CfA Fully Funded Research Sabbaticals - via BCS-SGAI

Time, focus and community for your research on the societal impact of digital transformation

 

A fellowship at the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) provides the freedom to dedicate yourself to your research and the opportunity to join a vibrant interdisciplinary community. Step away from daily work routines to gain new perspectives and build lasting connections.

 

As a fellow, you can spend either six or three months in Bochum, Germany. During this time, we will cover your sabbatical leave from work through financial compensation (e.g. for a teaching substitute) or provide grants of up to 2.000 € per month. In addition, we will provide a fully furnished apartment free of charge. You can invite guests for collaboration and receive financial support for research expenses. Private offices and meeting rooms with modern facilities offer optimal working conditions.

 

The funding program is open to excellent scholars and practitioners, to all career stages, disciplines and areas of investigation, as well as to pure research and to projects that are more applied in orientation.

 

You can apply for our regular open call, or for our special call “Futures of Work”.

 

The next deadline for applications is 31 August 2026. The earliest possible starting date for new fellowships is October 2027. Please use the application form on our website.

 

Find out more: https://cais-research.de/en/cais-college/fellowships/

 

Further questions? Please contact esther.laufer AT cais-research.de

 

My source: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa-jisc.exe?A0=AI-SGES

Time to revisit Wikipedia?

Yesterday morning an email from a mail list -

https://groups.google.com/g/bytesforall_readers/about

- regards a Wikipedia entry, prompted me to look back at some personal - 'local' history. In 2006 having started this blog, I'd noticed 'models of care', and nursing theories' on Wikipedia.

I posted an entry on Wikipedia about Hodges' model.

This included the now defunct url/domain - p-jones.demon.co.uk (See below).

A request followed to remove it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Hodges_Health_Career_Model

I must admit there is a repetitive 'spam' quality to emails, contributions, activity on twitter and posts here. I do try to keep things relevant, in context and seek what is salient. 

Given the digital divide and ethos behind the web the 'complaints' now seem exclusive.

From scribbled notes to a global revolution - the personal journey behind the World Wide Web’s invention and the unexpected turns along the way. It is both a history and my vision for what comes next.

This is for Everyone isn’t just a story about technology; it’s about… pic.twitter.com/gdUBmFCViG

— Tim Berners-Lee (@timberners_lee) April 23, 2025

After a brief problem with Blogger I also wrote a blog post:

'Thanks Google ... Wiki ... oh for more time ....':

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2006/05/thanks-google-wiki-oh-for-more-time.html

At the time I wrote: 'I agreed the submission should be deleted - another time.' 

In writing - 'Another time...', perhaps, I should try again - or leave it to someone else?

Following up, I found that the now archived POLITICAL care/knowledge links page -

original static website 1998-2015

https://web.archive.org/web/20140821191217/http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/index.htm

- is, ironically listed on Wikipedia. You'll find it under 'External links':

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_political_science 

[ Which is itself a useful 'collection' of resources. ]

Since 2006 the bibliography for Hodges' model has grown, please see sidebar:

http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/

Created in NW England higher education in the mid 1980s Hodges' model was intended for use within post-registered nursing courses - psychiatric and learning disability nursing, health visiting and district nursing. Hodges' model, is however, universal in scope and potential application.

As no doubt occurs in other professions/disciplines, advocates for tools, resources, theories, model that may also be simple, free - open access, 'neutral', pragmatic, supportive of lifelong learning, curiosity, literacy and informatics forms can be met with internal resistance - never mind external responses:

Raskin, Jef. "Humbug: Nursing Theory". Archived from the original on July 10, 2001. Retrieved December 14, 2015. (Wikipedia).

More recently the phrase 'Nursing eats its own' has resonated. A phenomena not limited to nursing no doubt?

iConference 2025 & new Community Informatics Research Network list

Dear CI colleagues,

I am writing with two updates.

First, this listserv* has been moved to the iSchool at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: https://lists.ischool.illinois.edu/lists/info/ciresearchers. To post a new message to this mailing list, please use the following email address: ciresearchers AT ischool.illinois.edu

I'd like to thank the Metropolitan New York Library Council for hosting this list during the past several years. We moved the list to the iSchool at Illinois where it will be supported in the years ahead.

Second, the new iSchools Community Informatics group will meet during the on-site portion of the 2025 iConference at Indiana University on Wednesday 19 March 2 PM-3:30 PM local time in Bloomington, Indiana. To learn more about the iConference, please visit the conference website: https://www.ischools.org/iconference

Dr. Khalid Hossein has generously agreed to help lead the iSchools Community Informatics group *virtual* session on Tuesday 11 March 9:30 PM-11:00 PM local time in Bloomington, Indiana. Khalid and I are hoping to provide opportunities for everyone to engage virtually in both sessions of the conference.

Please stay tuned for more information about the conference.

Thank you,
Colin

—
Colin Rhinesmith, Ph.D.
Pronouns: he/him
Visiting Associate Professor

Director, Digital Equity Action Research (DEAR) Lab
School of Information Sciences
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

crhines AT illinois.edu

ischool.illinois.edu | publish.illinois.edu/digitalequity

 *My source, with my editing. PJ

DrupalCon Summits: Higher Education & Healthcare

DrupalCon Attendee

DrupalCon North America 2021 started today and the programme includes  several summit events; two of particular interest next week:

Higher Education Summit

Using Drupal at a college or university? Attend this summit to connect with other Higher Education Drupal users, typically web developers, managers, communicators, graphic designers,  editors and the like. 

Learn from peer Drupal users and experts, working in a variety of contexts in the higher education sector, about the ever-changing Drupal and web landscape, including new trends and current best practices. 

Expect small group discussions, lightning talks, a keynote, and other formats allowing you to engage with your peers. 

The DrupalCon Higher Education Summit is informal, and focuses on best practices, case studies, and discussing solutions to the unique situations inherent to higher education.

Who should attend?

The DrupalCon Higher Education Summit is open to all higher education staff, volunteers, and service providers who are using, or considering using, Drupal as part of their technology stack. This summit is not intended for vendors to pitch new business. 

https://events.drupal.org/drupalcon2021/summit/higher-ed 

Plus:

Healthcare Summit

The healthcare space is now, more than ever, a critical area for all development communities. Digital communication and technologies offer the promise of improved access for patients, but building good solutions requires a solid foundation in accessibility, security and compliance.

Whether you are at a pharma working towards the next vaccine or therapy, a hospital network treating patients with AND without COVID, an insurance company making sure all patients have access to critical healthcare during this tough time, there is much for you to gain from this summit.

Join us for a day of facilitated peer-to-peer problem solving combined with industry leaders sharing their experience solving common challenges like building a digital roadmap for a healthcare system, vaccine distribution platforms, and building user-centered patient experiences.

Who should attend? 

Anyone interested in hearing how companies and the community are creating rich Digital Experiences in the Healthcare space and all levels of colleagues in the Pharma, Medical, Clinical, Hospital, Payers, Caregivers and Healthcare Professional space.

https://events.drupal.org/northamerica2021/summit/healthcare 

"Public Domain" - The Vaudeville Theatre

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

Public Domain is a dark, funny, verbatim musical about the internet: Those who own it; those who live in it; and YOU! Following an acclaimed digital debut at Southwark Playhouse this thrilling, new British musical, composed entirely from the real-life words of YouTube vloggers, Instagram influencers, Facebook’s tech giants, and everyday internet users now has its live world premiere in the West End. Written and performed by the hugely talented Francesca Forristal (Oddball) and Jordan Paul Clarke (Showstopper! The Improvised Musical), this blackly comic musical follows two teenage influencers; Millie (sporty spice, health guru, buddha bowls – millennial) and Z (GCSEs existential dread, swag – generation Z), as well as featuring exclusive ‘footage’ of inside Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan’s family home… You’re gonna get their honest, true selves… with some serious bass, obvs. Authentic, right? Remember, it’s like ‘Black Mirror’ but real and set to music. The Vaudeville Theatre operates strictly under the government COVID-19 guidelines. For further information check our COVID-19 secure information page. All bookings in a party must only be from the same household or the legally defined support bubble.

"Socio-Technical - Infrastructures ?" (inc. Adult content)

Please note this blog post includes adult content - 'The Moderators'.

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

psychological support ?	Field of Vision - The Moderators from Field of Vision on Vimeo.
	financial support ?

My source: Fortson, D. (2018) Shocking world of the web content guardians, Business & Money, The Sunday Times, 14 October, p.5.

Why is the Sky Blue? c/o BBC

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ----------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

Why
is the Sky Blue?

My source: BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour:

"For her offbeat musical Why is the Sky Blue? Abbey Wright, the director, interviewed more than 10,000 children and young people about their experiences of online pornography. Currently being performed at the Southwark Playhouse in London, the outcome is a new piece of verbatim theatre with explicit references performed by a company of 6-22 year olds. Abbey joins Jane as does Annie Hawkins, one of the young actors."

New Book Series "Coding for Humanists” 1st Vol. "Drupal for Humanists"

The Institute for Digital Humanities, Media and Culture (IDHMC) at Texas A&M University (http://idhmc.tamu.edu) is pleased to announce “Coding for Humanists,” a new book series from Texas A&M Press that addresses the practical skill-development needs of scholars in the humanities. The series is edited by Quinn Drombrowski and Laura Mandell.

The hands-on training offered at an institute or workshop such as DHSI, DHOxSS, and HILT equips scholars to pursue new directions in their research and/or pedagogy. These workshops stand apart from generic technical training sessions through their focus on the specific needs, interests and goals of humanists. The pedagogical approach respects students’ intelligence and expertise without assuming a pre-existing knowledge of other programming languages or technologies.

The “Coding for Humanists” book series follows in the spirit of these workshops (http://coding.forhumanists.org). Each volume focuses on a particular tool, technology, methodology, or programming language, using humanities examples. Without assuming any prerequisite technical knowledge, “Coding for Humanists” books guide scholars through the jargon, concepts, and processes fundamental to the technology under consideration, leaving them ready to use the technology independently, or deepen their knowledge through resources written for a general audience. For scholars who are unable to attend an in-person workshop, or who wish to develop new technical skills as time permits, the “Coding for Humanists” series fills an unmet need for clearly-written, accessible training materials developed specifically for a humanistic audience.

The first volume, Drupal for Humanists by Quinn Dombrowski (http://drupal.forhumanists.org/), will be published this fall. Co-editor of the series, Quinn Dombrowski is the Digital Humanities Coordinator in Research IT at UC Berkeley, and has developed numerous digital humanities sites using Drupal, including the DiRT Directory and DHCommons. She has taught “Drupal for Digital Humanities Projects” at DHSI since 2014, and Drupal for Humanists expands upon the materials that have been used successfully in that course.

This book is a significant expansion of, and improvement on, the open access early drafts that have been posted on this site since 2013, and are still available through the Wayback Machine. Over the next year, excerpts from the book will be posted to the site. In addition, there is a great deal of further information about Drupal modules, configuration, and tips and tricks for building Drupal sites that extends beyond the maximum feasible word count for the book. This information, too, will be posted on an ongoing basis, and contributions will be solicited from the community of humanities Drupal users and developers. (From: http://drupal.forhumanists.org/ )

Upcoming volumes in the “Coding for Humanists” series include _XQuery for Humanists_, by Clifford B. Anderson, Jonathan Robie, and Joseph C. Wicentowski; _XSLT for Humanists: Building Digital Editions_, by co-editor of the book series, Laura Mandell; and _Databases for Humanists_, by Harvey Quamen. The series is accepting proposals for additional volumes; please see submission guidelines here:
http://coding.forhumanists.org/submission-guidelines.

Laura Mandell
Director, Initiative for Digital Humanities, Media, and Culture
Professor, English
Texas A&M University
e: idhmc AT tamu.edu
@mandellc

My source: Laura via humanist AT lists.digitalhumanities.org
List info and archives at at: http://digitalhumanities.org/humanist

Buses, Students, Tech and Models of Care

I continue to be surprised, informed and stimulated by the many contrasts and similarities between nursing and information technology. A constant encounter as a mentor is hearing accounts about student nurses and their learning experience. After 12-18 months since beginning their student career what are student's learning, being taught? And yes: nursing theory and models of care still seem twee, out-of-date, out-of fashion.

Change is inevitable of course; in tech if you are not on-board (as in the web), there is a progression of buses and you can get on at any time. At least I hope that's the case. As Web Design magazine asks: "How will CSS be styling the web in 2017, 2018 or 2019?" So for students there are many university blocks, lectures, clinical placements, mentors...: so many buses. Hopefully they really do get on-board sooner rather than later.

The snapshot of evidence as I have it re. models of care, nursing theory and reflection suggests there is quite a vacuum at a time when there is both a need for a tool like Hodges' model and an opportunity.

There are valuable lessons in the history of models of care while we relish the challenges of the future. Those lessons are still relevant as the nursing community and its practitioners constantly travel between the mechanistic and humanistic forms of knowledge that nursing demands.

Technology changes all the time and with it, the buses, the roads and even the bus stops. Clearly, we need our students to be as well equipped as possible. Not to deal with change, then it is too late. We need future practitioners to be able to critique potential change. This is crucial when future change involves nursing itself and nursing's values.

Borges & Forés: The Role of the Online Learners and the Four Competentional Clusters (Khan & Ally, Eds. 2015)

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic --------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL
|

group

Metacognitive	Operational
Relational	Academic

Since receiving the e-learning handbooks edited by Khan and Ally (2015) in April there have been several challenges; studies, sickness in the family and full-time work. I'm up to chapter 13 of Volume 1 and I have learned a great deal thus far. The first volume is already serving as an excellent primer on e-learning for someone in full-time clinical work, studying by distance learning and with teaching and mentoring experience.

The above table is derived from chapter 13 by Federico Borges and Anna Forés.

I have superimposed Borges' four competentional clusters onto Hodges' model. There is also a figure (13.1) that seeks to show that:

• there is no hierarchy among the competences,
• competences are all interrelated,
• more than one competence can occur at the same time,
• competences are manifested when needed and as needed (p.199).

This can also be related to the 4P's

purpose	process
practise	policy

Borges, F. and Forés, A. (2015) The Role of the Online Learner, Chap. 13 In Badrul H. Khan, Mohamed Ally (Eds) International Handbook of E-Learning. Volume 1, Oxford: Routledge. pp. 197-206.

Demon's days numbered...

I've had the website for Hodges' model on Demon since 1998 and for many years things never changed in terms of the space provided for websites and facilities. That said I was never going to strain the bandwidth although I did fall foul early on with some traffic violations. For many years though it was 'steady'.

Over the past few months what is a static website - no database, no dynamic content - has totally given way to a static service and one that looks set to disappear in about two years according to discussion online. Demon has switched its web hosting to intY Limited.

The homepage was last modified in 2005, the links pages in the Spring. Now I've a reason to seek alternate hosting. It is good to know that past efforts are preserved back to 1999.

If there are any hosting services out there able to offer Drupal hosting, ideally UK based and at a reduced rate for an advert placed in the sidebar here and on any new web presence, please get in touch: h2cmng AT yahoo.co.uk 

Amid the "Internet of Things" where is CARE?

individual

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

I n C t e r A n e t   o f   T R h i n E g s

Additional links:

On the Internet of Things, smart cities and the WHO Healthy Cities

Kamel Boulos MN, Al-Shorbaji NM: On the Internet of Things, smart cities and the WHO Healthy Cities. Int J Health Geogr 2014, 13:10. doi:10.1186/1476-072X-13-10

Wearable Technology Europe 2015

Bits: Tim O’Reilly Explains the Internet of Things

ERCIM News: Next issue No. 101, April 2015 - Special Theme: "The Internet of Things & the Web of Things" (I will post this on W2tQ)

c/o [hifa2015] Stop the .health!

Hi everyone,

Some of you may know about the research I and colleagues around the world have been pursuing on the new health-related domains published in the Lancet, JMIR, Globalization and Health, and featured by news outlets such as NPR, Kaiser Health News, the CBC, and others.  Right now we have the unique opportunity to make an impact by demanding that that public health interests are a priority in the future of the Internet.

Background
Currently, about a dozen health-related generic top level domains (gTLDs) are being added to the Internet.  They include domains such as .healthcare, .med, .doctor, .clinic and MOST IMPORTANTLY a new .health.  Unfortunately, ICANN is now in the process of awarding this hugely important domain space that could shape the very future of health information online to a company that has no interest nor expertise in public health.  Basically, ICANN has ignored key stakeholders including the World Health Organization, World Medical Association, Save the Children, IMIA, France, Mali, and others who have expressed great concern about ICANN’s treatment of the .health.  This recently ended in a secret and private settlement to award the .health that was scheduled to go to a public bidding process.

This decision is important as it will impact global public health and the health of individual consumers.  As people increasingly use the Internet for health information and use that information to make crucial treatment decisions, the quality and trustworthiness of health information online has never been more important.  A .health that was properly governed, had sufficient participation from the medical and public health community, and that was structured as a global public good for the broader community, could have been a game changer for ensuing the reliability of health information online and improving health outcomes.  This has not happened, as ICANN has focused on economic and commercial interests over public health.

What you can do
We are now engaged in a last ditch push to make a real difference here and we have an opportunity to do so.  Right now ICANN is having their annual meeting in Los Angeles. After discussions with friends at WHO, other academics, and even those sympathetic to our cause within ICANN, we’ve learned that only the broader public health and medical community can make a difference.  For this reason, I am hoping you will join our coalition in letting ICANN know that the concerns of the public health community for the .health need to be addressed immediately.

You can make a difference by directly engaging in ICANN’s policy processes via an online public forum this THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16 - 14:00-17:00PM PDT.  Participation is easy and will not take much of your time:

All you have to do is visit the following URL (http://la51.icann.org/en/schedule/thu-public-forum), and then click the “Virtual Meeting Room Stream Live” link, click the option to participate as a guest, and you will be entered into an adobe connect chat room where you can participate and voice your concerns.  Some of the concerns that could be addressed are:

- why has ICANN ignored calls by the WHO, World Medical Association, France, Mali, and others about the .health
- why did ICANN award the .health with no transparency through a secret settlement?
- why has ICANN not responded to multiple letters sent to their board about the .health asking for a moratorium/suspension of the process?
- why does ICANN treat other domains such as .wtf, .sucks, with better safeguards than the .health?
- why has ICANN not listened to the public health community about the .health and other health-related domains?
- health is such an important issue, shouldn’t we have a place on the Internet where we can trust our health information?

I will be personally attending the ICANN meeting in LA and meeting with certain key ICANN officials to try to make an impact.  Please join us so that we can ensure the .health is a place to improve your health, not harm it.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at anytime attmackey AT ucsd.edu.  Only with your help can we hope to make a difference.

Thanks!

References and Sources

Published articles:

• Mackey TK, Liang BA, Kohler J, Attaran A. The Fight over dot-health: Ensuring the Future of Health Information Online.<http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62215-1/fulltext?rss=yes> The Lancet. 2013; 382:1404.
• Mackey TK, Liang BA, Kohler JC, Attaran A. Health Domains for Sale: The Need for Global Health Internet Governance<http://www.jmir.org/2014/3/e62/. J Med Internet Res. 2014;16(3):e62.
• Mackey TK, Eysenbach G, Liang BA, Kohler JC, Geissbuhler A, Attaran A. A Call for a Moratorium on the .health Generic Top-Level Domain: Preventing the Commercialization and Exclusive Control of Online Health Information<http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/10/1/62. Global Health: 2014; 10:62.

News articles:

• National Public Radio: (http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/09/26/351416992/will-dot-health-make-it-more-likely-that-youll-get-scammed)
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/health-websites-could-be-overrun-by-commercial-interests-experts-fear-1.2779128)
• TechDirt (https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140926/08041428649/health-experts-issue-call-to-prevent-icanns-commercialization-new-health-domain-leading-to-exclusive-control-online-health.shtml)
• Medical News Today (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/283165.php)
• Kaiser Health News (http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2014/September/29/health-IT.aspx)
• Medpage (http://www.medpagetoday.com/PracticeManagement/InformationTechnology/44766)

My source: HIFA: Healthcare Information For All: www.hifa2015.org

Welcome to the QUAD to be archived by The British Library

The old website is archived on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine going back to 1999 and so is W2tQ.

The British Library also has a web archive, UK based of course. The website's there and now I've news that Welcome to the QUAD will be too.

From: Slow is beautiful (Bloomstein, net, July 2014)

The quotes below are from a one page article in the July issue of net magazine. The message is that while efficiency in online experiences is critical especially in ecommerce and business there is still a place for 'slow' and content that asks questions (I hope so):

"Second thoughts undermine efficient ecommerce experiences. But if we only value efficiency, we ignore opportunities for learning and validation that characterise effective, less transactional experiences.

... (How several brands - "Foster Good Decisions")

DESIGN FOR QUESTIONS

These content types and design patterns aren't necessarily the fastest way for users to complete transactions. Instead, they help users engage with purchases with greater confidence, satisfaction and certainty. When content pushes us to weigh options and wrestle with difficult concepts, it pushes us to ask questions - and place greater weight on their answers."

It does not take a giant leap of imagination to consider this in health and social care contexts?

Margot Bloomstein, .net, July 2014, Issue 255, p. 42.

MEMO: .health as a top-level domain

m e m o r a n d u m

Date:	20 May 2014
To:	ICANN
From:	PETER JONES
Subject:

Please do not try to put a full stop to ongoing efforts to utilise the internet to benefit the true health and well-being of the world's citizens.

The work is a challenge, much has been achieved and there is great promise for the future and not merely through the quantified self, personalised medicine, biotechnology and the virtual healthcare market. ...

The self, indeed this whole effort must be assured, integrated and qualified.

This means of course that the provenance, standards and values vested in health related data, information and knowledge must be of the highest quality.

Then - we can start to think about -




Yours sincerely,

Peter Jones

Additional link:
http://www.jmir.org/2014/3/e73/

[hifa2015] World Medical Association calls for a moratorium on the sale of the .health top-level domain

Dear colleagues,

The World Medical Association has called for a moratorium on the sale of the .health top-level domain (TLD). This is significant as the WMA 'is an international organization representing approximately 9 million physicians of all specialties and sectors.'

Below are extracts from a letter from the WMA Secretary-General dated 8th March to ICANN (the body that administers internet domains). The full letter is available here:

http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/kloiber-to-chehade-et-al-11mar14-en.pdf

'By now the ICANN Board is aware that .health is one of the ten most opposed new gTLDs...'

'... We, the World Medical Association (WMA), add our voice to recommend that the auction of the .health gTLD not go forward.'

Best wishes,
Neil
-----
[ c/o Neil Pakenham-Walsh ]

Let's build a future where people are no longer dying for lack of healthcare knowledge: Join HIFA www.hifa2015.org

Help Doctoori.net deliver Health Information For All

Doctoori brings to you, high quality, reliable health information in the Arabic language, through our syndicated partnership with NHS Choices. Our engaging, patient focused articles and interactive tools provide an invaluable, trusted health resource for you and your family. 

Doctoori is more than just a website. Whether you want advice on how to get fit, which super foods actually boost your health, or a guide to your pregnancy and keeping your baby healthy, we have it covered. Also if you need to see a clinician face-to-face, our find a clinic healthcare directory will give you the information you need to choose who is best for you.

Our UK based editorial team ensure all our articles are:

• Based on the latest medical evidence
• Rigorously reviewed
• Thoroughly monitored to ensure they are up to date
• In keeping with the high standards set by the Information Standard.

Doctoori.net

 ..... with you on your journey to better health

My source: Zain Sikafi CEO and Founder of doctoori.net  - info AT doctoori.net

The Health Foundation launch new Person-Centred Care resource centre

Dear CHAIN member,

We would like to draw your attention to the following new resources.  
Please pass on as appropriate.  Thank you.

The Health Foundation has launched their new person-centred care resource centre:

http://personcentredcare.health.org.uk/

updated:
https://improve.bmj.com/person-centred-care-2/

The resource centre is designed to help healthcare professionals implement a more person-centred healthcare service, where people are supported to more effectively manage and make informed decisions about  their own health and care. Initially focusing on shared decision making and self-management support.

Regards,
Wendy Zhou
CHAIN Manager

CHAIN - Contact, Help, Advice and Information Network  
– is an online international network for people working in health and social care.  
For more information on CHAIN and joining the network please visit website: 
http://chain.ulcc.ac.uk/chain/index.html

[hifa2015] How can we stop ICANN decision that could profoundly damage global health?

Dear HIFA colleagues,

A few weeks ago I posted the Lancet article below, which highlights the threat of a commercial sale of the new top-level domain ".health".

The authors point out that ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which controls all internet naming, could be about to make a decision to sell ".health" to the highest commercial bidder. The decision is imminent. I have indeed heard that an ICANN meeting that will include discussion of ".health" is being held over the *next few days*.

As the authors of the Lancet article point out, sale of ".health" to a commercial enterprise "could have a profound effect on health information access and quality for generations to come". This is something that should concern all of us, everywhere.

ICANN hosts a wiki which apparently can only be edited by them and which briefly describes the issue in rather difficult-to-follow language, without actually explaining the nature of the objections that have been raised by leading health organisations, including WHO, and by national governments:
http://icannwiki.com/index.php/.health

These objections may be found elsewhere by googling. Essentially, there is a *great* deal of concern among health agencies worldwide, and a small handful of governments, of the public health consequences of commercialising ".health". In particular, there will be little if any assurance that the content of websites carrying the ".health" domain name will contain reliable health information. There is a serious risk that misinformation and/or commercially biased information could be propagated using the ".health" suffix. It is likely that many citizens worldwide will see the ".health" suffix as an indication that the information is primarily intended for their health, whereas the reality would be that much of the information would inevitably be wholly unreliable, and driven by commercial (or even ideological) motives.

I was especially concerned to read the latest news on this wiki, which read as follows: "The IO [Independent Objector - see below] lost its objection to Afilias' applicant for .health in a ICC determination by 3 panelists made on 6 November 2013. The determination was the first Limited Public Interest Objection to be decided, as well as the first objection filed by the IO to be decided. [19]

I am not entirely clear how the proceedings work, but the wiki tells us that "[ICANN's Independent Objector] is an appointed authority on international law whose role is to object to strings on the grounds of Community harm and Limited Public Interest were detailed in the applicant guidebook. His objections are official objections and are funded by ICANN, though his office is otherwise independent. Reasons for the specific case against .health were not initially given, but, in the case of Limited Public Interest, "the applied-for gTLD string must be contrary to generally accepted legal norms of morality and public order that are recognized under fundamental principles of international law. The expert panel appointed by the ICC will base its decision on the existence of such a contradiction." The applied for string must threaten an incitement to violence of lawless action, discrimination, child pornography, or "be contrary to specific principles of international law as reflected in relevant international instruments of law.""

This reference to "violence of lawless action, discrimination, child pornography..." is bizarre and I cannot claim to understand how this is relevant. What is at issue here is the availability of reliable versus unreliable healthcare information. I hope that others on HIFA may be able to enlighten us further.

Regrettably, there has been an almost total absence of advocacy and awareness-raising about the issue, apart from The Lancet article. Other than the authors of the Lancet article, there is no advocacy leadership of which I am aware. This is the kind of issue that needs a prominent global health leader to speak out. I do not know whether Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, is free to speak out on this, but I feel that we need a strong statement from someone at the highest level.

In the meantime, what can we (HIFA members) do to stop ICANN making - or at least deferring - a decision that could profoundly damage global health?

Best wishes,
Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is the coordinator of the HIFA2015 campaign and co-director of the Global Healthcare Information Network. ...
[ As mentioned above Neil also posted the Lancet article - I have just copied the link below ]

Below is the citation and extracts of a new article in The Lancet. The full text is freely available here:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62215-1/fulltext

Ensuring the future of health information online
Tim K Mackey, Bryan A Liang, Amir Attaran, Jillian C Kohler
The Lancet, Volume 382, Issue 9902, Page 1404, 26 October 2013
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62215-1Cite or Link Using DOI