New Journal Alert - Philosophy and Urban Affairs

Dear Philosophers,

I'm pleased to announce that Philosophy and Urban Affairs is now operational. Below is a description.

Philosophy and Urban Affairs is a peer-reviewed journal that explores the ethical, political, epistemological, metaphysical, and social dimensions of cities. Articles may be theoretical, applied, or both, provided they illustrate how philosophical investigation can elucidate, critique, or inform city living.

Unsolicited manuscripts are not accepted. Instead, the journal solicits submissions through public calls on emerging topics or through invitations to scholars working on specific themes. On occasion, a focus article will be published to prompt response papers and foster sustained scholarly dialogue.

Philosophy and Urban Affairs is fully open access and charges no fees of any kind.

Check out the first CFP, Philosophical Perspectives on Coastal and Island Cities. 

All the best - Shane

Shane Epting, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Missouri University of Science and Technology

New Book: Creating Future Cities: Technology, Ethics, and the Fight for the Good Life

Shane Epting, in Creating Future Cities, insightfully analyzes complex normative challenges in urban planning and design—from organizing urban residents' political power to building for resilience—and passionately argues that citizens of cities must fight for their cities and their futures. - Ronald R. Sundstrom, University of San Francisco, USA

My source:

Philos-L "The Liverpool List" is run by the Department of Philosophy, University of Liverpool https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/philosophy/philos-l/ Messages to the list are archived at http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/philos-l.html. Recent posts can also be read in a Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/PhilosL/ Follow the list on Twitter @PhilosL. Follow the Department of Philosophy @LiverpoolPhilos 

KU Leuven - LCHH2 Health Humanities Lecture Series 2025-2026

Dear all,

The Leuven Centre for Health Humanities organises a yearly lecture series and we would love to invite you!

This year’s lecture series explores the entangled relations between nature and health. Bringing together perspectives from medical history, psychology, disability studies, colonial studies, and environmental humanities, the talks examine how ideas of nature have shaped — and have been shaped by — practices of care, control, and coexistence. Topics range from the rise of disposable medical technologies and their environmental costs, to colonial disease management at the cattle frontier, and from the ambivalent role of “nature” in the lives of people with disabilities to contemporary debates on the restorative effects of natural environments. The series also turns to the microbial world, challenging human exceptionalism and rethinking health as multispecies interdependence rather than biological mastery. Together, these lectures invite critical reflection on sustainability, vulnerability, and care, and offer new ways of imagining health in a world where human and nonhuman lives are profoundly interconnected.

Join us online and on campus, at KU Leuven, for a series of inspiring health humanities talks.

You can find more information about the lectures and how to register here:

Health Humanities Lecture Series 2025-2026 — 
Leuven Centre for Health Humanities (LCH²)

Best wishes,

Lore Delahaye (she/her)
Administrative Support

KU Leuven
Doctoral School for Humanities and Social Sciences
Blijde Inkomstraat 5, box 3000
3000 Leuven

https://ghum.kuleuven.be/phd

Contexto Int. [Newsletter] - Special Issue 47.2 Where is the Sea in Int. Relations?

Dear Colleagues,

We hope this correspondence finds you well.

We are delighted to formally announce the publication of the latest special issue of Contexto Internacional, entitled "Where is the Sea in IR?," which I had the distinct honour of co-editing with Dr Flavia Guerra (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro).

The overarching objective of this Special Issue is to address a central scholarly lacuna within International Relations (IR) scholarship: the historical and theoretical marginalisation of the oceanic domain. In pursuing this fundamental inquiry—why and how does the ocean recede from scholarly and political attention?—the assembled contributions collectively prompt a sustained, rigorous examination of two key analytical challenges:

1. The specific mechanisms through which IR has historically relegated the oceanic domain to the periphery of its dominant analytical frameworks.
2. The subsequent broader political and theoretical implications that stem from this systematic exclusion.

The volume is structurally organised around three distinct, yet interconnected, thematic axes, each seeking to contribute to a deeper engagement with the marine sphere:

1. The Marginalisation of the Ocean in IR: Conceptual and empirical explorations of how the sea is actively rendered absent or subordinate within core theoretical debates.
2. Complex Entanglements between the Ocean and Ontological Security: Analyses focusing on the relationship between maritime spaces, existential anxieties, and state identity formation.
3. Ocean Governance as Regulatory Mechanism and Platform for Political Discourse: Critical assessments of regulatory frameworks and their role in structuring political contestation over the maritime commons.

We sincerely hope that you find the contributions within this volume to be a compelling and theoretically relevant read that stimulates further research and critical reflection within the discipline.

Special Issue: Where is the Sea in IR?

Where is the Sea in International Relations?
  Francisco Eduardo Lemos de Matos; Flávia Guerra Cavalcanti

Abstract | Full text

Table of Contents: https://www.scielo.br/j/cint/i/2025.v47n2/

Includes - Addressing 'Maritime Aphasia' in International Relations
  Bruno Sowden-Carvalho; Marcelo M. Valença

Between Nuclear Tests and Rising Sea Levels
  Beatriz Rodrigues Bessa Mattos

Carl Schmitt on the Move: Spatial Politics and the (political) Sacrifice of the Sea
  Francisco Eduardo Lemos de Matos

Thinking Ontological (In)Security with Water: The Place of the Ocean in Boat Migration
  Flávia Guerra Cavalcanti

What is the Place of Mar de Timor in Timorese Geopolitics, Culture and Education?
  Silvia Garcia Nogueira; Betina Lopes; Ângelo Ferreira; Samuel de Souza Freitas

Fluid Boundaries: Reassessing Maritime Spaces and Nomadic Waves in International Relations Theory
  Henrique Campos de Oliveira

The Third Bank of the Sea: Maritime Traces of Constitutive Outside(r)s and International Ontopolitical Lines
  Roberto Vilchez Yamato; Gustavo Alvim de Góes

Ocean Governance, Maritime Security, and International Relations
  Daniele Dionisio da Silva; Gilberto Carvalho Oliveira

Sailing on Waves beyond National Sovereign Land Borders: On the Crossroads between International Ocean Relations and the Blue Economy
  Thauan Santos

Regards,
chico

Francisco Eduardo Lemos de Matos
Doutor em Relações Internacionais pelo IRI/PUC-RIO.
Pesquisador de Pós-Doutorado em Relações Internacionais no IRI/PUC-RIO pela FAPERJ.

Rede IPS Brasil - https://www.ipsbrasil.com/
Lattes: https://lattes.cnpq.br/9338374067089166
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4214-5382

My source: DOINGIPS list - https://www.doingips.org/

'Nurses and Nursing's Issues' ...

1975 .. plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose .. 2025

"The question I ask myself all the time is not can we close the gaps in practice and administration, but, more importantly, can we develop a nursing system, not the profession of nursing, but a nursing system which will weave together all practitioners with what-ever skills they bring to the system" Jessie Scott, p.1854. 

 
Nurses and Nursing's Issues. The American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 75, No. 10, 75th Anniversary Issue (Oct.,1975), pp. 1848-1859. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3423579

Now, in 2025 we can make an impression - not just on the nursing profession, but in how all the health professions work, learn and relate to each other and social care colleagues too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_M._Scott

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plus_%C3%A7a_change,_plus_c%27est_la_m%C3%AAme_chose

Book: Algorithmic Rule

ALGORITHMIC RULE

'The future is here and it is not simply digital; it is algorithmic. Algorithms now shape not only what we see and hear through the media, but also how public administrations function and how work is managed. Decisions about health, employment and even children’s education are increasingly outsourced to automated systems. This book explores the algorithmic present, and what can sometimes be described as algocracy – rule by algorithms. To navigate this new reality, we must ask not only technological but also democratic questions. This book is a guide to doing just that.

What national algorithmic scandals have already unfolded, and what lessons can be drawn from them? How is the future of work being reshaped, as employers rely on algorithmic management tools powered by constant workplace surveillance? Should artificial intelligence be allowed to make decisions in the public sector? Where can we find examples of local governments working for inclusion and transparency through open-source programming? How are institutions handling the massive and sensitive data flows that structure daily life? And what does it mean for democracy if the only face of the state becomes a ubiquitous chatbot?' 

Continued:

https://feps-europe.eu/publication/algorithmic-rule/ 

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group-population

	ALGORITHMIC
	RULE

'New Thoughts on Conceptual Engineering' - Introduction to special issue

 Abstract

Conceptual engineering has emerged in recent times as a significant topic in current philosophical literature. The now vast list of references includes works on more general or conceptual issues, such as describing the nature of conceptual engineering, how we may respond to the different objections to it, how it is related to philosophical analysis or empirical philosophy, or toward which target conceptual engineering should be directed, among others. But research on the topic also includes applications of conceptual engineering to many different areas. This Introduction opens with a short overview of the state of the art on conceptual engineering, aiming to clarify the most important features associated with it. The Introduction moves on to introduce and discuss the eight articles collected here, whose topics range from the nature and the functionality of conceptual engineering to reconstructing the entire conceptual engineering practice. Taken as a whole, this special issue is meant to provide enlightening, informative, and thought-provoking views on the topic, its functions, targets, and challenges.

de Donato-Rodríguez, Xavier. 2025. “ Introduction to the Special Issue New Thoughts on Conceptual Engineering.” Metaphilosophy 56(3-4): 283–293. https://doi.org/10.1111/meta.70007

On models, gaps, deficits, neglect

This a.m. I responded to an email from -

the SDOH Listserv at https://listserv.yorku.ca/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=SDOH&A=1

- about a forthcoming book (news to follow). 

I replied, with thoughts (edited) that link to the post earlier today:

On the 'front' - or behind the line(s)?

As a community mental health nurse, I've always recognised (as best I can) the critical, power relation of psychiatry.

This is why I study - champion Hodges' model, because the -

• medical model
• bio-medical
• bio-psycho-social models 

- are all inadequate (in the 21st C. and supposedly post-Institutional care?).*

Inclusion of the 'Political' domain in Hodges' model, is critical in the negotiation between the person and collective.

This is what opens up the wide, expansive 'front' in Hodges' model, where relations can be explored in abstract and concrete terms.

A point I'm currently working through (post - paper?): is it ironic that that education and health have acknowledged and try to mitigate(?) the 'deficit model', but in the very conceptual frameworks / models that these disciplines & professions deploy (esp. medicine?), there is a deficit* - manifest in were we are and how we Care today and tomorrow. This is further aggrevated as capitalism clearly has its way (counter-lobbying the health and care professions)?

*tantamount to neglect?

Despite the pioneering efforts and work of several leaders e.g. Virchow, and fields of medical sociology and public (mental) health.

See also - Joe Wicks: Licensed to Kill Channel 4 UK. 2000hrs 6th October 2025.

'Cereal'

On the 'front' - or behind the line(s)?

In many sources on socio-economics, politics, health policy ... I still note the challenge to represent the INDIVIDUAL and COLLECTIVE within a figure. Of course the author's subject, purpose, the context all influence the final depiction and the message to be conveyed. 

I wonder if Hodges' model can provide a starting point to explore relationships, oppositions, arguments and synergies?

Hodges' model provides an 

expansive and potentially powerful 'front' 

through its horizontal axis 

[ HUMANISTIC ↔ MECHANISTIC ].

This axis - drawn across and through the model vertically, may make it easier(?) to analyse and synthesize the relations at work and produce a diagram?

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC =========================  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

INDIVIDUAL	INDIVIDUAL
GROUP - POPULATION	GROUP - POPULATION

28th Annual International Hybrid Nursing Philosophy Conference, July 22-24, 2026

Join the UC Irvine Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing Center for Nursing Philosophy in association with the International Philosophy of Nursing Society (IPONS) for the 28th International Nursing Philosophy Conference.

The HYBRID conference will take place physically at the University of California, Irvine in sunny, coastal Southern California, USA, as well as virtually via Zoom.

This hybrid, multidisciplinary conference aims to generate conversations between philosophy and nursing through a series of invited panel conversations and events. Cutting-edge peer-reviewed abstract panels on current scholarship and ideas in nursing philosophy will also be featured.

Contacts and site ...

'The Trip' - learning about Kay Parley RIP

Five prompts drew me to BBC Radio's 'The Trip':

1. the ongoing tenor of 'discussion' on twitter;
2. the ongoing history and future development and evolution of psychoactive, psychedelic medicines as treatments, running concurrently, or not with psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions (PSI);
3. being mindful of keeping up-to-date;
4. what is the temperature within critical psychiatry / mental heath / mental illness / well-being?
5. and how does all this 'sit' within Hodges' model?

As a student registered mental heath nurse, we learned about the historical introduction of chlorpromazine and other drugs, the difference they made to 'care' and the side-effects.

Pharmacology is dynamic. Atypical antipsychotics are now available. But this series, as the title confirms is about psychedelics and history from 08:30.

The episode highlights the importance of how sessions are delivered. Key points, given the additional pressures (UK) upon intakes for student nurse places for learning disability and mental health, plus questions about the status of these courses within university-based nurse education. If not already aware, the episode concludes with the role of a mental health nurse who died in May. Have a listen about Kay Parley.

THE TRIP - BBC Radio

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002gqxs

It would have been marvellous to meet, speak to Nurse Parley. The episode has it's objectives of course, but there are values here. We are all test pilots, researchers.

"The American Journal of Nursing February 1964:

No role, is so welcomed on our psychiatric unit, as that of sitting with a patient during LSD therapy. This indicates that the treatment has value." ...

"Kate Parley passed away in May, so our last words will be hers. Words she would say to her patients at Weyburn, all those years ago.

'You are off on a trip with no baggage, no destination and no compass. That's why I'm here. I can't go with you, but I can be your anchor.

Wherever you go, you'll always be able to see me. I'll be the nurse who sits beside your bed. Taking notes and playing your records.

You'll never lose touch with me. Seeing me, you'll know, you are really in hospital and that you'll be back to Earth about 4 o'clock. I will send you signals too, to encourage your explorations.

I will remind you of places you longed to revisit and events you hope to scan.'"

PARLEY, KAY. Supporting the Patient. AJN, American Journal of Nursing 64(2):p 80-82, February 1964. 

https://www.openurses.org/_files/ugd/52de8b_870deaa149e842d286e76131b1321285.pdf

https://andrewpenn.substack.com/p/in-memoriam-kay-parley-rpn-registered

Todd, Betsy MPH, RN. Supporting the Patient on LSD Day. AJN, American Journal of Nursing 121(6):p 42-44, June 2021. | DOI: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000753656.16844.a9 

"Readers! Where exactly does this go?"

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

?	?
?	?

Frankfurt, H. G. (2025). On bullshit. Anniversary Edition. Princeton University Press. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691276786/on-bullshit

'White Coats Vs The White House' c/o BBC World Service

Individual

|

     INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

	WHITE COATS
	WHITE HOUSE

White Coats Vs The White House
The Documentary - 21 August 2025

'What is going on with US science? Science Journalist Roland Pease asks whether the rounds of cuts, reorganisations and political strong-arming can be weathered, and how they will likely affect us all.

80 years after Vannevar Bush proposed what became the pact between government and universities that led to decades of global scientific dominance, is the edifice being toppled?

Bush’s report “Science, The Endless Frontier” led to the unwritten pact between university scientists and government funding that underpinned US leadership until now. “Trust us with the money, we’ll give you the global scientific advantage”.'

continued: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct81nr

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

   Individuals

 

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

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

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

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

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

See also:

How 'divine' is the language of care?

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

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

Are concepts of adolescence from the Global North appropriate for Africa? A debate

'The proponents for the motion argued that adolescence is indeed a distinct developmental phase when puberty is achieved and the neurocognitive development that occurs shapes behaviours that impact health outcomes. This occurs universally, is marked by cultural rites, and recognised in legal frameworks and therefore geographical distinctions in understanding are unnecessary.'

'The opponents argued that adolescence is more than a biological or legally recognised transition to adulthood: instead, concepts, including that of adolescence, are shaped by beliefs, values and expectations founded within a cultural milieu. The concept is dissonant to Africa as it prioritises individualism over communalism, and attributes gender and social roles as accepted in the Global North.'

'Thus, many interventions targeted at adolescents in Africa have remained ineffective. The notion that the concept of adolescence, which originated in the Global North but is universally applied, is a consequence of colonialism giving less value to the lived realities and understandings of peoples from the Global South.

For achieving both epistemic justice and effective health policy and programmes in global health, acknowledgement and centralisation of context are critical. However, in a more interlinked and open world, there is a massive potential for cross-learning and collaboration across geographies to develop a concerted approach to improve the health of adolescents and for a more equitable global health practice.

However, adolescence is also a social entity shaped by beliefs and values within different cultural contexts. A move away from universal, often western-defined concepts of adolescence, to centring the distinct sociocultural factors that shape adolescence in different societies will enable more effective policies and programming.' (Summary box) 

INDIVIDUAL

|

   INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES              

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

 SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL   

|

GROUP

debate (argumentation) mental space, mindset my beliefs values expectations ENCULTURATION Not just NORTH - SOUTH  but WEST - EAST philosophy of mind belief systems "I DID IT MY WAY" individualism

[Hodges' model] 'Health career' - 'life chances'  2018 - scientific symposium Mwanza, Tanzania 'Adolescence is widely defined as a distinct phase in the life-course during which an individual completes their biological development and transitions from childhood to adulthood.' Appropriate for Africa - health interventions and global health policy that are shaped by such concepts can be universally applicable and relevant? geographical distinctions physical place, space, locale biology - neurocognitive - puberty

communalism universal - cultural rites adolescence - global north culture but applied universally 'adolescence is also a social entity shaped by beliefs and values within different cultural contexts' ETHNOLOGY - SOCIO-CULTURAL Gender - social roles The rise of POPULAR CULTURE: Arts - music, film, drama, literature ... media, technology "WE DO IT OUR WAY"?! "Comme d'habitude"

legal - policy Is there a universal conceptual model to critique*: UNIVERSALITY 'GLOBAL HEALTH' UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE HEALTH FOR ALL HEALTH INFORMATION FOR ALL 'COLLECTIVE EMPATHY' EQUITY - EQUALITY ...? In policy can you ignore LONG-LAT? epistemic justice  effective health policy programmes in global health - aimed at adolescents acknowledgement centralisation of context  glocal/global - WHO - national/local

Many thanks to the authors:

Nothando Ngwenya, Chido Dziva Chikwari, Janet Seeley, Rashida Abbas Ferrand - Are concepts of adolescence from the Global North appropriate for Africa? A debate: BMJ Global Health 2023;8:e012614. https://gh.bmj.com/content/8/12/e012614

My source:
https://x.com/chidodc/status/1735564926423277571?s=20

Reminded of 'My Way' :: 'American Graffiti'

*I have long wondered what models of care, models of nursing, nursing and care theories may be found in Africa, across Europe, Asia, South America, Native North America, Australasia and Oceania?  

Is Hodges' model truly global and universal - is it (can a model of care be) culturally neutral? Perhaps, this is another conference debate, or might constitute a special journal issue?

"Hi! I'm new to Hodges' model - and this blog - what's it about?"

INDIVIDUAL

|

   INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES              

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

 SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL   

|

GROUP

The model was created in the early - mid 1980's with four purposes in mind - to facilitate: 1. reflection & develop reflective practitioners; 2. person-centred, integrated (holistic) care; 3. help bridge the theory-practice gap; 4. curriculum design, planning and development. This was prompted by the change in the UK to university-based nurse education, which was to commence in (Project) 2000. Learning and applying Hodges' model in 1987-88, and creating a website 1998-2015, I am clearly invested in Hodges' model and biased, questions and debate are welcome. Created by Brian E.

Hodges' model is a generic framework -  a conceptual framework. This model is situated, as 'generic' suggests which means of course it is universal. If you've a problem, scenario forthcoming project, or one that is nearing completion Hodges' model can assist in reflection and critical thinking to plan, scope, or evaluate as per your purpose. This blog has posts about papers, events that interest me (PJ), plus many posts using this two-by-two table approach that suggests how the model can be applied in a variety of contexts. This blog also has a bibliography and template in the sidebar.

Hodges^ As noted previously (and last month!), it is marvellous to hear news of a paper citing Hodges' model. If you are planning a piece of writing, research and believe that Hodges' model may be of help please get in touch. If you don't and can see merit in Hodges' model asit is presented, that is fine also. In fact, although I mention collaboration unique - untainted perspectives are probably much needed. Learning of a citation after publication is great news and encouragement. This could and should be an amazing community: Welcome to the QUAD Thank you for your visit and interest. Any questions pleased to try to help: h2cmng AT yahoo.co.uk

As a nurse who trained in learning disability, Brian Hodges was acutely aware of the political in health care, the role of the institutions and the aspiration of community-based and person-centred care. Yes, you can use the model. It is open source.  All we* ask is that you cite and credit the source. With the 'politics of health' much in mind there are many papers to write on the model that includes: reflection; person-centredness; integration of care; self care TO planetary health FROM ?; Inter- multi- transdisciplinary in Hodges' model; A model of healthcare viewed mathematically: Surely you're joking Mr Hodges? This blog started in 2006, the template is dated, comments are disabled. A new site - repository is needed.

*In Brian's memory too : Brian E. Hodges (1942-2022) RIP^

Moving Online Symposium: 30th Jan 2025 - Coventry University, UK

In recent years, there has been increased attention paid to the ownership of dance. There has been important work done in the area of dance and copyright¹ as well as the examination of the way ownership is managed via social norms through the ‘commons’² and as a form of ‘gift’.³  The increased circulation of dance online through archives, video platforms and social media sites has led to multiple debates about the copying and re-embodiment of dances,⁴ reigniting important conversations about appropriation, acknowledgment and credit.⁵ At the same time, there has been a flourishing of work on dance and performance ontology. For example, long-standing debates about the ephemerality of dance and performance have been reframed through discussions about the ‘post-ephemeral’⁶and materiality.⁷ There have also been new perspectives offered on questions about the nature of dances and the way in which they exist.^8,9

The Moving Online symposium explores how these two areas intersect in the context of online dance and performance. The event builds on and shares the findings from Moving Online: Ontology and Ownership of Internet Dance (the project and event is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant number AH/W01002X/1]).

The register for this event please complete this form. The draft schedule is available here.

The event is free to attend. We are offering limited number of £150 bursaries to support travel and participation by freelance artists. More information is available here. Deadline for applications 8th January 2025.

The symposium is taking place in-person at Coventry University. We plan to live stream some of the panels. If you would like to join the live stream, please select this option on the registration form.

For more information about Moving Online please see here and follow the project on X: @MovingOnlineCU and/or Instagram: @movingonlinecu

Please contact Hetty Blades with any questions: hetty.blades AT coventry.ac.uk

For notes and references please see here

Previously: 'dance' : 'movement' : 'ownership'

My source: 

Philos-L "The Liverpool List" is run by the Department of Philosophy, University of Liverpool https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/philosophy/philos-l/ Messages to the list are archived at http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/philos-l.html. Follow the list on Twitter @PhilosL.

Follow the Department of Philosophy @LiverpoolPhilos 

"No argument, we should teach critical thinking" by Julian Richer

Spring and summer reading includes Our Housing Disaster. Julian Richer's weekly column in the Sunday Times is very interesting; business yes, but socially oriented and positive in the values conveyed.

I'm 100 pages into The Systems View of Life, posts to follow, but before getting to OHD, I noticed another of Richer's columns:

#36 "No argument, we should teach critical thinking"

Sunday 14th July 2024

"... all the successful bosses I’ve ever worked with encourage an open flow of communications in all directions (internally — up, down, across — and with the outside world, too) with no taboos. They try to surround themselves with good people who can see the world independently, draw their own conclusions and have the confidence to express their ideas."

"It’s very difficult to craft a culture of critical thinking and open debate in a business unless it’s been taught at school, as our parents tend to be more stuck in their ways. Unfortunately, schools spend so much time on teaching and testing reading, and particularly writing, that they don’t have enough time to teach thinking and speaking. These require practice, too. And they are also very important life and business skills."

 

The discussion on Parallel Histories reminds me of philosophical talk, virtue-seeking is not enough. It needs to applied practically, if it is to make a difference.

 

"An added benefit is that kids who have learnt calm and reasoned debate will use this knowledge to help them in their adult life. Certainly, those going on to join the business world will be very pleased to have received these negotiating and people skills, both essential."

Hodges' model provides a structure for reflection, reflective practice, and critical thinking and inevitably light-weight can be carried as lifelong learning resource and tool.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Individual
   |

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

 SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

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Group

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Homicide in England and Wales: year ending March 2023 -

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

ImROC: Briefing Paper 24 - Recovering Adult Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Wards

"Explanation, compassion and a holistic understanding of the person’s situation are critical (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2017)." p.39.

(my emphasis)

"It requires practitioners to critically reflect on their values, beliefs, and biases and actively work to reduce as far as is possible the oppressive systems and practices within inpatient wards." p.15.

What models / frameworks for/of care do practitioners use? 

What models invite - are primed for:

• critical reflection (individually, or as a group, p.56)?
• recognition of oppressive situations, phenomena, ethical dilemmas?
• citizenship - citizenry (p.18)?
• deciding whether it is a journey, or not?
• a possible role in burnout (p.54) mitigation?
• reflection, development, and restoration (p.56)?
• are all models situated?

Individual
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HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

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neurotypical neurodivergent/autistic [Yes.] Can what has been stressed for decades - compassion, listening, validating, empathy, rapport, the therapeutic alliance, seeing the person ... in mental health nurse education, theory and practice, be strengthened through review of skill-mix, and workforce? Whilst, in-turn, being sensitive to the pressures on mental health RNs, as cohorts of students, seek to assure their learning experiences; and as qualified nurses old and new seek to protect their professional identity, values, standards, and ethics - responsive to the demands of the 21st century.

close to home transport physical environment: noise, smells, space, decor, light.. While (originally?) aimed at elective in-patient care, the mantra of discharge planning begins upon admission (even before) has reached mental health services and community mental health teams. Even as the reduced number of beds (perversely) provides ideal conditions, this should (must) not mean the 'game' becomes 'pass the parcel', 'musical chairs' - the person lost in the many processes.

Hell is other people - as the saying goes ... When the therapeutic value and potential of relationships are recognised, the need for a tool to identify and critique what is relational is even more critical. Not just to realise what has long-been psycho-social, but the 'alt-def' of person-centred. This demands simultaneity in assurance. We contrast the humanistic with the mechanistic - service-centred. Let's not forget the need for integrated** care. See community/society as the safety net it can be. So DO NOT: raise a patient's / family's expectations (p.49) only to let them down.

least restrictive Let's not re-learn the lessons of history, but if you insist...?^ One mention of (social) 'determinants' (p.37)! Please take a look out of the [safety] window; and beyond the APPG Committee room...  Wither ambition, courage in policy - to discover what is evidence-based (the lesson since 5th July 1948)? In-patient care is too late.* For sustainable health services and systems we need to act sooner, educate, to try to address all the determinants. Please remember what 'you' (through policy..) have done to the patient as a concept: patiency. <- Recovery carries political heft.

Please remember what 'you' (through policy..) have done to the patient as a concept: patiency. Recovery carries political heft. No one wants to create, foster, instill dependency, but (emotional labour) care delivery demands space and time: being with, or at least available.

*If this was the guiding principle for all disciplines, stakeholders, policymakers, researchers could this:

• place emphasis (again) on prevention; staying well - relapse prevention;
• help generate alternate modalities for therapy / care;
• help concentrate services to deliver person-centred, recovery and trauma informed in-patient experiences - where therapeutic outcomes are  at least feasible/possible;
• begin from literacy-first stance: take up educational focus in schools - PSHE, work-place;
• health career - life chances?

**physical-mental, care context, philosophy of care - trauma - recovery - strengths, funding, disciplines, pastoral, health - social care - housing ...

^Dept. of Health. Caring for people: the CPA for people with a mental illness referred to specialist mental health services. London: 1990

Joint Health/Social Services Circular  C(90)23/LASSL(90)11

Rachel Perkins, Sharon Gibbard, Yasmin Blackwood, Simon Barnitt, Lowri Smith, Anna Cheetham, Poppy Repper, Anne Rackham, Ben Dorey, Jo Luck, Julie Repper. Recovering Adult Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Wards: Creating Recovery-Focused, Trauma-Informed and Neuro-Inclusive Culture, Relationships and Practice. ImROC. Briefing Paper 24. 2024.


See also:

ImROC (2023) Thinking about Recovery Together

ImROC (2023a) Team Recovery Implementation Plan for Acute Inpatient Wards

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

Warrender, D., Connell, C., Jones, E., Monteux, S., Colwell, L., Laker, C. et al. (2024) Mental health deserves better: Resisting the dilution of specialist pre-registration mental health nurse education in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 33, 202–212. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.13236

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

'Slugfields Luxury Prison' c/o Isabel Rock - artist

"In November 2022, I spent a month on remand at HMP Bronzefield for my part in the Just Stop Oil protests on the M25. I was happy to go to prison for something I know is morally right. Drawing in prison became my saviour against the monotony. I rarely draw from life anymore, but we were given a little notebook in our 'welcome' bags of grey tracksuits, pastel pants and toothbrush." p.19.

"This drawing is Slugfields Luxury Prison, (152×120cm) the institutional blue doors, plastic chairs, toilet in the corner and the panoptican architecture mirror that of Bronzefields. It's not quite finished yet, but it's been a cathartic experience to draw some of my thoughts on prison life and incarceration by the state." Instagram (and image source).

INDIVIDUAL
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	Slugfields Luxury Prison, (152×120cm) by Isabel Rock

Rock, I., 'Drawn Behind Bars' PRINTMAKING TODAY, Autumn 2023, Cello Press Ltd. Volume 32, Issue 127, p.19-21.

With thanks to Isabel Rock.