportunities for further sponsored discussions in 2024. We have 20 working groups on standby to plan and implement a discussion [ https://www.hifa.org/projects ]. Or we can start a new group to address a topic that is important to you. Also new in 2024 there is the option to have live webinars to complement our forum discussions.

To discuss possibilities, please contact: neil AT hifa.org

With thanks, Neil

HIFA Partnerships and Projects working group: https://www.hifa.org/projects/partnerships-and-projects

HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization.

Your story about the use of the Resilient Health Systems evidence collection

Championing evidence-based humanitarian action

Evidence Aid aims to save lives and livelihoods in disasters by providing decision-makers with the best available evidence and by championing its use.

On Wednesday, 22 November 2023 at 10:12:26 GMT, Claire Allen, UK <callen AT evidenceaid.org> wrote:

Kind request - Do you have 5-10 minutes to complete our survey about the Resilient Health Systems evidence collection

https://evidenceaid.org/evidence/resilient-health-systems
Your insights and opinions are incredibly valuable to us.

The form will be available until Monday 27 November 2023, but in the meantime, if you have any issues, please do not hesitate to contact - 

Epa La Bella at elabella AT evidenceaid.org.

As always, we value your insight and opinions, all of which are essential to the functioning of Evidence Aid.

Claire Allen, Operations Manager Evidence Aid: Championing evidence-based humanitarian action. Please note that my regular working days are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Please do not expect a response outside of those days.

Support our activities by donating here.

Email: callen AT evidenceaid.org | Skype: claireallencochrane | Website: www.evidenceaid.org | Twitter: @EvidenceAid

Our evidence collections can be found here: https://www.evidenceaid.org/evidence/

HIFA profile (and my source): Claire Allen is Operations Manager at Evidence Aid, UK. Professional interests: Evidence Aid (www.evidenceaid.org) provides evidence for people in disaster preparedness and response to make better decisions. Areas of interest = humanitarian crises, natural disasters and major healthcare emergencies (disaster = when a country is unable to cope with the disaster/crisis or emergency). She is a member of the HIFA Working Group on Access to Health Research. http://www.hifa.org/working-groups/access-health-research Email: callen AT evidenceaid.org

Developing NIHR guiding principles for Community Engagement and Involvement - have your say!

Dear HIFA colleagues,

Today we launch a public consultation on our guiding principles for community engagement and involvement in health research (CEI). We are aiming to build consensus by seeking feedback on the principles, their descriptions and how they could be implemented in diverse local contexts.

Here's the link to the survey: - now closed.

It should take around 15 - 20 minutes to complete, and it closes on 1 December.

The survey is open to everyone with an interest in CEI, and all HIFA members are welcome to participate. Please do share widely with colleagues, networks, and friends. If you have any questions, email ceiglobalhealth AT nihr.ac.uk.

** Rationale and more detail:

The NIHR expects Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) to be integrated in the full spectrum of the research it supports. NIHR has both a vision and goals for CEI. However, we wanted to bring together wider work on the foundations of good CEI in research and present these key attributes in an accessible way. These new guiding principles aim to help clarify the expectations of CEI by: - providing stronger guidance for the global health research community in developing CEI plans that are robust, appropriate, and effective for both the local context and for the study design. - being useful to research funding committee members, providing them with a framework and criteria to carry out more robust assessments of research proposals.

The principles are not a set of rules but more conceptual and will be realised in practice in many ways, reflecting the huge contextual variation in global health research.

To date, we have carried out a rapid scoping review of literature, which, along with previous development work, aimed to identify CEI principles related to how researchers and communities interact within the global health research context. Earlier feedback on the emerging principles was sought from a group of CEI Leads across NIHR awards and from an independent group of CEI experts formed to advise on the work.

**

Best regards, Patrick Patrick Wilson Head of Global Health Communications & Stakeholder Engagement National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)  📨 patrick.wilson AT nihr.ac.uk🌐 www.nihr.ac.uk/globalhealth Subscribe to our NIHR Global Health Research monthly newsletter 📝 https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/stay-up-to-date.htm#six

HIFA profile: Patrick Wilson is Head of Global Health Communications & Stakeholder Engagement at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), UK . Professional interest: Global health research. @NIHRglobal 

My source: HIFA

Health information & 7th Global Alcohol Policy Conference

Politicians -
GIVE HEALTH LITERACY A CHANCE!

INDIVIDUAL

|

     INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

cognitive access, basic literacy	'legibility', digital access
PUBLIC - MENTAL - HEALTH Society Communities Most vulnerable groups Digital divide	"Why are alcohol companies pushing for QR codes on labels? Well, which of these two labelling methods actually shows the risk of alcohol consumption, 1 or 2? QR codes are a way for producers to say they are informing consumers, without doing so." @InstAlcStud economic access Health Information For All POLICY 7th Global Alcohol Policy Conf. Alcohol Taxes - False economy?

My source: https://x.com/InstAlcStud/status/1703658612109742578?s=20

Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly

WHO Note for Media, 26 May 2023

Read online:

https://www.who.int/news/item/26-05-2023-seventy-sixth-world-health-assembly---daily-update--26-may-2023

Text of note follows and a Comment from me below.

Gearing up for a historic UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage

Member States expressed alarm that millions of people cannot access life-saving and health-enhancing interventions. Out-of-pocket spending on health catastrophically affects over 1 billion people, pushing hundreds of millions of people into extreme poverty. The situation has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response, Member States agreed a resolution supporting preparations for the United Nations High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in September 2023. UHC means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need without financial hardship.

c/o World Health Assembly - media

In a transformative policy shift, Member States across high-, middle- and low-income countries expressed strong commitment to reorient their health systems based on primary health care (PHC) as a foundation for achieving health for all and reaching the furthest left behind first. About 90% of UHC interventions can be delivered using a PHC approach; from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care, potentially saving 60 million lives by 2030.

The Member States emphasized the importance of demonstrating the highest-level political commitment at the HLM in September with the aim of achieving resulting in a concise, action-oriented declaration for UHC.

[...]

COMMENT (NPW): I would add that quality of care is just as important as access and affordability. As we have discussed on HIFA, a 2018 Lancet paper estimated that 5-8 million deaths are caused by poor quality care every year (as we pointed out at the time, the true figure is probably much higher higher because it did not include care in the home or community before reaching a health facility). The Lancet paper did not estimate the number of deaths due to poor-quality primary versus secondary care. Quality of care is fundamentally dependent on the timely application of reliable healthcare information, and most deaths are probably (arguably, as we do not know the numbers) avoidable through the timely application of reliable healthcare information, even with minimal physical resources.

HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil AT hifa.org

HIFA - my source.

Share your thoughts: Health Research & Community/Public Engagement

Dear HIFA Community,

As part of a multi-country scoping study commissioned by Wellcome Trust 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/wellcome-trust/

Pivot Collective: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pivotcollective/

- is conducting a rapid survey to better understand community/public engagement and knowledge exchange in health research.

*The Ask:* Provide your insights, thoughts and perspectives - click the survey here: 

https://lnkd.in/dgR6Wak3

This should take 15-30 minutes to complete, and data will be anonymised.

Please complete the survey by Wednesday 17 May 2023.

Thank you!

As background, this survey is part of a larger project that aims to identify more effective routes for communities to be involved in research, with *an ultimate goal of understanding how communities can play a genuinely meaningful, inclusive, and reciprocal role in the research ecosystem.

The project is led by Pivot Collective: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pivotcollective/ in partnership with - 

Eh!woza: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eh-woza
citiesRISE: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cities-rise
Restless Development: https://www.linkedin.com/company/restless-development
Vocal, Praxis, and Fiocruz.

If you'd like to learn more, please don't hesitate to reach out.
We are grateful for your time and insights, and would love to talk.

Best wishes,
Claire B. Cole

Co Director Pivot Collective Consulting +1 917.523.6523
claire AT pivotcollective.org
pivotcollective.org
27 Palmer Road, Muizenberg, 7945 

https://www.facebook.com/PivotCollective/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/30643635
https://www.instagram.com/pivot_collective/

HIFA profile: Claire Cole is Co-Director and Senior Technical Advisor at Pivot Collective USA. Research interests: Participatory and applied research; Sexual and reproductive health and rights; Adolescent health and development; HIV and AIDS; Marginalized and underserved populations; Adaptive management and adaptive implementation; Responsive health systems; Resilience; Implementation science.

My source:
You are receiving this message because you are a member of the community -
HIFA - Healthcare Information For All.

Call for Papers: The Science of Trust Initiative -

Building and Restoring Trust in Science and Health Information across Patient, Community and Population Settings

 

Message(s) to HIFA alerting to, and response to a Call for Papers:

 

----- Forwarded message -----

From: Neil Pakenham-Walsh <neil.pakenham-walsh@ghi-net.org>

To: HIFA - Healthcare Information For All <hifa@hifaforums.org>

Sent: Friday, 16 December 2022 at 12:11:19 GMT

Subject: [hifa] Call for papers: Building and restoring trust in science and health information across patient, community and population Settings

I am forwarding this from our colleagues at Infodemic Management News, WHO.

Opportunities for action Call for papers: Building and restoring trust in science and health information across patient, community and population Settings

The Journal of Communication in Healthcare: Strategies, Media, and Engagement in Global Health seeks to solicit diverse perspectives and build a robust evidence base for a special issue on trust and misinformation as part of the journal’s Science of Trust Initiative. This special issue will explore topics across different health communication areas aimed at addressing issues fuelled by misinformation such as mistrust, social discrimination, and pervasive stigma. There is specific interest in submissions related to the science of trust that focus on interdisciplinary collaborations to promote social, policy, and/or behavioral change, address key root causes of health inequities, and can help forge the path forward for building and fostering trust. A good opportunity to showcase your latest achievements or research in infodemic management!

To read the call for papers and submit, it’s here. The deadline is 26 February 2022.

Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator Healthcare Information For All Global Healthcare Information Network Working in Official Relations with the World Health Organization 20,000 members, 400 supporting organisations, 180 countries, 6 forums, 4 languages www.hifa.org neil AT hifa.org

----- Forwarded message -----

From: Neil Pakenham-Walsh <neil.pakenham-walsh@ghi-net.org>

To: HIFA - Healthcare Information For All <hifa@hifaforums.org>

Sent: Friday, 30 December 2022 at 10:06:18 GMT

Subject: [hifa] Call for papers: Building and restoring trust in science and health information across patient, community and population settings (4)

Dear Najeeb, Meena and all,

Najeeb: "I think this is a golden opportunity for HIFA to publish an article (possibly written by a number of key people in HIFA) and provide a leading statement that emphasizes the role of communication (good quality information) in healthcare for all." https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/call-papers-building-and-restoring-trust-science-and-health-information-across-patient

Meena: "Very nice idea Najeeb and happy to be part of this project." https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/call-papers-building-and-restoring-trust-science-and-health-information-3-hifa-paper

Yes indeed, the call for papers is specifically about 'Building and restoring trust in science and health information'. HIFA is uniquely positioned to explore this issue through dynamic multidisciplinary discussion.

My initial thought is that this could be done within the framework of our current collaboration with WHO and specifically the consultation we are planning for 2023: 'To identify best practices, opportunities and challenges from relevant health related stakeholders, towards pursuing universal access to reliable healthcare information'. https://www.hifa.org/projects/hifa-who-collaboration-plan Lack of trust is a huge challenge and it requires engagement from all stakeholders.

I would like to invite HIFA members and supporting organisations to comment and suggest next steps.

Best wishes, Neil

Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh

----- Forwarded message -----

From: Najeeb Al-Shorbaji, Jordan <shorbajin@gmail.com>

To: HIFA - Healthcare Information For All <hifa@hifaforums.org>

Sent: Saturday, 31 December 2022 at 22:12:50 GMT

Subject: [hifa] Call for papers: Building and restoring trust in science and health information across patient, community and population settings (5) HIFA-WHO Collaboration

Dear Neil and all members of HIFA family

Happy New Year. The suggestion to invite comments from HIFA members is a logical one and fully supported. HIFA current collaboration with WHO should really be highlighted in this piece especially that WHO and HIFA have both a mission to make high quality information available and accessible by the world. Good quality, timely and accurate health information provided to people is the best prevention, protection and leads to good treatment of diseases. Hopefully this will make heath goals much more attainable. Lets go for it friends.

With kind regards.

Najeeb Al-Shorbaji, PhD, IAHSI

... Website: www.shorbaji.net Director, Knowledge, Ethics and Research WHO/HQ (Retired) e-Marefa Advisor President, Jordan Library and Information Association President, eHealth Development Association, Jordan President, Middle East and North Africa Association of Health Informatics IMIA Vice-President for MEDINFO 2023 Visiting Professor, Ain Shams University, Egypt Member of the International Academy of Pubic Health Scientific Council ORCID ID 0000-0003-3843-8430

----- Forwarded message -----

From: Peter Jones, UK <hifa@hifaforums.org>

To: HIFA - Healthcare Information For All <hifa@hifaforums.org>

Sent: Sunday, 1 January 2023 at 15:45:42 GMT

Subject: [hifa] Call for papers: Building and restoring trust in science and health information across patient, community and population settings (6) Hodges' model and information disorder

As highlighted before on HIFA over many years, Hodges' model can inform such a call for papers and project.

In several ways, including but not limited to - critique and representation of data, information, knowledge, wisdom (literacies - across all academic and professional disciplines):

Jones, P. (1996) Humans, Information, and Science, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24(3),591-598.
Jones, P. (1996) An overarching theory of health communication? Health Informatics Journal,2,1,28-34.

Additional citation: IRMS Bulletin - November 2022
https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2022/12/irms-230-h2cm-literacies.htm

"I am indebted to Peter Jones, who shared Hodges’ Health Career Model with the 2022 IRMS conference in Glasgow. Although originally used in a healthcare setting, this simple, two-axis intellectual model can be readily used to analyse any complex interaction between the individual and their environment – in this case, information literacies.

The diagram shows a number of distinct yet overlapping literacies that were potentially in play in our problem example, although there are likely to be many more – even emotional literacy played a part, with the frustrations of the young people in question causing them to dismiss potential solutions before they had been tried or even considered. Likewise, socio-political and socio-economic literacies may have been a factor – if you are unaware that something exists in the world due to blind-spots in your own cultural background then you cannot even begin to look for it."

Jon Fryer, "Information Literacies - Learning, to thrive in a digital age". IRMS Bulletin, Issue 230, November 2022. cc c (A membership journal)

During the summer and the "Communicating health research" thread on HIFA, I thought about 'information disorder' and the infodemic:

https://rm.coe.int/information-disorder-toward-an-interdisciplinary-framework-for-researc/168076277c [*see note below] I recalled this quote too - amid 'information overload'.

“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” ― T.S. Eliot, The Rock

As the evidence-base 'accumulates' there may be a questions about the life-cycle of research?

From implementation science to deimplementation: Patey et al. Implementation Science (2018) 13:134 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-018-0826-6

As an 'ecosystem' is it imperative that one (or more) part of 'data, information KNOWLEDGE wisdom' must wither on the academic (vine) database - reduced citation hence salience?

The aims and scope of a paper may also encompass the public's understanding of science. Frameworks and models of care/selfcare are needed that can simultaneously:

"... differentiate between science writing for the public and writing across communities of scientific practice. Described by its editors as an interdisciplinary journal, they argue it is a ‘transdisciplinary journal’"

from -Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet, Orli Wolfson, Roy Yosef, Noam Chapnik, Adi Brill, and Elad Segev. Jargon Use in Public Understanding of Science Papers over Three Decades. Public Understanding of Science, 29(6) (August 2020): 644–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662520940501.

Hodges' model being situated can be used in contexts that are inter- multi- transdisciplinary and interprofessional (education).

If I can assist I'd be pleased to proof read, critique drafts, provide a figure / table using Hodges' model to illustrate the conceptual scope and associations of the work.

I may have also referred to agnotology - the study of ignorance, this should (must?) be a concurrent factor in research of literacy. If anyone has time to please read and comment on a near complete draft paper on: COVID-19, technology, society, Hodges' model, fake news misinformation dis- mal- also I'd be very grateful.

[ Since this message was posted to HIFA, I greatly appreciate an offer to read the draft, which should be complete mid-end of February ]

Happy New Year to all - wherever celebrated.

Peter Jones
Community Mental Health Nurse and Researcher
Warrington Recovery Team, NW England
http://twitter.com/h2cm

The call for papers link again:
https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/science-trust-initiative/?utm_source=TFO&utm_medium=cms&utm_campaign=JPG15743

[*Note from HIFA moderator (NPW): Many thanks Peter, this publication looks interesting. The first paragraph of the executive summary sets the scene: 'This report is an attempt to comprehensively examine information disorder and its related challenges, such as filter bubbles and echo chambers. While the historical impact of rumours and fabricated content have been well documented, we argue that contemporary social technology means that we are witnessing something new: information pollution at a global scale; a complex web of motivations for creating, disseminating and consuming these ‘polluted’ messages; a myriad of content types and techniques for amplifying content; innumerable platforms hosting and reproducing this content; and breakneck speeds of communication between trusted peers.' I have invited the authors to join us.]