World Health Congress 2027 Prague - 20-22 August

Dear Friends,

The World Health Congress 2027 Prague is a global professional gathering focused on traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM/CAM) and evidence-based medicine (EBM).

Under the motto “Health Knows No Boundaries – Let Us Seek a Common Path,” the congress provides a platform for professionals to come together, share knowledge and experience, engage in professional dialogue, and foster international cooperation in healthcare.

The previous congress attracted more than 1,000 participants from 50 countries worldwide and brought together prominent experts and organizations.

If you are considering actively participating in the 5th World Health Congress 2027 Prague, to be held from 20–22 August 2027, and are planning to submit an abstract for your presentation, please give some thought to the following four questions. They reflect the direction envisioned for the upcoming Congress. This direction will also be embodied in the Congress’s concluding document, the Prague Declaration.

1. How can we build bridges between TCIM and EBM in healthcare?
2. How does your contribution help advance TCIM?
3. If you have participated in one of our previous congresses, what new perspectives does your presentation offer compared with your previous presentation?
4. What is the future of TCIM, and what strategies would you propose for the way forward?

Abstract submissions are now open. You can submit your abstract here:

ABSTRACTS

Warm greetings from Prague,

Tomas Pfeiffer
President of the 5th World Health Congress 2027 Prague
Soukenicka 21, 110 00 Prague 1
Czech Republic
www.whc2027prague.com 

Director
Institute for TCIM/CAM 

e-mail: info AT itcim.org
www.itcim.org

n.b. I have had some problems accessing the site - 'new domain'.

Celebrating Black History Month with the RCN NW Multicultural Group

From Allyship to Action: Building an Inclusive, Anti-Racist Future for Nursing

22 Oct 2026, 10:00 - 16:00
6 Mount Street, , Manchester, M2 5NS

Free

Book onto our celebration for Black History Month.

Join us for a full day at the Friend's Meeting House in Manchester to celebrate Black History Month!

North west members are invite to join us in celebration alongside the RCN President, who is making a special trip to Manchester to join us for part of the day.  This year we will be exploring the theme: From Allyship to Action: Building an Inclusive, Anti-Racist Future for Nursing.

The event, organised by the member-led North West Multicultural Group, will hear from speakers including:

Estephanie Dunn: Non-Executive Director of the Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN)

Estephanie will discuss exceptionalism and how intentional and unintentional actions can negatively impact equity, inclusion and belonging in healthcare. Her session will encourage reflection on bias, challenge inequitable practices, and promote more inclusive workplaces for all.

Temitope Babajide: General Practice Nurse

Creator of both the General Practice Nurse Starter Manual and a separate nursing-themed colouring book, will share her inspiring journey in primary care. Her session will recognise and celebrate the historic and ongoing contributions of Black nurses, while showcasing the achievements, leadership and influence of Black nursing professionals in the North West and beyond.

Patricia Hughes: Associate Director RCN : Nursing Practice Nursing

Patricia will focus on equality, leadership and career progression, encouraging greater representation of Black nurses in senior and decision-making roles.

Bejoy Sebastian: RCN President

The President, will discuss the importance of allyship and the role nursing professionals play in creating anti-racist, inclusive workplaces. He will recognise and celebrate the significant contributions of Black nurses to the NHS and wider health and social care sector. The session will explore how inclusive leadership, workforce equality standards and fair career progression can help create a culture of belonging. Attendees will be encouraged to take practical action to challenge discrimination, support equality and inspire the next generation of nursing leaders.

Anandi Ramamurthy: Professor of Media and Culture, Sheffield Hallam University; Principal Investigator, Nursing Narratives: Racism and the Pandemic; Co-Editor, Anti-Racist Nursing and Midwifery: A Resource for Students, Practitioners and Activists.

The Anti-Racist Nursing and Midwifery book, the Nursing Narratives research project, and the film 'Exposed'.

There will also be a panel discussion and a poetry workshop and 'Allyship in Action' challenge workshop in the afternoon. 

Book now to avoid missing out. This event will take place in person and is open to all North West members. A sandwich lunch is provided. 

For further information regarding the aims and objectives of the NW Multicultural Group, please visit our webpage. 

Olanike Babalola

Olanike.Babalola AT reps.rcn.org.uk

Blueprints ...

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES             

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL   

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group

Du Sautoy, M. (2024). Blueprints: How mathematics shapes creativity. Glasgow: 4th Estate.
https://www.4thestate.co.uk/products/blueprints-how-mathematics-shapes-creativity-marcus-du-sautoy-9780008685034/

Burgis, B., Bhaskar Sunkara, B., and Beggs, M. (2026 - 26th Sept) The Blueprint: How Socialism Can Work in the Real World. London: Verso.
https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2843-the-blueprint/

Book covers c/o Waterstones (Du Sautoy) and Verso Books. 

My source https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/philosophy/philos-l/ (Beggs et al.) and various.

Previously: 'creativity' : 'socialism' : 'politics'

"Hey Jonesy: Where's the book?"

This prompt from yesterday is far from new. There are outlines for papers on W2tQ.

Seriously though, what would a book outline look like - now?

The introduction is probably already written, it just needs to be pulled-together. But, in truth it (desperately) needs a new perspective. The question of how to update the explanation - short of running a workshop? The model's original purposes 1-4 are a statement of fact. The intro figures that invariably show how the axes 'create' the model's care, or knowledge domains? What if...? Could we also present the inverse? That would be a new slant. Does the model still 'work'? 

Details aside, here is a quick outline:

Part 1

Introduction and Background 

1.1 Brian E. Hodges and Post-Registration Nurse Education

1.2 Peter Jones - Primed to mind-map

1.3 Web presence: Initial website 1998-2015 - Blog 'Welcome to the QUAD' 2006 ...

1.4 Brian's original lecture notes

1.5 Looking back and forward: Models of care for the 21^st Century

1.6 Confessions: So, where is the new site / platform? 

Part 2

 The Four (Five) Care Domains 

2.1 Science

2.2 Interpersonal (& Intrapersonal)

2.3 Sociology

2.4 Political

2.5 Spiritual

Part 3

Hodges' model in Practice - Applications

3.1 Self care

3.2 Clinical

3.3 Social Care - Community 

3.4 Management

3.5 Informatics

3.6 Policy 

3.7 Education

3.8 Workforce: Local - Global 

Part 4

The Legacies (still) in Our Midst

4.1 Person-centredness

4.2 Integrated Care

4.3 Holistic Care

4.4 Parity of Esteem

4.5 The Theory-Practice Gap

4.6 Change - Transformation: When? Disease to Prevention

Part 5

It's Tomorrow Now

5.1 Health Promotion

5.2 Public (Mental) Health & Protection

5.3 Citizenship

5.4 Global Health

5.5 Planetary Health

Part 6

Research

6.1 Hodges' model as a Research Tool

6.2 Climate change

6.3 Planetary Health

6.4 Beyond the Bio-Psycho-Social Model: The Political Domain

6.5 The Literacies 

6.6 InterDisciplinary, Multi- and Transdisciplinary

6.7 Hodges' model as a Mathematical Object?

Part 7

Philosophy

 

7.1 Revisiting the Original Purposes

 

7.2 AI - The Elephant in Mind

 

7.3 Value & Values  

...?

Much to add, revise ... 'Education as Part X'. Political and Literacy too - a specific part - and with AI (in every part!)?

STOP!!

OK. It's a minefield. Even a proposal is a 'non-trivial' task.

Who's writing this? Not me! Not all of it, and for me; not AI either.

It would be marvellous to be one of several editors: one day? 

Clearly, a great project for students and early career researchers and current practitioners. 

An inoculation to help new cohorts deal with the realities, ravages and rewards of 'care' in its entirety*. 

P.S. With the start of a title right there? PJ

Sometimes it can take an old model ...

 

'Sometimes it can take an old model, 
to build a new one, 
that makes the existing model obsolete.'

To borrow from Buckminster Fuller.                         

 
Resurgence & Ecologist, Sept/Oct 2020, Issue 322, p.33.

CfA Fully Funded Research Sabbaticals - via BCS-SGAI

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Project 2000: The Judge Report 1985

Somehow, or perhaps that is being kind, I have a feeling that sources on the history of 'recent' nurse education may come to the fore. It is interesting that the guest editorial below reflects itself on the preceding 25 years. Not just several cohorts of students, careers, but a whole life-time. 

We must hope today, that British nurse educators can find more security, if not the contentedness described by Rye in 1985 ...

'The main principles for policy change contained in the commission's report are as follows.

1 The uncoupling of education from service. Students should no longer be employees of the National Health Service. Nursing education should now be part of the main-stream of higher education, students being financed through a suggested bursary system.

2 A single level of basic nurse qualification leading to registration.

3 Curriculum development (as discussed in chapter 4 of the report) must take into account the need to retain certain speciality options, and prepare students for practice both in hospital and community settings. It creates the possibility of direct entry into district nursing, health visiting and midwifery. 

This 3-year course would have educational credibility as it will be at diploma level, the first year being a foundation programme, furnishing a basis for informed choice later. The second year would contain practical placements (in the community, adult nursing and mental health). It would consist of three modules, the first to be based in a community setting, the second (focused upon the nursing of adults) in a hospital setting, and the third in a variety of environments related to mental health. Roughly 30% of the time will be dedicated to carefully supervised practice in clinical settings. The final year will be characterized by increased specialization. The opportunity to make a selection from a number of available modules will equip each successful student to become registered and to take up work either in an institutional or non-institutional setting. The academic award will be that of Diploma in Nursing Studies. 
...
This new approach to nursing education will not create a 'generic' nurse, but will prepare students to work in their chosen speciality in hospital or in the community. If nurses are to respond to the changing patterns of health care, it is critical for future development that preparation for working in the community takes place in the basic diploma programmes. This may be seen as one of the more controversial implications of the report, but the profession must address itself now to these matters, as nursing education must become more flexible and capable of change to meet the needs of clients.'

See also: #RCN26 RCN Congress - Nurse Education 

Rye, D.H. (1985), THE EDUCATION OF NURSES: A NEW DISPENSATION. THE REPORT OF THE RCN COMMISSION ON NURSING EDUCATION. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 10: 505-506. 
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.1985.tb00540.x

Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain)., & Judge, H. G. (1985). The education of nurses : a new dispensation. Royal College of Nursing. (Classed as a Book.)

See also: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/p889dx97

https://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/10084/1/ouseycontent_9838.pdf

Choose to Treat appeal, 7–14 July 2026

Donate here between 7–14 July and your donation will be doubled! 

'Water is scarce in Mauritania and people have little choice but to bathe, wash clothes, care for their animals, and cool off in the same pools. But the water that brings relief also carries schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease that silently damages the kidneys, stunts growth, impairs learning, and steals futures.

Through our collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Amadou (pictured*) received treatment, and he recovered. But many children in Mauritania still require it. Without continued access to treatment, Amadou and thousands like him remain at risk every time they enter the water.

When people cannot avoid exposure, access to safe, effective treatment is their best protection. A single donation can help protect children like Amadou and support their health at a critical stage in their childhood.' ... 'Choose to Treat appeal'

 

Previous related posts: 'neglected tropical diseases' : 'SDGs'

Hodges' model: An antidote to "Cognitive Surrender"*

'The pope's counterpoint that humanity flourishes "not despite limitations but often through them" is one that many people are becoming more aware of in the case of "cognitive surrender": the realisation that making things easier through AI can diminish rather than enhance our abilities. It is in a similar vein that the FT commits to always keeping human judgement at the centre of our journalism.'

* - and burnout?

The FT View, The ethical dilemmas of artificial intelligence. FTWeekend, 6-7 June 2026, p.12.
https://www.ft.com/content/d2c90246-11d7-4169-ac35-988de7fdb2af?syn-25a6b1a6=1

See also: https://www.futureofbeinghuman.com/p/magnifica-humanitas-and-being-human

Previously: 'ai' : 'language'

#RCN26 RCN Congress - Nurse Education

If you think hard-enough all the debates at RCN Congress connect to 'education', but two are laser-focussed:

Protecting nurse education

Resolution submitted by the Education Forum
That this meeting of RCN Congress asks RCN Council to lobby UK governments to protect nurse education from university sector economic pressures.

Quality of clinical placements

Matter for discussion submitted by the Students Committee
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses ways in which the quality of clinical placements can be ensured and consistent across all 4 countries.

For more senior colleagues, you may momentarily think back - all rose-tinted - to the pre-undergraduate Schools of Nursing, but you also realise change was needed and inevitable. A new millennium was fast approaching.

Now, however it seems within the university ecosystem, nursing is a threatened subject and discipline. Nurse education is exposed and itself vulnerable. In the 21st century fitness-stakes - finance wins:

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

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group

mental fitness	physical fitness
SOCIAL VALUE  & VALUES	FINANCIAL FITNESS

 

At RCN Congress, the status of nursing as a profession in the USA, was raised. Looking online, I found the following at the U.S. Department of Education: Myth vs. Fact: The Definition of Professional Degrees.

In January 2025 I posted about the situation at Cardiff University. At Congress the matter of the quality of clinical placements, became a resolution. The protection of nurse education provoked an impassioned and emotional debate. Student nurses seeing what is happening to nurse faculty. Nurse faculty seeing the years of experience 'walk' be-pushed out through the door. It seems there is no collective noun for a group, or collection of redundancies. Mass comes to mind, especially in this instance. A 'rash' seems appropriate. But, the condition is more serious and bears further investigation:

As a Google search demonstrates - https://share.google/SViFPWuJovKWhErEE

IT doesn't stop there ...

How many of us (nurses, and other 'professionals') are seeing job offers(?) such as:

Remote
Contract

$35/hr - $80/hr (this is lower than others ...)

About the job

Nursing Informatics Specialist (AI Training)

About The Role

Your clinical knowledge is more valuable than you think — beyond the bedside. We're looking for experienced nursing professionals to help train and evaluate AI systems built for healthcare. As a Nursing Informatics Specialist at Alignerr, you'll apply your frontline expertise to ensure AI understands real-world clinical workflows, EHR systems, and nursing documentation the way actual nurses do.

This is a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of nursing practice and cutting-edge AI — on your own schedule, from anywhere.

• Organization: ---------
• Type: Hourly Contract
• Location: Remote
• Commitment: 10–40 hours/week
  
  

What You'll Do

• Evaluate AI-generated clinical content for accuracy, safety, and alignment with real nursing workflows
• Review and annotate EHR documentation scenarios, flagging errors or gaps in clinical reasoning
• Translate nursing practice knowledge into structured feedback that improves AI model outputs
• Assess how well AI systems reflect clinical informatics best practices across areas like documentation, data integrity, and care coordination
• Provide expert insight on health IT tools, including EHR platforms such as Epic or Cerner
• Work independently and asynchronously on task-based assignments
  
  

Who You Are

• Registered Nurse (RN) or equivalent clinical background with hands-on experience in a healthcare setting
• Familiar with EHR systems and clinical documentation workflows
• Able to analyze clinical scenarios and communicate clear, structured feedback
• Detail-oriented with strong written communication skills
• Self-motivated and comfortable working independently in a remote environment
• No prior AI experience required — your clinical expertise is what matters
  
  

Nice to Have

• Experience in clinical informatics, health IT, or nursing informatics roles
• Familiarity with data annotation, quality review, or evaluation processes
• Background in quality improvement, patient safety, or clinical education
• Exposure to health data standards (e.g., HL7, FHIR, SNOMED)
  
  

Why Join Us

• Work on cutting-edge AI projects with leading research labs and AI teams
• Fully remote and flexible — set your own hours and work at your own pace
• Freelance perks: autonomy, variety, and global collaboration
• Apply your nursing expertise in a completely new and impactful way
• Contribute to AI that could meaningfully improve how healthcare technology serves patients and clinicians
• Potential for ongoing work and contract extension

You might think (no pun intended!): 

'Well this all about informatics. Don't worry - it will all work out fine!'

But, please notice, the clinical and nursing requirement:

"Registered Nurse (RN) or equivalent clinical background with hands-on experience in a healthcare setting."

Not exactly, Hodges' model is it? Even if specific to this role, what does it say:

• about :: the title of 'Registered Nurse'
• about :: Nurses and Nursing as a Profession
• and :: to search engines and agentic AI?

So be aware, and concerned (worried even!) for nursing and nurse education ... 
for the humanity of healthcare:

individual

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INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

de-humanisation	BIG TECH
"Where has everyone gone?" Social values Social justice What about research, debate, evidence..?	Nursing Faculty Universities as Institutions that reflect Society Why is there an echo in here? It's been hollowed out.

P.S. I am not a technophobe. Previously: 'AI' : 'SOCIO-technical'