Two one-day events in September: BCS SPECIALIST GROUP ON AI

BCS SPECIALIST GROUP ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (BCS-SGAI)

 

There are two one-day SGAI events arranged for September, both at the British Computer Society London office (near Moorgate underground station).

 

Trustworthiness and Safety in Generative AI - Friday September 11th 2026

https://www.bcs-sgai.org/genai2026/

 

Real AI 2026 - Friday September 25th 2026

https://www.bcs-sgai.org/realai2026/

 

There are online registration forms available from the event websites.

 

Trustworthiness and Safety in Generative AI - Friday September 11th 2026

Despite impressive breakthroughs in capabilities across text, vision, audio, and multimodal reasoning, current generative models remain prone to unpredictable failures and exhibit unresolved challenges in alignment, grounding, and robustness techniques, including hallucinations, instability under distribution shift, hidden internal representations, and limited theoretical understanding of how large‑scale models encode and propagate knowledge. This colloquium aims to create a forum for discussing cutting edge advances and emerging challenges in the trustworthiness and safety of generative AI.

 

The talks will include:

• Beyond the Pixel: Trustworthy and Safe Generative AI for Medical Image Quality Transfer
• Spoofing Deep Leakage Attacks in Federated Learning
• Can We Trust the Voice on the Line? Robust Audio Deepfake Detection from Real-World Calls to the First “Hi”
• The Scenic Route to Deception: Dark Patterns and Explainability Pitfalls in Conversational Navigation
• Differential Adjusted Parity for Learning Fair Representations
• Decision-theoretic uncertainty quantification in generative deep learning
• Zero Trust Architectures for Secure Multi-Agent AI Systems: From Identity to Collaboration Integrity

Registration fee: £50 (plus VAT) for BCS and SGAI members and £90 (plus VAT) for others. This includes attendance at the event, lunch and refreshments.

Students and unwaged: £35 (plus VAT).  Group discounts are also available.

 

Real AI 2026 - Friday September 25th 2026

This event is aimed less at deep AI specialists and more at those who may be interested in understanding what AI can offer, and what it is doing right now. The event will feature talks from leading exponents and case studies outlining practical applications of AI from a wide range of application domains. Plenty of time has been allowed in the programme for discussion.

 

The talks will include:

• Evolving the SDLC: Our Journey Towards Agentic Software Engineering
• Robotics in the Age of AI: Adoption, Illusion and Direction of Travel
• Is Judgement Uniquely Human?
• Agent Trust and Coordination in Autonomous Multi-Agent Cyber Defence Systems
• Agentic AI: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – Three Real-World Use Cases

Registration fee: £90 (plus VAT) for BCS and SGAI members and £110 (plus VAT) for others. This includes attendance at the event, lunch and refreshments.

Students and unwaged: £50 (plus VAT).  Group discounts are also available.

 

Max Bramer, Chair, BCS-SGAI 

bcs-sgai.org

[And my source.]

Reading group: Kantian Justice - KantianDESERT

Dear all,

The KantianDESERT project's reading group will return on Tuesday 11th August, from 12-1:30 UK time. We will be starting to read Joseph de la Torre Dwyer's 2020 book 'Chance, Merit, and Economic Inequality'. The first session will focus on the Introduction and chapter 2.

The reading group will take place both in-person in Liverpool, and online via Teams. All are welcome. Please email: erc.kantiandesert.ukri AT liverpool.ac.uk if you'd like to attend and we can send you the room details/invite/reading.

My source: Kantian DESERT list and Philos-L "The Liverpool List". Messages to the Philos-L are archived at 
http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/archives/philos-l.html. Follow the list on Twitter @PhilosL. Follow the Department of Philosophy @LiverpoolPhilos

[n.b. With apologies for short-notice. PJ ].

Arriving at Hodges' model via guided discovery ...

Following Brian Hodges’ lead in his notes, I have engaged a great many learners with a guided discussion through the following questions:

Questions	Answers	Outcome/Significance
Who do we care for?	The person, individual, patient, client, carer.The group, family, community, national/global population. The 'duty of care'. The Planet.	It is the individual (guardian) who consents to care. The subject at the top of the vertical axis of Hodges’ model is first identified. It is the person who consents to care (or their guardian); then the group occupies the bottom of the vertical axis.
What do we do to help deliver care?	We attempt - complete tasks and interact in ways that are both mechanistic and humanistic. We use procedures, equipment, devices, technologies, physical interventions; and the self – empathy, rapport listening, being present. Team work with effective communication, coordination and collaboration are also essential.	To care is to act. The horizontal axis is added, with humanistic to the reader’s left; and mechanistic to the right. The axes are then complete, revealing the model’s ‘fixed’ structure. Interdisciplinary can be identified and further discussed.
What skills and knowledge do we need to care for the individual, family and populations?	Here we are concerned with the content of the given situation. This can encompass the whole curriculum and acknowledges experiential learning.	The epistemological and ontological scope and scale of health is revealed from self to planet. The importance of context and situation can be stressed. Including first-aid and its rules and risk assessment. Discussion visits and demonstrates the significance of each of the domains of Hodges’ model and the spiritual to participants. The relevance of Hodges' model to the 21st century, as a bio-psycho-socio-POLITICAL model is emphasised.

Previously: 'Hodges' model'.

Interviews, playwriting, and clinical encounters: pause for breath - Roger Lewin

It can be surprising how you know something. Something that should be obvious to you. It's your 'Bread and Butter' as the saying goes. And yet for a variety of reasons, you persist in not seeing it, or you frame it in a way that ultimately reveals a bias, influence, and may even mask several aspects of truth. It might be the influence of work over four decades plus. Sitting down, or frequently finally getting out for a walk after several weeks of nudging, in a one-to-one therapeutic context. Or, ever since secondary school, that distant performed encounter with the Crucible. And, more recently as 'Ken', a Post Office subpostmaster and his wife (a brief 10-12 mins), and over the years a desire to write dialogue.

Reviews of Roger Lewin's Complexity, vary in their conclusions about the book's quality. No surprise there, but reading the book it was a revelation to see the method: a series of interviews and the resulting dialogues. 

'In this revision of his book originally published in 1992, Roger Lewin explains what the science of complexity is all about through interviews with some of its most important practitioners (and critics) organized around some of the central ideas. As such this is both a fine introduction to the subject and an interesting read. Lewin includes 16 pages of photos of the scientists he interviewed captioned with a significant quote from each. He has added an afterword on the application of complexity science to business, and an appendix about John Holland, whom he dubs, "Mr. Emergence."

"Everything works toward an ecology" is an old dictum of mine. I have the sense that I came up with that myself, but I probably read it somewhere years ago. At any rate, what is being said here is that complex systems work toward a state of equilibrium near a transition phase, near "the edge of chaos." This equilibrium can be an ecology (Darwin's "tangled web"); indeed it can be the entire planet, as in the concept of Gaia in which "the Earth's biological and physical systems are tightly coupled in a giant homeostatic system" (quoting Stuart Kauffman on page 109).'

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/384547.Complexity

There's nothing profound in this post, and yet this melange of interviews, playwriting, and clinical encounters gives me pause for breath.

Previously: 'Our broken sticks' c/o Roger Lewin "Complexity: life at the edge of chaos"

Progress? In the age of uncertainty

INDIVIDUAL

|

 INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

	The Age of
	Uncertainty

'Over a relaxed weekend, a distinguished international gathering at John Kenneth Galbraith's Vermont farm offer their views on the themes outlined in the series and on other major anxieties facing the modern world.' 

BBC iPlayer
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002l708/the-age-of-uncertainty-series-1-13-13-weekend-in-vermont

Rain, Library, and a Poem on a Neon Line

'It is raining in the library,

and leaking between theory and practice.'

Rain by Faroese poet and novelist Carl Jóhan Jensen

My source: BBC Radio 4 The Verb. Poetry and performance with Ian McMillan.

8th June 2025. 1710-1750. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002d88g

Previously: 'theory' : 'practice' : 'library' : 'poetry'

Is it? Can it be? An elevator pitch!

How many times have people asked me?

"If you were to explain Hodges' model as an elevator pitch what would you say?"

So, what would it be?

I wrote this on twitter and think it's a step in the right direction - domains: 

There is -

              *Person, self, individual ..

*Other(s), collective, pop.. 

      (a) person has MIND & BODY (for now!) 

(a) person is supported by ALL Others 

We call this Humanity

For the majority all bridges *cognitively* accessible:

  https://hodges-model.blogspot.com 

n.b. Politicians, policy makers

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

Dear women’s health champions and allies,

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

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

08 March 2025 from 6-9 pm

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

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

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

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

UN Building, Corridor 1B

10-21 March 2025

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

Attached is the flyer with additional information.

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

Many thanks and best regards,

Merette Khalil (she/her)
PUSH Campaign Lead

PUSH Campaign: PUSH for Midwives (pushcampaign.org)

International Confederation of Midwives (ICM)

The global voice of midwives • The Hague • The Netherlands

Email: m.khalil AT internationalmidwives.org

Website: www.internationalmidwives.org

European Public Health Week - Health is a political choice!

European Public Health Week

13-17 May 2024

Health is a political choice! 

"The European Public Health Week (EUPHW) 2024 will focus on the overarching topic - Health is a political choice! - highlighting the interplay between politics and health to create sustainable change for better health in the future. 

We will open the dialogue online and in person in Brussels on Monday, May 13, at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, discussing how to integrate health into the political agenda effectively. We will address health within the context of crises and explore the concepts of a well-being economy and politics. Additionally, we'll delve into the importance of community participation in health politics, implementing Health-in-All-Policies, and the broader application of health considerations across all policy areas. This day aims to set the stage for a week of fruitful discussions, laying the groundwork for actionable insights and strategies to ensure health is prioritised across all levels of political decision-making. Stay tuned for more information on this event!. ..."

INDIVIDUAL
|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

Mental health Self-esteem Personal and Cultural Identity Sense of security: Crisis <> Peace Public mental health & well-being Individual health literacy	Planetary health Global pandemics - Local inequities Environment - Cities, Rural, Remote Pollution control Evidence (across policy contexts) Nutrition local, glocal, global [Geo*]
Social policy Housing: Climate/Demographic mitigation Healthy societies, Living alone, Families Inclusive communities Social media - Information provenance	Elections - National/International *Politics Economics Policy, Regulation Health systems Yes, health is a political choice!

HIFA Discussion: Alcohol Use Disorders - Drink Aware and Change

Dear HIFA colleagues,

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

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

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

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

DrinkAware is funded by the alcohol industry.

Thank you for your help to publicise this issue.

Best wishes, Neil

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

To which I replied:

RT'd as requested.. 

Reply from twitter ... 

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

— Ash Paul (@pash22) February 27, 2024

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

UPDATE 10th March

Dear HIFA colleagues,

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

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

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

There was no advice to reduce my consumption.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEXT STEPS

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

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

Meanwhile I shall report this new finding to WHO.

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

Best wishes, Neil

Finally ...

Dear HIFA colleagues,

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

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

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

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

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

Many thanks, Neil

HIFA Discussion: Alcohol Use Disorders - Language 'being drunk'

----- Forwarded message -----
From: Peter Jones, UK <hifa AT hifaforums.org>
To: HIFA - Healthcare Information For All <hifa AT hifaforums.org>
Sent: Sunday, 25 February 2024 at 06:35:47 GMT
Subject: [hifa] Alcohol Use Disorders (86)

This morning on Times Radio UK, Hugo Rifkind 1000-1300 from 10.58:30 UTC:

 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/radio/show/20240224-26978/2024-02-24 

- there was mention of research in Germany on language, finding that there are over 540 words for 'drunkenness' being drunk. Apparently, the key is adding -ed to many words.

https://www.research-in-germany.org/idw-news/en_US/2024/2/2024-02-19__I_m_gonna_get_totally_and_utterly_X-ed.__OR__Can_you_really_use_any_English_word_to_mean__drunk__

This stood out for me as Hodges' model can potentially encompass the full corpus of a language, with the various contexts in which language is applied/used.

Significant of course informationally, in evidence-based practice, and research, were 'definition of terms' are (usually?) essential.

Also reminded of national variation in clinical/medical terminology. Scottish slang for injection includes 'jag'.

For health communication and HIFA, clearly language is fundamental and presents a real 'can of worms' (sorry!) in sense-making, creating 'noise' in the communication channels.

Should health services/systems effect a (gradual) change (shift) of emphasis to education and prevention - with the requisite policy support (utopic?) then this will need to be addressed.

In checking this news, it appears Germany has a more acute problem with alcohol. Can anyone 'local' - please shed any light on this?

I will post again about the HIFA discussion with a week ... left and highlight the above.

Many thanks

Peter Jones
Community Mental Health Nurse and Researcher
CMHT, Prescott House, Salford NW England, UK (Mon-Tues)
Blogging at "Welcome to the QUAD"
http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/h2cm

h2cmuk AT yahoo.co.uk

Questions in eclipse

 Last Friday 9th I had a Zoom chat for 30 mins, regards Hodges' model with faculty in the USA.

We touched upon:

• background to Hodges' model
• courses taught across the water and interests
• overlaps, inc. person-centered care - socio-technical
• informatics & literacies
• maths/logic

As an outcome it was suggested I forward some questions I'm currently of Hodges' model. Questions that for me, are challenging, put me in the dark, and may not even be valid?

Going through my draft notes I picked out 20, beginning with the working title:

Hodges’ Model as a mathematical object and relational ontology:
category theory or category mistake?

1. Can it be argued there is what amounts to a care locus - that can 'locate' person-centredness?
   
   
2. Can the model's domains be seen as functions?
   
   
3. Are the domains placeholders?
   
   
4. Is there a case to test, and if logical implement co-domains (e.g. parity of esteem)?
   
   
5. Are there other 'structures' in Hodges' model,  for example L-shaped forms, that is relations that involve three domains and (seemingly) omit one?
   
   
6. Are there practical - case studies - that can be associated with such structures?
   
   
7. Can Hodges' model be considered as a single conceptual space (Gärdenfors), or a series of four? (blog posts)
   
   
8. Can Hodges' model be used to identify and apply threshold concepts (Meyer & Land)? (blog posts)
   
   
9. Can we argue that the structure of Hodges’ model as defined by the axes extent, provides and invites inverse relations?
   
   
10. Is Hodges' model as a structure only (a template) equivalent to an empty set (empty set as an initial object)?
11. Is this a mathematical analogue (being neutral) to a practitioner's unconditional positive regard?
    
    
12. Taking its axes and four (care/knowledge) domains can Hodges' model be reduced to a graph?
    
    
13. If Hodges' model acknowledges/incorporates Cartesian duality, are there Cartesian products?
    
    
14. In these Cartesian products are critical operations, e.g. relating to psychotropics - physical health; eating disorder - physical/mental health; complex emotional needs - policy (evidence-based care)?
    
    
15. If the model is inverted, mirrored ... what follows: is the structure - function - consistency retained?

    
    
16. Is Hodges' model 'closed' in comparison with Buzan's (open?) approach to mind-mapping?
    
    
17. There is an 'equation of time': is there an 'equation of care'?
    
    
18. Thought experiments: (semantic distance... cognitive linguistics)
    
    

    Which concept (INTERPERSONAL :: SCIENCES) is closer to the ‘INDIVIDUAL’ axes; which is closest to the ‘GROUP’ (SOCIOLOGY :: POLITICAL)?

    
    

    Which concept (SOCIOLOGY :: INTERPERSONAL) is closer to the HUMANISTIC axes; which is closest to the MECHANISTIC (SCIENCES :: POLITICAL)?

    
    
19. Role of 'types' in Hodges' model - that is, patient / model as a whole as objects (with identity)?
    
    
20. What significance can be gleaned given commonality between several mathematical terms, e.g. group, object, (co-)domain and Hodges' model?

I can no doubt structure - group these questions, and I've not picked out many concerned with Hodges' model as a set, or, as yet, those venturing into category theory. I am wondering, what the commutative law might tell us about holistic, integrated care, and parity of esteem when applied through Hodges' model? Also refining 3-4 case examples to explore and illustrate the same?

While it is maths that prompts this diversion, perhaps ultimately health care disciplines can determine its own formal approach that can produce its own context-sensitive rules, that straddle mathematics/logic and the humanities?

In initial emails, I'd noted the forthcoming eclipse across the USA. Checking, my interlocutor is just N of the path of totality (I wish!) for April's total eclipse. I'm enjoying the darkness here too.

https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/

#TotalEclipse2024 #SolarEclipse2024

HIFA Discussion: Alcohol Use Disorders (37) Do people understand the harms of alcohol? (9) How can they be better informed? (5)

Further to the post on 1st February 2024:

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

- I have f/w some reflections (edited here). You may have your own experiences, skills, knowledge to contribute?

<>

As a teenager you were very aware of peer pressure (as a social expectation) to drink. Is it an acquired taste?

The media played a key role - advertising "Tetley Bitter-men", "Double Diamond - works wonders", Babycham, Advocaat, Martini Rosso .. and many of the popular TV series we consumed (pardon the pun).

Getting in the pub AND served was a right of passage - and a rather 'tame' one for a white, male.

In the family the harms and risks of alcohol were explained. 

Sometimes they were demonstrated at parties, weddings, the aunt, uncle - relative who was notorious for having too much.

Studying literature at school did have a role to play - although less directly.

Although on reflection when there were school assemblies I wonder if 'drink' (Church of England) was mentioned?
Interesting perhaps - the change in daily school routine.

I remember at a birthday party for a fellow class pupil at a social club, the birthday boy was sick all over the table - yes - had been drinking.

Tempered my attitude early on - c.15.

As a nursing asst. and student nurse you realised the other - dark - side. The key being the contradiction that alcohol represents:

• Drink to relax, socialise, be friendly, enjoy yourself;
• Impact of your health, risk of addiction, violence, (brewer's droop was an early lesson - tho not practically);
• IF YOU develop a drink problem then you're on your own and so is your family (there are of course agencies in developed nations - but the funding disparity - as in, gambling, tobacco?).

In a 'local' - public house - pub it was known in 1970s for some regulars (invariably men) to down c.12 (more?) pints in a night - even after drinking hours: they were heavy goods vehicle drivers.

---------
I may have posted before - how in 1987-88 I completed a study of alcohol (intervention) teams, Preston, Salford, Blackburn here in NW England. The consultant psychiatrist made a key point about the (much debated even then) use of economic levers to help reduce alcohol consumption.

Scotland have just updated their intervention:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/08/scotland-raises-minimum-alcohol-prices-by-almost-one-third

As a student nurse - I was already aware of some of the inorganic molecules that have been found in space: the original primordial soup!

The chemical names still remind me of a chemical plant, such as the former ICI plant at Widnes / Runcorn, Cheshire, England, e.g.:

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/heavy-industry-panorama-night-panoramic-view-chemical-plant-refinery-blue-sky-illumination-some-freight-85481422.jpg

This in-turn takes me to the miracle that is the liver - the biological chemical plant - with a potential powerful message in how 'alcohol' is broken down:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6527027/

Sometimes insight into this can work wonders in terms of motivation for change - the facts - not trying to scare (waste of time)...?

Which brings me to the obvious 'contradiction' in caring for people with a primary / secondary problem with alcohol.

Having a liver function test.

If it's OK that *means* I can carry on!!

I have over the years developed what imho I consider to be potentially therapeutic relationships with patients affected by alcohol.

I say potentially as I, with supervision, have had to withdraw input and discharge them. Even if the client can't 'draw the line', you cannot support the patient in their damaging alcohol consumption and related behaviours. The offer of further support was offered, with signposts should there be a change of  mind.

Alcohol, tobacco - vapes, the 'mental pollution' that can be passed as legitimate 'advertising', fake news ... still calls for a generic model, a universal conceptual framework for personal and global health - across literacies and forms of informatics:

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

Just to close I saw an item (I will try to find...) on the preponderance of 'smoking' in films 1940s - present day.

Still a problem now.

Of course: advocacy for health requires constant vigilance.

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

Dear all on HIFA,

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

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

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

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

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

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

With thanks, Neil

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

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

Learning for quality health services: A new thematic discussion on HIFA

The WHO Global Learning Laboratory (GLL) for Quality UHC and Healthcare Information For All (HIFA.org) are delighted to announce a new thematic discussion on HIFA: Learning for quality health services. The discussion starts on 28 June and will continue through to 20 August.

Quality of health services is critical to achieving universal health coverage (UHC): Between 5.7 and 8.4 million deaths are attributed to poor quality care each year in low- and middle-income countries, accounting for up to 15% of overall deaths in these countries. Improving access to health services must go hand in hand with improving the quality of these services. There is an urgent need to place quality at the centre of national-, district- and facility-level actions in order to progress towards UHC.

The discussion will explore in depth the following questions:

- What does quality of care mean to you, in your particular context? Why is it important to make the case for quality of care?

- From your experience, what might work best to enhance national commitment to quality of care? Have you seen any practical solutions that should be shared wider?

- From your experience, what are the biggest challenges for district health managers in tackling quality of care issues? Have you seen any practical solutions that should be shared wider?

- From your experience, what are the biggest challenges for improving quality of care at the facility level? Have you seen any practical solutions that should be shared wider?

Please forward this message to your contacts and networks and invite everyone to join us!

https://www.hifa.org/news/learning-quality-health-services-new-thematic-discussion-hifa

www.hifa.org/joinhifa

We have more than 60 HIFA members volunteering for this project. Also, we are introducing for the first time the concept of HIFA Catalysts, whose role is to stimulate comment and debate. We look forward to a rich discussion!

HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, neil AT hifa.org www.hifa.org

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Mapping some points to Hodges' model:

individual
|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

SAFETY cognitive access QUALITY of CARE quantity of CARE health literacy mental health	SAFETY faculty - facilities physical access QUANTITY of CARE quality of CARE distance rural : urban Between 5.7 and 8.4 million deaths are attributed to poor quality care each year ... accounting for up to 15% of overall deaths in these countries
PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS	low- and middle-income countries national commitment to quality of care Universal Health Coverage

Q. What is Hodges' model? A. It is NOT a 2x2 matrix.

Regular visitors / readers of W2tQ will be familiar with this rendering of Hodges' model:

 

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group - population

The separation of axes and domains above is contrived to overcome some of the limitations of HTML.

An image can re-solve and integrate to show the model as intended:

Hodges' model: The axes and domains

 

 Moving on to read and review Lowy and Hood's book on The Power of the 2x2 Matrix two chapters in there are already (yet again) rich rewards and two questions I ask myself...

1. On their own what exactly are the axes? 

 

 

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group - population

 

2. The same question can be asked of the care (knowledge) domains as labelled: what are they? 

 

INTRA- INTERPERSONAL	SCIENCES
SOCIOLOGY	POLITICAL

 

More to follow ...

Alex Lowy, Phil Hood (2004) The Power of the 2 x 2 Matrix: Using 2 x 2 Thinking to Solve Business Problems and Make Better Decisions, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass ISBN: 978-1-118-00879-9

 

a Book by two Fathers on "Grief, Guilt and Hope"

Il Nous Reste Les Mots (We Still Have Words) 

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group - population

My source:
BBC Radio 4, PM, 13 January 2020.

Discussion: "Reflecting on Health, Well-Being and Staying Well"

c/o Josh Bailey, Bailey's Grill

6th February 2020 2pm
30-60 mins plus discussion

Bailey's Grill and Bar CIC
25 Heath Road
Ashton-in-Makerfield
WN4 9HH
United Kingdom

This interactive session will, with the audience, generate a framework to help us individually reflect upon our own health and the health of others, whether family members, or as a health / social care professional.

It might help (not essential) to bring a pen and some paper.

The gravitas of Groups - and inertia

INDIVIDUAL
|

INTER-PERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

 GROUP 

talk green	walk the talk
'X' marks the spot the impact of inertia elsewhere	Group of Twenty Group of Eight Group of Seven

the G20 and other G's

despite their nomenclature

do they recognise the gravity of the situation?

the road is long

time is short

life is the essence

and the 'road' part of the problem ...

On Wikipedia:
Group of Seven
Group of Eight
Group of Twenty

Threshold Concepts: TCS discussion list and CATCH

TCS discussion list JISC

This list is a forum for continuing discussion on threshold concepts and builds on the many fruitful and engaging conversations started by colleagues across the globe at the bi-annual threshold concepts conferences and other events.

CATCH

(Collaborating around Threshold Concepts in Health) Special Interest Group

- set up by Hilary Neve (Plymouth) and Linda Martindale (Dundee). CATCH have a website/e-mail list, blog, and focused meetings. https://healththresholds.wordpress.com/

Thanks to Julie Rattray & Sarah Meek.

See also:

Inaugural Scottish Threshold Concepts Conference: TCs in Action [i]
Inaugural Scottish Threshold Concepts Conference: TCs in Action [ii]
Inaugural Scottish Threshold Concepts Conference: TCs in Action [iii]
Threshold Concepts: Reflection on chaos, complexity and AI