In Browder, 'care' is mentioned over 150 times!

OK - so now you're teasing ...

'Surgery theory investigates the homotopy types of manifolds, using a combination of algebra and topology. It is the aim of these notes to provide an introduction to the more algebraic aspects of the theory, without losing sight of the geometric motivation.' Ranicki, 2001. 

'IV. Surgery and the Fundamental Theorem

In this chapter we develop the techniques of surgery for constructing normal cobordisms and use them to prove the Fundamental Theorem. The ideas of surgery have their origins in the theory of 2-manifolds, in the process of "cutting off handles", and in general, in the theory of Marston Morse of non-degenerate critical points of differentiable functions.' Browder, 1972.

In Browder, care is mentioned over 150 times!

'Poincaré' that is.

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group-population

	'The Classifying Spaces for Surgery and Cobordism of Manifolds'
Try to - follow the language* ...	"Follow the money!"

Ranicki, A. (2001) An introduction to algebraic surgery. Surveys on Surgery Theory, Volume 2, edited by Sylvain Cappell, Andrew Ranicki and Jonathan Rosenberg, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001, pp. 81-164. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400865215-005

Browder, W. (1972) Surgery and the Fundamental Theorem. In: Surgery on Simply-Connected Manifolds. Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete, vol 65. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-50020-6_4

Madsen, I. H., and Milgram, R.J., (1979) The Classifying Spaces for Surgery and Cobordism of Manifolds. Princeton University Press.

Image: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41THEeVvpdL.jpg

*concepts!

Editorial: "The Meaning of Concept Analysis" i

Nursing Science Quarterly (NSQ)

 

 

This editorial, "The Meaning of Concept Analysis" is open access and concerns an academic activity that is 'bread and butter' in nursing theory. It is well worth reading, for students too.

"The purpose of this editorial is to clarify the meanings of the term concept and analysis and to offer some guidelines that show what is appropriate for publication of concept analyses."

 

The editorial is helpful in encouraging the effort here, even as it suggests I would be wasting my time, the editor's and referees (although quarterly has a certain appeal).

 

 

The journal's role and purpose is clearly described:

"Nursing Science Quarterly is unique in that it is the only journal devoted exclusively to the enhancement of nursing knowledge. Only Nursing Science Quarterly publishes original manuscripts focusing on nursing theory development, nursing theory-based practice and quantitative and qualitative research related to existing nursing frameworks, contributed by the leading theorists, researchers and nurse executives. including nurse theory development."

I've enjoyed the freedom here, on the periphery of academia. Afraid at the same time that this 'h2cm' obsession has, will ... impact my objectivity, subjectivity - by way of attitudes, openness and view within and without of nursing, in theory, practice and management. Added to being able to carry the weight that is nursing (responsibility). The load is made-up of history, the legacies, the global academic balance (or not), the current global state of the profession, the fight for professional recognition and more. All rolled-up, and rolled-out when the challenges of the 21st century warrant it. Yes, the future is always - out there.

Concepts are key in Hodges' model, as a conceptual framework, as a series of conceptual spaces, as domains for threshold concepts and much more. I think I'm struggling now, as I always have in giving 'a' concept my critical attention, and its being in uniform. Concepts are always 'seen' as a gestalt. This may explain why I'm not an academic and definitely not a professional philosopher. The editorial notes:

"Examples of some analyses of concrete concepts that would not contribute to discipline-specific nursing knowledge and therefore are not worthy of publication include nursing overtime, nursing shortage, cultural competencies, medical diagnoses, precision health, big data, sensor technology, health economics, omics, and symptom science, among others."

I have mapped these concepts to Hodges' model below (underlined), and added in italics some associated concepts:

 

 

 INDIVIDUAL

|

 INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

psychiatric diagnosis data ethics [person-al] symptom science [here] person-centered care / health emotional/spiritual intelligence	medical diagnoses, precision health, big data sensor technology, omics, and symptom science procedure x,y,z - cost $$$
cultural competencies social prescribing health literacy public understanding of sciences	nursing overtime nursing shortage nursing crisis? data ethics [COP15] outcomes - patient safety information governance health economics

As an exercise you may like to consider the following, as relates to the care - knowledge domains of Hodges' model?

"For the discipline of nursing (which includes the extant theories and frameworks) appropriate analyses of abstract concepts that contribute to the advancement of discipline-specific knowledge include self-care, wellness, well-being, self-esteem, courage, trust, burden, comfort, resilience, betrayal, shame, and authentic presence, among others."

Along with the concern about my preoccupation with Hodges' model, every time I type reflection, reflective practice - it hurts. It feels like another form of navel gazing, and yet the need for reflection, and reflective practitioners, producing critical thinkers and reflective practitioners is recognised world-wide.

I can't help but get a sense that concept analysis is nurse's navel gazing. If I sound critical, it would be a greater problem if this was the view of others outside nursing? Maybe, this point itself, validates the production of discipline-specific knowledge for nursing? I can't escape though, the feeling that there is something limiting, narrowing, even apolitical here: (Is there a global nursing crisis)? There has been much needed conceptual work on race, justice, gender, equality [google 'concept analysis, ...']. I realise my expansive approach can - and does - fall dead from the press. If I can blame the Atlantic, then I hope that pluralism still has a role to play?

 

Parse concludes:

"Nurse researchers and emerging scholars should answer four questions before launching a concept analysis that could be worthy of publications.

1. Is the concept an abstract expression to illuminate the essences that can contribute to nursing knowledge development?

2. Is the conception critical to the advancement of discipline-specific knowledge?

3. Which extant concept analysis model is appropriate for this concept?

4. Will this concept analysis be worthy of publication in light of its level of abstraction and possible contribution to nursing science?"

In the 21st Century concept analysis will have its place, being key in philosophy, linguistics, ethics, law, artificial intelligence ... and yes, nursing too. But increasingly I think the true power of concepts (in theory, practice, management, policy) is found when they are related and conjoined.* 

More to follow ... then silence ... for a time ...

Parse RR. The Meaning of Concept Analysis. Nursing Science Quarterly. 2023;36(1):5-5. doi:10.1177/08943184221131957

*To state the obvious.

Head-Smashed-In ... Maths

In 1979, with a friend and still one of four (yes - I know!) we went to Calgary, Alberta for three weeks.

This was a key holiday, one to remember. I was able to return in 1989, with my then wife, eldest son and the (very) youngest - at the time - as we learned. With a new edition of the same tourist map, it was amazing to see the change in the cities footprint across a decade.

Our travels supported by the love and hospitality of two Brits who emigrated to Canada, sadly no longer with us. We talked of migrating for a time: Canada, or New Zealand.

In Alberta, one trip took us past:

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (and photo source)

Ever since school, it is maths that has head-smashed-in mine. The (personal) history here revolves around the Eleven-plus exam [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleven-plus ] which I failed.

Yes, that's -'11+' - I'm sure you can see the irony?

Perhaps, in the near future the future will resolve around the diagrammatic form of Hodges' model and the model's acting as a baton to pass to others with the knowledge and skills to apply mathematics and logic to Hodges' model.

Here is some of the history of this geophysical feature:

https://www.audleytravel.com/canada/places-to-go/alberta/head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump

"The buffalo jump was used for 5,500 years by the indigenous peoples of the plains to kill bison by driving them off the 11 metre (36 foot) high cliff. Before the late introduction of horses, the Blackfoot drove the bison from a grazing area in the Porcupine Hills about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the site to the "drive lanes", lined by hundreds of cairns, by dressing up as coyotes and wolves. These specialized "buffalo runners" were young men trained in animal behavior to guide the bison into the drive lanes. Then, at full gallop, the bison would fall from the weight of the herd pressing behind them, breaking their legs and rendering them immobile. The cliff itself is about 300 metres (1000 feet) long, and at its highest point drops 10 metres (33 ft) into the valley below. The site was in use at least 6,000 years ago, and the bone deposits are 12 metres (39 feet) deep. ... The importance of the site goes beyond just providing food and supplies. After a successful hunt, the wealth of food allowed the people to enjoy leisure time and pursue artistic and spiritual interests. This increased the cultural complexity of the society.

In Blackfoot, the name for the site is Estipah-skikikini-kots. According to legend, a young Blackfoot wanted to watch the bison plunge off the cliff from below, but was buried underneath the falling animals. He was later found dead under the pile of carcasses, where he had his head smashed in.^{"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-Smashed-In_Buffalo_Jump}

With COP27 on-going we are all participants in a 'drive' ...

RDF in the Political Domain: c/o Narayana, S., Varma, G.P.S. & Govardhan, A. (2013)

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

"Consider the scenario where user wishes to find semantic associations between two persons in the domain of ‘Politics’. Then concepts such as ‘Politician’, ‘Political Organization’, ‘Government Organization’ and ‘Legislation’ are considered to be more relevant whereas the concepts such as ‘Financial Organization’ and ‘Terrorist Organization’ are considered to be less relevant. So, user is provided facilities to define his context by selecting his interested regions from the ontology, and based on this context the associations are ranked. As an example consider the RDF graph shown in Figure 2. It shows that, the user has selected three regions belonging to ‘Political Organization’, ‘Politician’, and ‘Legislation’" (p.97).

Figure 2 is copied below.

Reference and Acknowledgement:
Narayana, S., Varma, G.P.S. & Govardhan, A. (2013) An Improved Technique for Ranking Semantic Associations. International Journal of Web & Semantic Technology. 4, 93–106. doi:10.5121/ijwest.2013.4407

Part of RDF graph: DOI : 10.5121/ijwest.2013.4407

Birds in paper cages: Cognitive spaces with a little isotropy

In Consciousness Explained, Dennett (1991) provides further support for my belief in the significance of Hodges’ model:

Any of the things you have learned can contribute to any of the things you are currently confronting. That at least is the ideal. This feature is called isotropy by Fodor (1983), the power, as Plato would say, of getting the relevant birds to come, or at least to sing out, whenever they are needed. p.279.

Dennett highlights the fact that we are not isotropic. There are many often comedic instances in which people are slow or fail to fully appraise the significance of new data. This point reinforces the need and role for Hodges’ model providing not just one of Plato’s metaphorical aviaries (with knowledge in the form of the birds), but at least four (five - with spiritual claims to know-ledge).

Next spring I will return to the conceptual spaces paper I started and last saved in September 2008, how time flies! (I do finish stuff eventually - it's not easy this 'part-time' lark). As already posted on W2tQ there is more inspiration if needed. Drawing upon the cognitive science and computing literature the objectives of Peter Gardenfors’ book Conceptual Spaces are made clear from the outset:

'... is to show that a conceptual mode based on geometrical and topological representations deserves at least as much attention in cognitive science as the symbolic and associationistic approaches’. p.2 ....

'This is a book about the geometry of thought. A theory of conceptual spaces will be developed as a particular framework for representing information on the conceptual level.’ p.2.

Further reading:

Jerry A. Fodor (2000) The modularity of mind.

The Frame Problem Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

There Are Four P's in "Hodges model"

People are not very good at multitasking (surprise, surprise!).

In conversation people discuss one topic or thing at a time. If the subject alters, the change of context is indicated through a verbal redirect "There's something else...", or a gesture. When writing, paragraphs help structure our prose. If there are several tasks to perform, then it really is a case of "one at a time thank you!". Although, as the saying goes though - where there's a will, there's a way - hence the constant emphasis on EFFECTIVE team working.

Reality is of course rarely presented to us in discrete contextualised packets. Experience is not always filtered to the extent that only information relating to one context is delivered to our senses. Can you imagine the informational equivalent of the IV drip? (Virtual reality?) And yet this is what our brains are tasked with, to select, sort and prioritise....

There are exceptions:- the arrival of news about an impending birth or sudden illness or accident. Then informationally speaking the world is ordered and yet a personal chaos ensues. We move like the wind...

So usually several contexts are knotted and presented together. Predicatable consequences may follow; confusion, a task may be left incomplete, risk becomes a dance partner, although at first this passes unnoticed as we are still going with the flow. A key message becomes garbled, the meaning fails to get through.

The amount of information needed by a team is erm... well - a big number! The demand for data and information on just process and policy is monumental. Project management tools are no guarantee against satisficing. The volume of information and human fallibility can fracture discipline and has us saying "that’s far enough", or "that will do for now".

So without untying the contexts, unwrapping the complexity - key parts of the picture may be missing. Sometimes even when the picture is complete, we forget about the frame and picture hook? Just which way is 'up' if that matters a[r]t all?

In the same way that items of data can have meta-data (that is data about data), could it be that Hodges’ care domains have their own meta-terms of reference? These terms characterise each of the care domains and their respective contents. In the same way that process is integral to project management, perhaps there are terms that can contribute to the overall effectiveness and scope of Hodges’ model? What I have in mind is the following:

Purpose Process
Practice Policy

Surely this rather complicates matters? For an artist this would actually prove a very limited palette. And yet this is a common strategy – reduce the palette to four colours. This greatly affects the 'masterpiece' assuring discipline and influencing style before the paint is even amb(r)ushed.

For project managers armed with their PM tools the 4Ps really are a handful, but well worth getting to grips with.