Social Inclusion: Transnational Organization of Labour, Mobility, and Senior Care in Central and Eastern Europe

Dear colleagues,

Social Inclusion has just released a new issue, fully open access, and all articles are free for you and others to read, download and share.

Transnational Organization of Labour, Mobility, and Senior Care in Central and Eastern Europe (2026, Volume 14)

Edited by Ewa Palenga-Möllenbeck, Dóra Gábriel, Olena Fedyuk and Kristine Krause

Complete issue: https://doi.org/10.17645/si.i533

Table of Contents:

Transnational Organization of Labour, Mobility, and Senior Care in Central and Eastern Europe
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.13078
By Ewa Palenga-Möllenbeck, Dóra Gábriel, Olena Fedyuk and Kristine Krause

Migrant Live‐In Care Workers in the Global Care Chain: Results From an Online Survey
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.11728
By Silvia Wojczewski, Simona Ďurišová, Sabine Pleschberger, Anna Ernst, Rojin Bagheri, Kathryn Hoffmann and Viktoria Adler

Selling Care Skills? The Multiple Meanings of Training for Polish Live‐In Care Workers in Germany
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.11909
By Roxana Fiebig-Spindler

The Invisible Hand of Care: A Typology of Brokerage Actors in Migrant Care Labour
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.11953
By Ewa Palenga-Möllenbeck, Ivanna Kyliushyk and Roxana Fiebig-Spindler

Care Extractivism Beyond Households: Migration and Care for Older People in the Post‐Yugoslav Semi‐Periphery
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.11975
By Majda Hrženjak

Caring Communities in Urban Hungary: A Civil Society Perspective
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12023
By Dóra Gábriel, Bettina Török and Noémi Katona

Care Under Constraint: Unmet Care Needs Among Older Adults in Romania
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12028
By Mihaela Hărăguș and Ionuț Földes

Skill Construction and Challenges of Professionalization in the Hungarian Home Care Market
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12029
By Noemi Katona and Dóra Gábriel

The Right to Care and Support: From Care Theory to Human Rights Law
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12056
By Maroš Matiaško

Senior Care in Wartime Ukraine: A Fragmented Continuum of Arrangements Inside an “Unpromising Sector”
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12060
By Oksana Dutchak, Olena Fedyuk and Anna Oksiutovych

Bounded Transport, Mobility Justice, and Claims for Recognition Among Live‐in Care Workers
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12191
By Petra Ezzedine

In Times of the Market and Community Shift: On Live‐In Care and Caring Communities
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12295
By Brigitte Aulenbacher, Klaus Wegleitner, Jonas Hagedorn and Bernhard Emunds

Care Outsourcing From Germany to Central and Eastern Europe
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12319
By Kristine Krause, Veronika Prieler, Hanna Horváth, Matouš Jelínek, Mariusz Sapieha, Zuzana Sekeráková Búriková, Petra Ezzeddine and Luise Schurian‐Dąbrowska

Imagining Care: Transnational Inequality and Older Age Prospects for Ukrainian Caregivers in Italy
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12324
By Oksana Dutchak, Olena Fedyuk and Anna Oksiutovych

The Winding Road to Professionalisation: Care Work in Romanian Nursing Homes
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12326
By Neda Deneva, Ionuț Földes, Denisa Ursu and Mihaela Hărăguş

The Limits of State Control in Regulating Live‐In Care Work in The Netherlands
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12375
By Siënna Hernandez, Kristína Bartošová and Franca van Hooren

Home Care for Sale: Marketisation and Social Change
https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12737
By Attila Melegh

Kind regards,

Mariana Pires
Cogitatio Press, Portugal
si AT cogitatiopress.com
Social Inclusion
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion

My source: COMPLEXITY-PRIMARY-CARE list

Disciplines in Disarray - Scope of Practice, Disciplinary boundaries

To be in a state of disarray, is to be disarmed, without access to resources, or at least having an impaired ability to organise strategically for reasons of defence, disputation or argument. Constructive debate will be hard to achieve and so the confusion continues.

Prior to 2013 ideas for a paper with a would-be co-author began. Early that year there were 5000 words. There's probably mention of (another!) project on these pages – somewhere/when? The focus was using Hodges' model to explore 'scope of practice' in nursing. As the conceptual gift that keeps giving, Hodges' model can encompass all health disciplines, curricula, and professions, informal caring and social care too.

This post is prompt-ed (human ‘intelligence’ needs a nudge too) by ‘discussion’ on what was twitter, and currently on ‘X’. So in turn I can reflect on how relevant this paper would be today.

I still have that draft of over 5000 words. It is now woefully out-of-date. Out-of-date? Well the available job postings across the health and care sectors, have always changed. If you scan the paper copies of  Nursing Times, Nursing Standard, Nursing Mirror (anyone?) and the BMJ, The Lancet, Health Service Journal over three-four decades the evidence is clear. Then try the e-media, (and with it AI!)?

Now, for several years the impacts of  policy and change in advanced nursing practice, plus associate roles, that have also been applied in medical training and education are coming home to roost. Depending on your corner, and position in the debate there's a position called 'Noctor' (Vaughan and Kar, 2026).

I find it regrettable that consultants and 'senior' nurses have taken corners, as policy results in grossly negative examples with potentially safety consequences. There has always been a 'distance' to be bridged between health disciplines. In the past any sense of competition was usually, and so constructively patient-centred - grounded in the delivery and quality of care. The contest was tempered through mutual respect and dignity, and recognition of respective roles, knowledge, abilities and contribution to what is (and remains?) the multidisciplinary team?

Now with technology and AI in the mix, maintaining goodwill, common-sense and keeping the patient, public and future generations in sight will need a degree of diplomacy as yet not called-upon.

This made me think of the unions in the 1970s and more recent examples of work-to-rule. 

As health professionals argue between themselves, what is the cost of distraction?

Yes, that paper using Hodges' model on 'scope of practice (and theory!)' would be timely now.
In fact, it is urgently needed.

Vaughan L, Kar P. Vexatious complaints are being weaponised to discourage debate BMJ 2026; 394 :e100697 doi:10.1136/bmj-2026-100697 

Previously: 'scope' : 'publications'

"It's an equation Jim, but not as we know it!"

Silver (2013) in “The Signal and the Noise” refers to Drake’s equation, which has fascinated me since my teens. It is a formula that provides a framework for predicting the number of intelligent extraterrestrial species in the galaxy. Due to the high number of parameters and uncertainties that make up Drake's equation, Silver describes how the extreme range of results depend on the initial ‘inputs’. Given the variables presented they are estimates. I made a connection to Drake's work through BBC BASIC programming:

'The Nursing Process'
'Computer-Aided Patient Assessment'
'Blood Groups'
'Shades of Grey'

As time went on the simplicity of 'The NP' gave way to DIM arrays, which can provide data structures, and DEF PROC and DEF FN with parameters. 

The evidence for the elements of Drake's equation has made great strides since the 1990s. Despite the remaining uncertainties, Silver notes that Drake's equation has provided a useful lens for astronomers, plus - philosophers and the lay-person to think about life, the universe and everything.

Is there an implicit theory – an equation – in Hodges’ model?

See also: BBC BASIC

Previously: 'Sagan' : 'SETI' ; 'math' : 'Publication list (2024)'

Nate Silver (2013). “The Signal and the Noise”, Notes 89, London: Penguin. p.488.

Title Ack. the original is often misattributed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCARADb9asE

Leapspace ii - References

Of the references listed by LEAPSPACE #6 stood out:

Merritt, M.K., Procter, N. (2010) Conceptualising the functional role of mental health consultation-liaison nurse in multi-morbidity, using Peplau's nursing theory. Contemporary Nurse. https://doi.org/10.5172/conu.2010.34.2.158 

Had I missed this? When I hear (read) of new citation for Hodges' model, it is added to the blog's bibliography. So, what about this one?

I could not access the full-paper initially, but did so at:

https://lmscontent.embanet.com/MVU/NURS600/Readings/W3_Peplau.pdf

I can see that Merrit and Proctor reference the following [#16 of 1-46]:

Jones, P. (1998). Hodges’ health career – Care domains – Model, nursing – Art or science? Retrieved October 4, 2009, from http://www.pjones.demon.co.uk/holsci.html

This additional cognitive and motivational nourishment is welcome. They are spot on with '1998', the year the former website (p-jones.demon.co.uk) went live. 

Pre-2015 and indicative of (what will increasingly follow) from AI, LLMs, agentic ai - LEAPSPACE found a page on the now archived website:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150409004111/http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/index.htm

While a positive, perhaps (again) we should worry about regurgitation? Although on another level perhaps the definition of 'grey literature' is also being (has been) redefined?

There is a positive in the author's acknowledgement of Hodges' model on several counts, being associated with:

• Highlighting the need for inclusion of mental health/illness (parity of esteem);
• Peplau's seminal work;
• A search to link mental health with other specialities (emergency, liaison, burns);
• Recognition of the inverse (psychological care within medicine); 
• The fact of being listed with Phil Barker (Tidal Model). 

Negatively, on the archived homepage (above) many links to content may not work:

The (rather short but referenced) page Merrit and Proctor list is available here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20111018204743/http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/holsci.html

I will insert this paper in the bibliographical listing; and revisit this.

Leapspace? Why not ...?

Referred to a paper in an email: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2026.112401.

- I noticed an invitation to try Leapspace. 

So I leapt (with much editing - for formatting here). ...

 

Copilot steps

Creating a plan to respond to your query

Performing search for foundational documents
Performing keyword search
Using data from Scopus
("Hodges' model" OR "Hodges model" OR "Hodges' health career model" OR "health career model" OR "care domains model") AND (nursing OR healthcare OR "health care" OR education) AND (domain* OR component* OR framework OR concept* OR definition*)

Performing natural language search
Using data from Scopus
What are the conceptual definitions, domains, and components of Hodges' model in nursing and healthcare education?

Performing keyword search
Using data from Full text
("Hodges' model" OR "Hodges model" OR "care domains") AND (diagram* OR figure* OR visual* OR schema) AND (teach* OR education OR curriculum OR learning) AND (critique OR adaptation* OR application*) AND (method* OR framework OR discussion)

Performing natural language search
Using data from Full text
How is Hodges' model represented, taught, and adapted in nursing or healthcare education, including diagrams and critiques?

Performing keyword search
Using data from Scopus
("Hodges' model" OR "Hodges model" OR "care domains framework") AND (application* OR use OR implementation OR practice) AND (critique* OR limitation* OR adaptation* OR evaluation*) AND (nursing OR healthcare OR "health care")

Performing natural language search
Using data from Scopus
What applications and critiques of Hodges' care domains framework have been reported in nursing and healthcare practice?

Done

Generated by LeapSpace, Thu Jul 09 2026

Hodges' health career - care domains - model

Hodges’ Health Career – Care Domains – Model is a generic, practice-based conceptual framework for health and social care that organizes thinking into four knowledge/care domains: science, political, sociology, and interpersonal. It is presented as broadly applicable across healthcare contexts and is used to structure reflection, critical thinking, and care planning. [1] [2] [3]

Core domains

Domain	What it covers	How it is used
Science	Cause and effect, evidence, costs, benefits, and trade-offs	Helps frame the “hard” evidence side of care and service decisions. [1]
Political	Policy, systems, and structural influences on care	Helps connect care to wider health and social policy contexts. [1] [4]
Sociology	Social context, culture, stigma, and relationships	Helps explain how social factors shape health and illness experiences. [1] [5]
Interpersonal	Therapeutic relationships, patient/carer engagement, and human interaction	Supports person-centred and relational practice. [1] [2] [6]

What the model is for

• It is described as universal in structure and adaptable to many healthcare settings, including informatics, dementia/palliative care, forensic mental health, and oral health. [2] [3] [4] [7] [8]

• It helps practitioners map concepts into domains, build a mind-map-like structure, and support reflective practice and critical thinking. [3] [9]

• In forensic mental health nursing, it is proposed as a way to guide assessment, decision-making, and recovery-oriented practice. [2]

Bottom line

Hodges’ model is best understood as a four-domain lens for integrating clinical evidence, policy, social context, and relationships into one framework for care and reflection. Its main value is not in prescribing a single care process, but in helping users think more holistically and systematically about health problems and care systems. [1] [2] [3]

Confidence level: High — multiple sources consistently describe the model’s four domains, generic structure, and broad healthcare applications.

References

1. Fox, Siobhán, FitzGerald, Carol, Harrison Dening, Karen, (...), Timmons, Suzanne (2017) Better palliative care for people with a dementia: summary of interdisciplinary workshop highlighting current gaps and recommendations for future research. BMC Palliative Care. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-017-0221-0

2. Doyle, M., Jones, P. (2013) Hodges' Health Career Model and its role and potential application in forensic mental health nursing. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2012.01961.x

3. Jones, P., Wirnitzer, K. (2022) Hodges' model: The Sustainable Development Goals and public health - Universal health coverage demands a universal framework. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000254

4. Bettiol, S., Jones, P., Onyedikachi, H.A., Kernohan, W.G. (2026) Bridging Gaps in Oral Health Frameworks: Mapping With Hodges' Health Career - Care Domains - Model. Journal of Public Health Dentistry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jphd.70034

5. Jones, P. (2008) Exploring serres' atlas, Hodges' knowledge domains and the fusion of informatics and cultural horizons. Social Information Technology: Connecting Society and Cultural Issues. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59904-774-4.ch007

6. Merritt, M.K., Procter, N. (2010) Conceptualising the functional role of mental health consultation-liaison nurse in multi-morbidity, using Peplau's nursing theory. Contemporary Nurse. https://doi.org/10.5172/conu.2010.34.2.158

7. Jones, P. (2009) Socio-technical structures, 4Ps and hodges' model. Nursing and Clinical Informatics: Socio-Technical Approaches. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-234-3.ch011

8. Jones, P. (2011) Socio-technical structures, 4Ps and hodges' model. Clinical Technologies: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60960-561-2.ch215

9. Jones, P. (2025) A Generic Model and Conceptual Framework to Prime Curiosity Across Health and Social Care Disciplines to Facilitate Lifelong Learning. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.70252

Follow-up Suggestions 

What are the key components of Hodges' health career care domains model?

How does Hodges' model apply to interdisciplinary health care practices?

What are the implications of Hodges' health career care domains model for patient-centered care?

Wittgenstein's - Tractatus

Apparently, Wittgenstein walked away from philosophy after publication of the Tractatus. He thought he had solved the problems of philosophy, logic and reality.

In trying to ‘see’ Hodges’ model, in mathematical terms, there may be lessons in Wittegenstein’s approach, both in content and style. Of course, as a non-mathematician, I probably should leave well-alone; and stick to nursing. But that is the problem: from 1987-88 there is a need for a different perspective, even if this is a personal challenge. As with many ‘reviews’ here, we can look at Wittengenstein’s work, reflect upon it, and consider how it relates to the purposes, structures and content of Hodges’ model.

The Tractatus’s first line then, offers a warm welcome.

‘The world is everything that is the case.’ [I]

Making the decision to become a nurse and enrolling as a student makes you an educational and workforce demographic case.

Once a student in the university lecture theatre, you hopefully whether consciously, or not are exposed to the theory – practice gap; as you yearn to be on your first placement. Now it you who is seeking ‘cases’. As we live, and statistics roll and tally, the question of caseness (and categories) is key, one that is carried around even if not always active, recognised as such.

As noted in the previous post, we can for Hodges’ model (and other models, frameworks it must be said) think of ‘case’ as a, or the situation. 

A mathematical approach to Hodges’ model involves looking at things, concepts, people as objects. This includes patients and carers. In terms of a project worthy of pursuing in nursing and other disciplines involved in healthcare, this mathematization presents a non-trivial challenge. A fully-deserved response would be: 'What have you done to the aptitude for care and caring attitude? You've cancelled - subtracted it!' Humour aside:

'In order to know an object, I must know not its external but all its internal qualities.' [2.01231] 

Is this equivalent to us getting to know our patient / client and their socio-political context? 

‘The way in which objects hang together in the atomic fact is the structure of the atomic fact.’ [2.032] 

It is a help that Wittgenstein points to structure (crumbs of understanding are welcome here, as incremental steps). In formulating Hodges’ model we first identify the axes. It is the axes that then provide a space, four domains in total, to frame the objects that we decide; or, as the situation dictates, what concepts are placed in the domains of Hodges' model.

There is a successive series that follows, combining place, space and logic: ‘The proposition determines a place in logical space: the existence of this logical place is guaranteed by the existence of the constituent parts alone, by the existence of the significant proposition.’ [3.4]

‘The propositional sign and the logical coordinates : that is the logical place.’ [3.41]

‘The geometrical and the logical place agree in that each is the possibility of an existence.’ [3.411]

‘Although a proposition may only determine one place in logical space, the whole logical space must already be given by it.
(Otherwise denial, the logical sum, the logical product. etc., would always introduce new elements -in co-ordination.) 
(The logical scaffolding round the picture determines the logical space. The proposition reaches through the whole logical space.)' [3.42]

While Wittgenstein came to view ‘the picture theory of meaning’ as incorrect, as a conceptual framework and diagrammatic resource Hodges’ model is closely tied to this form of representation.

Of course, the logic at work here, is far from mathematical, but there is surely a logic.

'Formal concepts cannot, like proper concepts, be presented by a function.' [4.126]

'There is therefore really a sense in which in philosophy we can talk of a non-psychological I.
The I occurs in philosophy through the fact that the "world is my world'".
The philosophical I is not the man, not the human body or the human soul of which psychology treats, but the metaphysical subject, the limit - not a part of the world.' [5.641] 

'Although the spots in our picture are geometrical figures, geometry can obviously say nothing about their actual form and position. But the network is purely geometrical, and all its properties can be given a priori.

Laws, like the law of causation, etc., treat of the network and not of what the network describes.' [6.35]

There is much more in this work, and much that remains a challenge. Many commentators have written and said in interviews that the Tractatus rewards re-reading and some sentences stay with you for life (The Great Philosophers BBC TV). 

I'm still seeking mine.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5740/5740-pdf.pdf

RCN Congress 2026 & RCN North West Multicultural Group (NWMG)

England's North West is certainly in the news at present, on two counts:

1. The current Labour party machinations in the Makerfield ward;
2. and RCN Congress in Liverpool.

 As I attend Congress a key focus is the debates and how I can relate these to Hodges'model - (with some links to previous posts):

1. Nursing as a STEM profession
Matter for discussion submitted by the Eastern Board
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses the recognition of nursing as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) profession, valuing the scientific, technical and analytical expertise of nurses.

STEM - science : technology : engineering : mathematics

2. Safe, ethical, person‑centred nursing
Resolution submitted by the Cheshire Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress calls on RCN Council to urgently develop and implement a UK‑wide framework for realistic person‑centred care, ensuring that nursing practice is safe and ethical.

safe : ethics : person-centred 

3. Regular redeployment
Matter for discussion submitted by the Wiltshire Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses the impact of the daily redeployment of nursing staff on morale, team work and patient safety.

re- deployment

4. Unpaid hours
Matter for discussion submitted by the North East London Inner Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses the culture of nursing staff missing breaks and working beyond their contracted hours.

work

5. National safety standards for lone working
Resolution submitted by the Health and Safety Reps Committee
That this meeting of RCN Congress calls on RCN Council to lobby for the implementation of national safety standards for lone working, ensuring access to appropriate safety equipment, technology and protocols to protect staff across all care settings.

lone working

6. Accountable, compassionate and psychologically safe leadership
Matter for discussion submitted by the Cheshire Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses how the RCN can help create a culture where accountability, compassion, and psychological safety coexist, enabling managers to lead effectively while ensuring all staff feel respected and protected.

accountability : compassion : leadership 

7. Misinformation in health care
Matter for discussion submitted by the Women's Health Forum
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses misinformation in health care and the impact this has on the nursing workforce.

misinformation : information disorder

8. Confidence to address racism
Matter for discussion submitted by the South West London Outer Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses how to build the confidence of nursing staff in addressing racism.

confidence : racism

Once again the North West Multicultural Group will have a stand:

The RCN North West Multicultural Group (NWMG) creates a community for members across the region from multicultural ethnic backgrounds to connect with each other, share their lived experience, knowledge and diverse ideas that help drive change around racism to ensure that their various organisations is the best place to work.

Membership is open to RCN members of Royal College of Nursing from multicultural backgrounds and their allies.

Mission statement: 

The aim of the North West Multicultural Group is to stand against racism and discrimination by using members lived experiences, encouraging organisations to be anti-racist and with the support of allies.  

Aims and objectives: 

• To raise the issues around race, discrimination and equality in the workplace and to find potential solutions. 
• To challenge misconceptions about people from different ethnic backgrounds.
• To recognise the skills and contribution to care for people from all backgrounds make.
• To acknowledge that racism is a social construct that needs to be eradicated together.  Together we are stronger.
• To be a platform for black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and allies to work collaboratively to address racism in practice.
• To help amplify the voice black, Asian and minority ethnic staff.
• To be role models, set examples as allies and develop confidence.
• To provide training and support about anti-racist practice.
• To work with the RCN to support campaigns to make sure communication is fit for purpose and acknowledges any cultural differences. 

Your executive team:

Chair: Olanike Babalola
Vice Chair: Susan Owen-Naz
Communications Officer: Mark Anthony

9. Advanced nursing practice
Resolution submitted by RCN Council
That this meeting of RCN Congress agrees that the RCN will act upon attempts to undermine advanced nursing practice.

advanced : practice : theory

10. 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.

protect

11. 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.

quality : placement

12. Bank rates
Resolution submitted by the South Yorkshire Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress demands that employers pay nursing staff bank shifts at their substantive rate.

pay

13. Are external reviews meaningful?
Matter for discussion submitted by the Midwifery Forum
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses whether external reviews and inquiries are genuinely driving meaningful improvements in safety across health and social care.

inquiry : review

14. Improving acute mental health crisis services for children and young people
Resolution submitted by the London Board
That this meeting of RCN Congress calls on RCN Council to lobby UK governments to improve the provision of services to children and young people presenting in acute mental health crisis.

children : mental health

15. Access to specialist pain services
Matter for discussion submitted by the Pain and Palliative Care Forum
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses access to specialist pain services and the role of the registered nurse in caring for those in pain.

pain

16. Palliative and end-of-life care
Resolution submitted by the Pain and Palliative Care Forum
That this meeting of RCN Congress calls on RCN Council to lobby UK governments to ensure everyone living across all 4 nations has access to specialist palliative and end-of-life care.

palliative

17. Accessible and affordable travel
Matter for discussion submitted by the North Central London Inner Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses what accessible and affordable travel means for the nursing workforce.

18. Uptake of physical health checks
Resolution submitted by the Public Health Forum
That this meeting of RCN Congress requests RCN Council to lobby UK governments to improve the uptake of physical health checks for people with learning disabilities and serious mental illnesses (SMI).

serious mental illness (SMI)

19. Eye donation
Matter for discussion submitted by the Greater Glasgow Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses the role nursing has in eye donation in end-of-life care planning.

eye : vision

20. 35-hour week
Resolution submitted by the Lothian and Borders Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress calls on RCN Council to instigate a campaign for a maximum 35 hour working week for the nursing workforce.

21. Inappropriate delegation
Matter for discussion submitted by the Berkshire Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses the delegation of health care tasks to school staff and non-health care professionals.

22. Access to medicinal cannabis
Matter for discussion submitted by the Cheshire Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses the impact of current NHS prescribing practice on access to medicinal cannabis.

medicinal cannabis

23. SPA time
Resolution submitted by the Wiltshire Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress calls on RCN Council to lobby for the inclusion of Supporting Professional Activities (SPA) time in all nursing job-plans.

See: https://www.rcn.org.uk/Congress/Agenda 

Are there any lessons from this exercise? Well, I have no posts tagged 'donor', or 'medicinal cannabis' - to make an important distinction. Something to correct and try to follow this week. 

See you there ...?

(I may need to reduce the link-count here.) 

iv WCCS26: World Conference on Complex Systems 20-22nd April

Day 1: Panel 2 - Rethinking Knowledge in the Age of Complexity

• Helena Knyazeva - Dancing with Complexity: How the World Thinks Through Us
• Carlos Gershenson - The Implications of Complexity
• Leonardo Rodríguez Zoya - Can Statistics Think? Complexity, Future, and Freedom in the Age of Large Language Models
  Panel Chair: Nigel Gilbert 

Courage is one of the 6Cs in nursing, and was on display at WCCS26.

Carlos Gershon began by offering two references, the first:

De Domenico, et al., (2019). Complexity explained: A grassroot collaborative initiative to create a set of essential concepts of complex systems. https://complexityexplained.github.io

This is a brief 20 pages, larger text, and provides a helpful primer to complexity and related concepts covering:

Interactions
Emergence 
Dynamics 
Self-organization
Adaptation
Interdisciplinarity
Methods

For each concept, the authors explain:

Definition/Description
Examples
Relevant Concepts
References

Plus, secondly:

Gershenson, C. The Implications of Interactions for Science and Philosophy. Found Sci 18, 781–790 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10699-012-9305-8

I liked the practical feel here, the encouragement to think anew, and perhaps taste the "flavors of emergence": synchronic - space; diachronic - time, weak and strong feedback, transversal of scale - upwards and downwards.

There is further conference on complexity later this year (and also online!):

CCS 2026:
The 2026 Conference on Complex Systems
OCTOBER 9 - 16, 2026 BINGHAMTON, NY, USA & ONLINE

In my search I also found:

Carlos Gershenson; Complexity, Artificial Life, and Artificial Intelligence. Artif Life 2025; 31 (3): 289–303. doi:https://doi.org/10.1162/artl_a_00462

Gershenson, C. Self-organizing systems: what, how, and why?. npj Complex 2, 10 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44260-025-00031-5

Leonardo Rodríguez Zoya's presentation helpfully connected social practice, interdisciplinary bridges, statistical rationality, complex (human) rationality and the future(s): desirable, possible, latent and probable.

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

COMPLEX (HUMAN) RATIONALITY   cognition	STATISTICAL RATIONALITY Techopraxis LLMs - technology
socio- HUMAN PROBLEMS SOCIAL PRACTICE PRACTICE (one of the 4Ps)	ELECTION - CAMPAIGN SPENDING PEACE NEGOTIATIONS ISLAND ECONOMY CRYPTOCURRENCY

To answer the prompt - 

"Give me a less likely but more fruitful interpretation of this [concept]*."

*Replace with a significant concept in your practice

Would it might help to have a simple, and yet complexity (and simplicity!) primed conceptual framework to assist reflection, argumentation, and progress?

 

I missed the poster at the afternoon break, and followed track 1. I greatly enjoyed Julian Arevalo's - Adaptive Readiness: an Agent-Based Model of Peace Negotiations. Perhaps this accounts for my having no notes or photos for this track except for one. I realise now we did speak, sitting together for the conference dinner. I'm sure I remember Negotiation Lab 1.0 - 

https://www.comses.net/codebases/1256dc74-9ae4-4f49-a235-1ec129be1930/releases/1.0.0/

 

This past week I heard discussion (BBC Radio 4) of the 'income' Norway obtains from its expertise and engagement in peace negotiations.

 

Nicholas Roxburgh, and colleagues Rachel Creaney, Mindi Premarathne and Ruth Wilson through 
Exploring Interdependencies in an Island Economy, reminded me of public engagement in research. Especially when it involves their community; and that community is somewhat rural, or remote.

 

Remah Dahdoul, with Jan Korbel and Stefan Thurner presented -

Campaign-Spending Driven Polarization Transition in a Double-Random Field Model of Elections. The following paper brings home the mathematics in complex systems. The reference is:

 

Jan Korbel and Remah Dahdoul and Stefan Thurner. (2026) Empirical validation of the polarization transition in a double-random field model of elections. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.00612.  doi.org/10.1103/9gjj-1df6.

 

The paper by Saida Hachimi El Idrissi and Mohamed Nemiche is not open access, but the abstract follows. 

 

S. H. El Idrissi and M. Nemiche, "Formation of Complex Societies: An Agent-Based Model Inspired by Freudian Theory," 2024 World Conference on Complex Systems (WCCS), Mohammedia, Morocco, 2024, pp.1-6, doi: 10.1109/WCCS62745.2024.10765573.

Abstract: The rise and emergence of complex societies in the Old World mark a pivotal chapter in human history, characterized by the transition from small, kin-based communities to large, hierarchical states. This transformation raises fundamental questions: How did human societies progress from small, cohesive groups characterized by face-to-face cooperation to the expansive, anonymous societies of today, often organized as states? What factors account for the significant variation in different human populations' capacity to construct stable and functional state structures? To address these questions, we developed an agent-based model grounded in Freud's hypothesis, which posits that civilization could neither emerge nor evolve without the repression of human desires. In the context of social evolution, this repression of desires can be interpreted as the repression of intra-societal competition, ultimately strengthening the society and facilitating the formation of complex social structures. We implemented this model within a realistic representation of the Afroeurasian landmass, incorporating various geographical factors. To validate our model, we compared our simulated results with historical data. The model-predicted pattern of expansion of complex societies demonstrated remarkable congruence with the observed historical patterns in the Old World. The emergence, growth, and distribution of large-scale societies predicted by our computational model showed remarkable consistency with the archaeological and historical record.

keywords: {Analytical models; Computational modeling; Predictive models; Data models; Agriculture; Rivers; History; Complex systems; component; Agent-based Modeling; Repression of satisfaction; cooperation; competition; Social Simulation},
URL: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=10765573&isnumber=10765499 

Unless you are a microsurgeon (increasingly with robotic co-workers), is the word practice, more likely to manifest what is larger, the big picture, a sense of space, even at a societal or continental scale? In reading, I came across four forms of attractors. For me, how they fit into the question of scale makes this paper worthy of seeking out. 

M. Nemiche was unable to attend the conference, and was greatly missed.

ii WCCS26: World Conference on Complex Systems 20-22nd April

Day 1

Plenary Talk: Reda Benkirane - Lost in Complexity: Welcome to the Real World

A first slide considered Abraham Maslow's book The Psychology of Science and his thought on the "law of the instrument". Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a key primer for new students to many disciplines, including nursing, and psychology. The purpose of Benikrane's focus on instruments concerns the emergence of civilisation and roles of agriculture, and war in the rise of community at several scales from village, to cities, states and nations. In terms of flow the slides highlighted the next speaker Peter Turchin's END TIMES, and two books by Johann Chapoutot, LES IRRESPONSABLES, and FREE TO OBEY.

In response to the slide with Einstein's -

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them":

- may I please class 'health - care' as a world? The thought that the medical, bio-medical, and bio-psycho-social encourages, sees enacted, and sustained a : is this fit for the problems of the 21st century. I like the slide's heading 'Beyond Complexity'. Such is the pace of change, which is labelled 'progress' that each one of us wakes up momentarily stupified and lost in complexity.

Keynote Speaker: Peter Turchin - The Great Holocene
Transformation: What Complexity Science Tells Us About The Evolution of Complex Societies

Turchin's keynote reminded me of Jared Diamond's book Guns, Germs and Steel. Reading GGS I realised there is more to 'axes' than I thought, especially from the individual to collective scales. It appears that whichever label - academia, research or education - you would like to apply, they all need a conceptual framework. Just as, individually, we all need a model of self, others and the world. This was a marvellous journey, through millennia of humanities' evolution, social, and political development, all realised through complexity. While attractors are to the fore, architecture and archaeology are regular distractors for me. Reading Holocene then had me hooked. 

Star Maker

A fellow delegate and speaker I dined with a few times encouraged me to read 'END TIMES'. I will seek it out later this year, (the next Hay-on-Wye visit?). Turchin is seeking to account for how human societies have reached their current state of organisation. The role of self-protection, seeking food, shelter, co-operation are all factors, with the emergence of religions, and agriculture. Several theories to date were covered [including, cultural multilevel selection, see Wilson et al. (2023)], plus a major project on cultural evolution: The Seshat: Global History Databank. For all the current loss and misery, conflict has paid a major role in cultural and political development. The prefix 'macro' features here. There was a social scale (people): FROM 10s - in foraging bands through TO 100,000,000s large nation-states. Mention of levels of scale, took me back to the work of Mario Bunge. The application of the Hertzsprung-Russell 'main sequence' (H-R) diagram is a great idea. I think Olaf Stapleton, author of Star Maker would have approved. 

This itself, for me, is reason enough to read Turchin. There is evolutionary biochemistry too, which is required in terms of a systems account. Is there a reflection of a main sequence construct between the SOCIOLOGICAL and SCIENCES domain of Hodges' model? 

 It is incredible the way new findings are regularly pushing even further the dates of human milestones stepping-stones. Perhaps we should always view progress in this way, and enjoy the 'moment'. There is still the puzzle of ultrasociality, and how to explain it? Turchin is seeking a mathematical history, with a journal Cliodynamics. There is another SF reference here, in Asimov's psychohistory in the Foundation books, but with less emphasis upon maths. This is encouraging for Hodges' model, and the inevitable transdisciplinary approach these questions demand.

More to follow ...

D.S. Wilson, G. Madhavan, M.J. Gelfand, S.C. Hayes, P.W.B. Atkins, & R.R. Colwell, Multilevel cultural evolution: From new theory to practical applications, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 120 (16) e2218222120, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2218222120 (2023).

Book: 'Logic on the Track of Social Change'

When I walked into Lancaster Univ. library in February, I had no idea I was being followed.

From the maths shelves, the lights switching on as you progress, I decided to walk across to the more familiar realm of sociology. Looking for something, it was nice to see the parity in lighting, even as my struggle for mathematical enlightenment continues.

Logic on the Track of Social Change    

I do use the e-library, and other e-resources, but sometimes real shelves and varying levels of mustiness (remember the 'new acquisitions' - fewer these days?) invite a bit of serendipity. Suddenly, over my shoulders, the stranger,  pointed (with four arms of course). Was it my shadow? Or, was it my unconscious that 'read': LOGIC and TRACK and SOCIAL CHANGE, on the spine of -

David Braybrooke, Bryson Brown & Peter K. Schotch (eds.), Logic on the Track of Social Change, Oxford University Press. 1995?

In the early decades of health informatics, there was much talk - and still is(?) - of  'languages for health', even languages for nursing. Coding and classification systems were constantly developing, as posted here, but while physical diagnoses were the driver, the psychosocial dimensions of person - patienthood proved more nebulous. DSM is still subject much debate.

 Chapter 8 in Braybrook et al. is brilliant: A Rules-Analysis, Following Foucault, of the Birth of Clinical Medicine.

I've been in situations when surgery is suggested for an older person, and family, friends wonder is this really necessary? This chapter literally brings the history home, and not only that, but the emergence of the hospital system, versus care at home, in the community. The social determinants of health have been ever-present. This is essential reading for students, with the history of ICD, and the history of medicine. There are insights too into public attitudes and expectations to health services and provision here in the UK and in France.

For me, and Hodges' model, the significance of Braybrook, Brown, Schotch and Byrne is that it precedes:

Sallach, D.L. Categorical Social Science: Theory, Methodology and Design. September 2012
Conference: Fourth World Congress on Social Simulation. Taipei, Taiwan.
https://www2.econ.iastate.edu/tesfatsi/Sallach2012CategoricalSoSci4.WCSS-SS.pdf

And so, I do need my own secondhand copy of  Logic on the Track of Social Change. More to follow (indeed)! ... and help still welcome and needed.

 

Previously: Re. Sallach - 'Distance: Shoulders and ships that pass...' : 'history of medicine'

What! Nursing reduced to objects! Do you realise what you're saying?

Wittgenstein to the rescue?

Revisting a theme, and while it is not new - as in use of objected oriented approaches in health informatics; as a nurse, to suggest there's a need to view the elements of care systems as a series of objects surely runs counter to nursing's theory, practice, professional standing and values.

Or, does Wittgenstein come to the rescue in his 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'?

'2.01231 In order to know an object, I must know not its external but all its internal qualities'.

[My emphasis - and as ever high degree of selectivity.] 

In reading 'internal qualities' I can equate internal with a person; and qualities with subjectivism, what is inherently seen as humanistic, a set of characteristics, and properties. Can it be argued that in the context of healthcare and person-centredness we can also take 'internal' as potentially referring to what happens in the mind, an individual's mental life, for example? This can be applied physically too. To bodily properties, which ultimately are internal genetically, and influenced by - expressed in-part - by the external environment.

While I sort books, creating space, there is the small matter that Wittgenstein walked away from philosophy after the Tractatus was published. Then, realising he had not answered the questions concerning human language and reality, he returned to Cambridge and his studies, with Philosophical Investigations published after his death.

Does this invalidate the thoughts above?

Another post to follow drawing from the Tractatus. 

Previous posts:

Reflection: programming and caring II

Abstract [working] Hodges’ model as a mathematical object, a lens for social care and inclusion: category theory or category mistake?

Person to object: Surely you're joking* ...!

viii Book: Bill Ross - 'Order and the Virtual'

 'The Philosophy and Science of Deleuzian Cosmology'

So much of what we experience is nuanced. What was conscious thought, becomes tacit knowledge and unconscious. Is that consciousness nullified as Ross writes on page 76? I wrote a note 'reflection as hesitation'; also prompted to think about intution (p.83) and our word uses in 'retardation' (which here is no problem at all - in physics and complex sciences/systems. Again the 'principle of least action' arises (p.82). With more physics and cosmology to follow, it helps a little that 'manifold' has landed begging to be understood across the contexts. Bill Ross notes how Delueze and Michel Serres used the game metaphor [Game analogy #1]. Again, lifting this to a scribble 'Health-Illness is quite a game'! This will be the subject of a post soon. In England at least the law and manifold on health (being productive) and illness has been utterly disrupted. The game-table has been kicked over, by those in society who still able? New spaces, and canvases are needed. Kantian thought and interpretations are added to Leibniz. A heady mix but clearly essential as Bill Ross's critique is developed. 

 

The book was a must-read, as in the contents: Complexity (with a presentation next month), cosmology, Serres, and Claude Shannon. In Game Analogy #2, "Communication is understood here to encompass much more than meaningful exchange; all phenomena 'communicate'". p.85. I couldn't agree more with with these 'games', this thought being 'situated within the purchase of information theory' (p.86). Bizarrely (or not), in the same year two papers:

Jones, P. (1996) Humans, Information, and Science, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24(3),591-598.

Jones, P. (1996) An overarching theory of health communication? Health Informatics Journal,2,1,28-34. 

Ross explains the global view of Michel Serres when it comes to 'information'. This entranced me, and I only scratched the skin:

Jones, P. (2008) Exploring Serres’ Atlas, Hodges’ Knowledge Domains and the Fusion of Informatics and Cultural Horizons, IN Kidd, T., Chen, I. (Eds.) Social Information Technology Connecting Society and Cultural Issues, Idea Group Publishing, Inc. Chap. 7, pp. 96-109.

Here there's a pointer to the cosmology to follow - Ross is true to the title. I have let most of the Astronomy Yearbooks go, but retain a few. Not just for key birth-years, but articles that are well written and researched historical snapshots. Here, Bill Ross discusses the game of Cepheid variables and their significance in mapping the universe. Truly, fascinating. Weaver's three levels of salient action are listed. Threads are tied too, with conclusions offered. These rules are reappraised, physics ever present. In light of one of the above papers I should revisit Serres, and Leibniz; the search for 'overarching explanatory power' (p.91) is ongoing. This game draws on Serres invitation to imagine a diagram, a network of nodes, channels, and propositions. This tabular formulation and its relations for me, spans the history of economics (Quesnay's tableau), the current state of economics (human values), and next (mathematical?) steps for Hodges' model. So many questions here: surely node  can't be an axis? I felt like Hansel, picking up sweets, Cartesian lines, scalene forms, thresholds, coming across hoops to jump through through to terminal equilibri. As you walk the sound of the thalweg, downstream... where Bergson features once again.

 

Reading Ross, over several months coincided with several key themes gaining in personal coherence. Bayesian ideas as might be applied to Hodges' model, even if in a naïve way (c/o feedback on draft notes). The remainder of chapter 3 includes time (thought), percept (space), to close with Deleuze's Ideal Game. I looked up Cortázarian Hopscotch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopscotch_(Cort%C3%A1zar_novel), as the preface is titled. Ross reflects on the Ideal Game (does it exist, for Deleuze, only in thought?), and the distinction between 'domestic' chance (Baysian) and radical contingency belonging to the clinamen. In response to 'physical action and and the thought being on the same continuum', don't ask (please!), but I scribbled: 'corridor care' - a dangerous game, far from ideal. Plus, bird's using quantum entanglement to navigate. 'Kant's chaotic manifold', I will also investigate for next month(?).

Chapter 4 'Order as Complexity' proved most relevant. Every page is touched by graphite.

Deleuze has a 'blind spot' (p.111), something that Hodges' model seeks to ameloirate. But then of course at the model's center (nexus - as noted) that decussation of the axes invites a darkness of its own. If Hodges' model assists forethought and foresight  While inviting complexity, this interdisciplinary palette can also facilitate trandiscipinary sense-making. 'Magnitudes of intensity' reminded me of logarithmic thresholds within our perceptual apparatus. This is like reading Serres. A flow of punctum, simultaneity, delay (again) but its contribution to causal series, and Aionic time. I was taken (frequently)  to plane, person, personhood, chronicity, scales, local to global to glocal.

'BwO' (p.117)? That's 'body without organs: DELEUZE, GUATTARI a thousand plateaus - capitalism and s c h i z o p h r e n i a'.

There is a 'corner' amid those thousand plateaus. n.b. to self - 'triangulation always needs one other'. I cannot resolve the frameworks as yet, scientific - otherwise or otherwhere; but you can take flight from here. Physics takes it place as 'complexity begets complexity'. Bill Ross utilises well-recognized sources, Penrose, Kauffman, Kolmogorov and Bohm.

As with the frameworks internal and external complexity must be untangled 1-4 (p.124?). I can laugh now, did I really try to marry up Order  - Disorder :: Simple - Complex (complicated?) to the domains of Hodges' model? So often reading philosophy, you feel an imposter playing games with words, as in: 'different similarities' and 'similar differences' (p.125). But of course, this is serious scholarship. Especially, when it involves lines, a rough circle, segments and dimensions: disorder becomes different degrees of order. Page 126 delivers Deleuze in spades, Ross pulls his thoughts together. It is fitting for me that Ross closes chapter 4 with a nod to transdisciplinarity.

Chapter 5 deals with symmetry and disymmetry; indifference and difference; limits and non-locality. There is an argument to follow (p.133). With 'group theory' mentioned on p.131, I've a lot of things to 'look up' [topology too]. Despite appearances I recognise the lack of symmetry in Hodges' model. This is what the situation does (practice) and means (theory): 'There is no reason under the sun which can rely on perfect symmetry' (p.135).  Where do/can we locate 'spooky action at a distance' in Hodges' model (p.140)? 

The Higgs role! Who knew? 'the speed of light. It represents a retardation.' Thanks Bill Ross, fascinating pp. 135-174. Plus, axes too. Note to self: when we die do we 'simply' set sail on the Dirac Sea? Attending the Bill Ross Memorial Workshop – BSP Special Event 2025 last September:

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2025/09/bill-ross-memorial-workshop.html

the esteem .. and love .. that Bill Ross engendered in the people that knew him. The preface refers to chats in university cafes. How I wish. I wonder what Bill would have made of Hodges' model and the ongoing project here? Vitally, I get a distinct sense that he would have found time to listen ... 

'Bill Ross (1964 – 2022) had interests ranging widely across contemporary philosophy and culture, with a particular interest in the relations between science and philosophy. As managing editor, he was the driving force behind Clinamen Press, which in the early 2000s published new works by contemporary philosophers, and English translation of important works by continental philosophers such as Henri Bergson, Gaston Bachelard and Michel Serres. He completed his PhD in philosophy at Staffordshire University, where he taught on the MA in the Philosophy of Nature, Information, and Technology. Bill had a lifelong passion for the connections between science and philosophy, on which he had published several important articles. Bill was working on a monograph on the philosophy and science of Deleuzian cosmology, which was has been posthumously published by Edinburgh University Press. This event is to celebrate Bill’s book and his life, and to allow his friends, his colleagues, and anyone interested in his work or the topics and issues addressed by his work to continue the conversation that Bill’s work inspires.'

https://www.thebsp.org.uk/bill-ross-memorial-workshop-deleuzian-cosmologies/

 

Many thanks again to Edinburgh University Press for my copy - a keeper! Bill Ross RIP.

 

Bill Ross (2024) Order and the Virtual: The Philosophy and Science of Deleuzian Cosmology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-order-and-the-virtual.html