Speaker's corner

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

individual

canto do orador Le coin de l'auditeur, Rincón del oyente الزاوية المستمع 听者的角落, Canto do ouvinte, Listener's corner	音箱的边角 Le coin des haut-parleurs
الزاوية المتكلم esquina del orador	Speaker's corner

group - population

Image source: http://rebbls.dk/rebblog/speakers-corner/

Foundations, projects, corners and cornerstones

Ok, so you have a new project - that's great!

Yes, we are going to build something - outstanding!

Sounds marvellous!

We are going to use up-to-the-nanosecond project management tools.

And you're going to do it by the book, charts and real-time tags.

Yes, with a dash of intuition plus - you know - gut instinct!

Well sure, pleased to hear that too.

We will take account of history, learn the lessons -
we've a researcher onboard you know?
Building a world-class team that's all fleet of foot and mind.

We'll tick all the boxes, check all the corners and leave no stone un-turned.

Truly admirable, but how many boxes and corners have you got and how many cornerstones* will you need?

Eh?

Hey listen up. Corners are for losers,

naughty children

and people lost in the dark.

Nobody is going to be stuck standing in the corner on this one!

Oh - right.

Well good luck....

Image sources:
'Cornerstone office': Cornerstone Corp. Center
Dan Flavin: at Artnet.

Inspired by the word 'cornerstone' and Untitled (Corner Piece) 1969 on visit to Tate Liverpool, 25 September 2009 (not the piece illustrated above):

Flavin made a number of works intended to be shown in corners, engaging directly with the architecture of the gallery. His use of commonly available fluorescent tubes enabled him to explore light as a non-physical material, animating gallery walls. The size of the work was determined so that the units could be fastened in the centre only, without having to be anchored to the floor. The artist rejected any symbolic significance of the object, insisting that it was simply a form that made good use of a corner.

Question: How many corners are there in Hodges' model?

*Cornerstones: here referring to stakeholders, sponsors, owners, partners, investors, builders, architects, designers...?

"Get in that corner! Now!"

"Which one?"

"Don't you be so hard-faced with me.
Go!"

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL
|

group

anxiety fear guilt hate	here - out of sight out of reach - over here this corner: out of earshot that corner
shame ridicule embarassment  alienation	bullying - abuse punishment injustice deportation

The view from Wigan Pier* ...

or, Greetings from WN4.

Camilla Cavendish's focus in the weekend FT is health, social care and related policy. In a recent opinion piece on junk food she writes:

"Which is more Orwellian, I wonder: adding 1p to a bag of crisps, or letting companies go on turning us all into junk food addicts, while the cost of treating diet-related diseases soars? Long before we were engulfed in a torrent of junk, George Orwell wrote in The Road to Wigan Pier: 'The peculiar evil is this, that the less money you have, the less inclined you feel to spend it on wholesome food.' Now, processing techniques have made unhealthy food cheaper than many healthy alternatives."

Several months ago, reading a book review: Doom looped, by Douglas Alexander on Niall Ferguson's Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe, (Life&Arts, 1-2 May, 2021, p.9) the conclusion closes:

"The inherent unpredictability of what lies in wait for us all around the next corner means that, notwithstanding Ferguson's brilliance and breadth of scholarship, this immensely readable book is a better lens than it is a compass."

From the local and national to the international and beyond - we must encompass  planetary health.  Even on a rainy day, the view from Wigan Pier is clear: Hodges' model can provide a compass and a lens.

Cavendish, C. (2021) It is time to stem the tide of junk that reaches British plates, A tax on sugar and salt in food would be a global first and is more necessary than ever. Opinion, FTWeekend, 17-18 July, p.12.

'lens' on W2tQ 

'compass' 

'corner(s)' [ How many corners are there in Hodges' model? How many when you add 'the spiritual'? ]

'line-of-sight'

*You can have your pie and eat it! ;-)

Pick your corner carefully ...

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group - population

Of all the corners you can pick* take care ...
	... some are even more 'political' and expressive of power, individually and collectively, than when exercised right here.

 

Ack. Source:

(1/) In hospital today, whilst in a lot of pain I spelled my name 3 times for a receptionist who kept sighing; eventually rolling her eyes she said loudly "You're confusing me with that name. Come explain it properly in that corner!" So many issues with what happened here...

— Adiba Sultan (@AdibaSultan) [No longer available.]

 

*I remember at school 1970s - our drama teacher highlighting the people who have social awareness and those who do not. 'Social awareness' covers a wide range of attitudes, behaviour, manners,  literacies, intelligences ... and with ongoing unrest, campaigning, activism, legislation, policy and human rights we  have made progress. A counterpoint and sadness in the 21st C. is that - as ever - there remains much to do: many people [still] can not exercise a choice in terms of the corners they would like to reach.

Holistic care No. 2: Definitions - pushing the envelope checking the corners?

Last month I posted about holistic care; where was I up to? Yes, of course definitions...

I came across this article that includes reference to Jan Smuts (1926) who is generally attributed with coining the term holism. The article also highlights that holism is often associated with alternative medicine. I'd like to suggest here that holism extends far beyond any specific school of medicine or new ageist theme. A conclusion reached from contemplating the state of the World and using Hodges' model. So let's consider holism as a feature, characteristic or principle of care theory, practice and policy. What follows may well apply generally.

To begin, if health and social care (plus pastoral) is to be person-centred and situated then agency (who) must be a central factor in defining holism - holistic care. Then I would add the concept of information followed closely by knowledge. Stepping back slightly 'holistic' in h2cm denotes openness, inclusiveness and comprehensiveness.

AGENCY: In Hodges' model I think there are four aspects to agency:

1. The person who is the 'patient';
2. The health / social care agent;
3. Others associated with the patient (family/friends as carers);
4. The population at large (local, national through global).

The definition of the health care agent can be described as idealised or actualised; implicit or explicit; indirect or direct(?)

Please pardon the verbiage here both that last sentence and the volume. I'm still trying to figure this out. If you hadn't noticed I'm scribbling all this on an envelope. Any assistance or suggestions gratefully received.

A definition needs to account for the way it [holistic care] is used in day-to-day language, across various settings and contexts. To explain a bit more: imagine there is a community service with a multidisciplinary team that is 'holistic' in that it includes all professional (qualified and unqualified) disciplines, and voluntary practitioners of care. In combination this holistic service bring with them a range of knowledge and skills that is comprehensive. There are distinct pools of specialisation, with the inevitable overlap of some skills - otherwise how could people co-work? So on paper this team could - idealistically - be said to be 'holistic'.

If, however, all of these agencies were to be involved in a single case, then another definition of 'holistic care' emerges. This highlights the importance of context on working definitions derived from the service (agent) side, in contrast to definitions from the patient (subject) perspective and policy (Government). If you need some indication for the level at which Hodges' model operates look no further. At this level the patient and informal (family) carers are also agents, supporting the notion of self care.

It could well be that the whole team are legitimately required to respond to a referral, but if not this would constitute a huge waste of resources. The actualised sense of holistic care is expressed in policy - interventions must be commensurate with need. We cannot divorce health care from governance and economics. In fact there may be a case of abuse to answer for. You really can have too much of a good thing.

Point #4 above may seem to stretch the concept of agency too far. Problems first launched in the 19th century are coming home to roost. There is (currently) nowhere to run or fly. The inclusion of local through global sense of agency is a MUST. Patient care is de rigueur, self care is a major challenge*, both are insufficient in terms of achieving holistic care:

Staff: "Always observe discretely and check the welfare and safety of the quiet, withdrawn patients in your care."

Student: "Who's that sat in the corner?"

Staff: "Where? You mean the lady sat in the other corner don't you?"

Student: "Hold on .. why - she's in all four corners, in fact she's everywhere..."

Staff: "Oh, yes that's right her name's Mrs Green and actually she's not so quiet these days. It's all very sad. We're trying to include her in things."

Student: "What's the problem?"

Staff: "Some very complicated and damaging relationship problems, gross personal assaults of the worst kind that we can't discuss here, but the lawyers are talking about crimes against humanity.... All her children are threatened. Goodness is that the time! Is it time for your break? Perhaps you could go try and speak to her. Better still maybe just listen..."

INFORMATION: If agency is primarily centred on the left side of h2cm namely the humanistic axis with the INTERPERSONAL & SOCIOLOGAL domains - then this needs to be counterbalanced if the model is to mean something. ICT (information and communication technology) IS an essential factor.

For our purposes though we need to fracture this union and separate out information, communication and technology (Intensely Confusing Terminology?).

If we untie the digital knot, then we can better reflect upon the sociotechnical dimensions of holistic care.

KNOWLEDGE: This brings us to the next definition that can be built on conceptual and prepositional foundations. A definition of holistic care relating to knowledge can (surprise-surprise) also utilise Hodges' model.

I've to pull-the-plug somewhere - sorry info and know are very brief. Thanks for stopping by awhile, safe travels until we meet again at this crossroads.

I hope you'll be back and that these reflections are helpful?

More to follow: Holistic care No. 3: Location

holism: Smuts, J.C. (1926) Holism and evolution. New York: Macmillan.

*The real challenge is avoiding the need for self-care!

"Shooting Into the Corner" Ack: Anish Kapoor (politics policy trigger ricochet)

individual
|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL
|

group

	Shooting into the Corner

Image:
eflux.com

The Art & Science of Health: [conceptual scraps i]

The role that both art and science have to play in health, medicine and nursing is recognised by all. The distinction can be made in a great many ways using Hodges' model. Now: there is an exercise for a new group of student nurses ... ?

As I hope is evident in numerous blog posts and subjects of relevance to h2cm, notably, conceptual spaces and threshold concepts, concepts are a basic element in nursing scholarship and debate within art.
 
In the FT Weekend June 9-10, 2012, p.11 I read: "Conceptual: only worth the paper it's written on" (Georgina Adam). From a healthcare perspective, Adam's opening question seems fairly innocuous:

"How do you prove that you own a work of conceptual art?"

Amid the ongoing revelations involving user's personal data and the governance and values of social media companies lies the question of ownership. First though, back to Adams:

"This is an interesting issue in today’s art market, with the trend towards the dematerialisation of art, and the primacy of the idea over its physical presence.

For example, the late US artist Félix González-Torres’s works include “Candy Spills”, in which wrapped sweets are piled on the floor or in a corner, to be taken and eaten by viewers. When the pile has gone, the owner of the work replenishes it. So what stops anyone making and selling their own “Candy Spill”?

The answer is the certificate of authenticity issued by the artist or their estate. This scrap of paper is, in fact, the only proof that the work of art genuinely belongs to you, and this is actually what you buy and sell.

So losing it is a disaster."

The contrast of this within health care and its 'record' is quite stark. There are at least two ways to  distinguish between the scraps of paper we use ...:

to be continued...

'Clean tools' - fit for Conceptual Engineering?

Posting previously news of a conference on 'Conceptual Engineering' I was drawn and try to follow the following series:

Conceptual Engineering Seminar | Simon Blackburn (Cambridge): TBA 

March 30 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm 

ABSTRACT. — When I hit upon the term ‘conceptual engineering’ in the Introduction to my book Think, I suppose I thought of it as simply a cute way of introducing what philosophers do. I had no idea that the term had already been used, although I have subsequently learned that it was. I have therefore been surprised that books and seminars have subsequently been devoted to the idea: it is as if books and seminars were simply entitled ‘Philosophy’ rather than directed at particular problems within philosophy. In my talk I hope to go further into that and try to understand why it happened. 

Yesterday, Simon Blackburn cited Austin (1956) and the need for 'clean tools', which led me to the following source*:

"First, words are our tools, and, as a minimum, we should use clean tools: we should know what we mean and what we do not, and we must forearm ourselves against the traps that language sets us. Secondly, words are not (except in their own little corner*) facts or things: we need therefore to prise them off the world, to hold them apart from and against it, so that we can realise their inadequacies and arbitrarinesses, and can re-look at the world without blinkers. Thirdly, and more hopefully, our common stock of words embodies all the distinctions men have found worth drawing, and the connexions they have found worth marking, in the lifetimes of many generations: these surely are likely to be more numerous, more sound, since they have stood up to the long test of the survival of the fittest, and more subtle, at least in all ordinary and reasonably practical matters, than any that you or I are likely to think up in our armchairs of an afternoon - the most favoured alternative method."

*my emphasis

Simon's talk of 'clean tools' prompted me to reflect:

The assumed neutrality of Hodges' model. As noted on W2tQ previously, Hodges' model is an invitation to start with a new slate. To leave behind bias and prejudice, to assure unconditional positive regard and a non-judgmental approach and attitude.

'Engineering' is usually conducted within a dedicated physical space. Apprentices will soon be familiar with the discipline of leaving the work environment clean and prepared for the next day. They will learn that tools have their place (even on the screen). Tools themselves also need care; so don't be care-less.

If Occam's razor is a preparatory rule for conceptual hygiene, perhaps we can take this further, or at least propose an addition? There is a 'rule of forceps' (which, it might be argued, is person-centred, or clearly patient-centred?) but not only are forceps a tool, we can utilise a divider too.

In use, Hodges' model suggests and facilitates dichotomous thinking. The forceps may help grasp the the key parts - the polarities of a situation. The divider may serve to help us to weigh and measure the 'distance' of two concepts, especially if they seem to be grounded across two of the model's care (knowledge) domains.

So Hodges' model may have a role in 'conceptual engineering', variously as a dialectic divider or dialectical forceps?

Austin, J. (1956). A Plea for Excuses: The Presidential Address. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 57, new series, 1-30. Retrieved March 30, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4544570Austin, J. (1956). A Plea for Excuses: The Presidential Address. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 57, new series, 1-30. Retrieved March 30, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4544570

There is a legal case of historic interest also described in the Austin's paper.

Drupal 6 themes and tools

Of the themes I have downloaded that work with Drupal 6 Four Seasons and Bluebreeze look worth pursuing. Transferring over the style sheet used in Drupal 5 with Denver caused quite a few problems as expected. Commenting out some of the global styles one-by-one and noting the effects can't avoid the sense of work to be done. Here is D-6 Bluebreeze:


In the above image, the panel on the left is one of the modules downloaded and enabled. There are no more than two users at present, so I'll disable this for future use. The fixed-width version of Bluebreeze may be needed as off to the right there's yet another tab - 'Book'. I'm going to bring over the draft glossary page, it might prompt me to add some terms.

One of the tools that should prove itself has placed a tick box 'Themer info' in the lower left corner of the screen as illustrated below.

When activated you:

Click on any element to see information about the Drupal theme function or template that created it.

There's a problem though when I try to access 'modules' -

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 16777216 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 347727 bytes) in C:\....module on line 1291.

Mmmm.

A techno-spiritual world with agnostic needs

Whatever our own personal beliefs
we live in spiritual times.

Agnosticism
is a frequent and ongoing subject of debate in
the philosophy of religion, science and ideas.

It also features - duly tempered for purpose -
in other fields notably technology.

In the early days of IT and ICT those buying information systems grew tired and wary of being locked-in to particular platforms, with consequent dependency upon vendors. This also put the technology to the fore, with the risk of relegating business requirements to 'out of hours'. While many business relationships did undoubtedly prosper, the market soon recognized the need for standards and the need for technology to be agnostic, increasing freedom and choice in the marketplace.

Among the retinue of central tenets in medicine, health, social care and nursing is the need for unconditional positive regard and a non-judgemental approach. So caring is most definitely not without beliefs and values. In the same way that vendors to companies and academia want to be free and determine their requirements around their business and needs, so too there is a perceived need for the health care 'industry' to be agnostic. Re-framing a bullet list in a 'lost' post elsewhere: ''Increase knowledge innovation and manage technology change' agnostic in a health context becomes:

1. As per the need for evidence-based x, y, z... fully research your status, direction and tools not only before you adopt them, but also while you’re using them*;
2. Don’t get emotionally attached to a particular assessment, planning, intervention (therapy) or evaluation toolset;
3. Continuously research (horizon scan* - look over the fence) at other research possibilities and alternatives;
4. And as Lucas McDonnell make clear: Don’t build yourself into a corner*.

*Of course, that last point is hypercritical - since there are at least four corners!

This is where Hodges' model comes into play, (not quite with underpants on the outside, but certainly with utility belt firmly in-situ).

Hodges' model - as a model to support and integrate care - is agnostic in the following ways:

DISCIPLINE: unless its origins prejudices its case, Hodges' model can be applied by any and all disciplines. This is crucial in times when multidisciplinary and even transdisciplinary team work is needed.
THERAPEUTICS: whether physical, social or biopsychosocial - Hodges' model is agnostic regards particular therapy interventions. It is not married to gene therapy, cognitive therapy, primary nursing, family therapy, gestalt therapy.
PHILOSOPHY: 'care- nursing- ward- philosophy' is probably a much misused term, but once again Hodges model is philosophically neutral - unless it is deemed that its generality - pantological aspirations - is itself a philosophical stance?
SUBJECT: in being person-centered the model is agnostic in respect of the individual using the model or who happens to be the focus of the model. This is quite critical at present with the engagement of patients in education, self-care and individual budgets in cases of long-term medical conditions.
AUTHORITY: Although disciplines with their professional legacies and politics can and do (justifiably) lay claim to authority and legitimacy Hodges' model can negotiate this divide.
SOCIO-TECHNICAL: this form of agnosticism for Hodges' model is not given the credence it should be afforded. Being context sensitive and situated the model can perform a definitional volte face appealing to a socially or technically oriented user-base, or both.
CULTURAL: Finally, it is essential that our tools are not 'tainted' from the perspective of a particular community or ethnic group. Apart from the structure of the model with its historical (mythic) iconographic associations, the model is open and not directly allied to any specific ethnic group, set of cultural or religious beliefs. Ideologically AND practically then the model provides a neutral ground upon which values and beliefs can be shared.

Additional links:

Becoming a Technology Agnostic, by davidleeking (My primary source through twitter)

Technology-agnostic approach to Service Oriented Architecture: back to the essence of SOA?

Death in Birth By Vivienne Walt/Freetown Thursday, Sep. 18, 2008

An excerpt from an article in TIME magazine is posted below by Patti Abbott, Co-Director of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Nursing Knowledge, Information Management and Sharing (KIMS), Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.

The entire article can be found at: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1842278,00.html

“In a hospital ward in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, Fatmata Conteh, 26, lay on a bed, having just given birth to her second child. She had started bleeding from a tear in her cervix, the blood forming a pool on the floor below. Two doctors ran in and stitched her up, relatives found blood supplies, and nurses struggled to connect a generator to the oxygen tank. One nurse jammed an intravenous needle into Conteh's arm, while another hooked a bag of blood to a rusted stand, and a third slapped an oxygen mask over her face. In the corner of the room, a tiny baby--3 hours old--lay on a bed, wailing, swaddled in bright-colored African fabric. "Listen! You must feel happy to hear your baby cry," said a nurse, pleading with Conteh to find strength. Three visiting members of a neighborhood church began chanting over Conteh: "Jesus, put blood into this woman! Thank you, Lord!" But as their chants grew louder, the nurses stepped back from the bed. Conteh was dead.

Some version of that scene is repeated around the world about once a minute. Death in childbirth is not just something you find in a Victorian novel. Every year, about 536,000 women die giving birth. In some poor nations, dying in childbirth is so common that almost everyone has known a victim. Take Sierra Leone, a West African nation with just 6.3 million people: women there have a 1 in 8 chance of dying in childbirth during their lifetime. The same miserable odds apply in Afghanistan. In the U.S., by contrast, the lifetime chance that a woman will die in childbirth is about 1 in 4,800; in Britain, 1 in 8,200; and in Sweden, 1 in 17,400. Deaths are heavily weighted to the poorest and most isolated in each country, which means that many politicians remain largely ignorant of the scale of the tragedy. "Often the people in the cities do not know what is happening in their own rural areas," says Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and patron of the White Ribbon Alliance, a global advocacy organization that works with governments to lower maternal mortality rates. Brown--who lost a baby 10 days after giving birth in 2001--says that when she tells heads of state and their spouses how many women die in childbirth, "they are aghast."

The Gains Not Made
They have reason to be. For here is the truly ghastly reality of maternal mortality: in 20 years--two decades that have seen spectacular medical breakthroughs--the ratio of maternal deaths to babies born has barely budged in poor countries. To be sure, maternal health has seen advances, with new drugs to treat deadly postpartum bleeding and pregnancy-related anemia. But in many places, such gains are dwarfed by a multitude of problems: scattershot care, low pay for health workers and a scarcity of midwives and doctors. In Mozambique, where women have a 1 in 45 lifetime chance of dying in childbirth, there are just 3 doctors per 100,000 people; in all of Sierra Leone, there are 64 government doctors, only five of whom are gynecologists. Millions of families have never seen a doctor or nurse and give birth at home with traditional birthing helpers, while those who make it to a clinic--some being carried on bicycles or in hammocks--often find patchy electricity, dirty water and few drugs or nurses. Explaining the task of reducing maternal deaths, Sierra Leone's Minister of Health, Saccoh Alex Kabia, who returned home last year after decades of working as a surgeon in Atlanta, says, "The whole health sector is in a shambles."

The article goes on to say:

“When world leaders gather in New York City this month to take stock of the MDGS, their speeches are likely to tout the many achievements since 2000: millions more African children now attend school and sleep under mosquito nets; thousands of new water wells have been dug. Yet though maternal health care underpins many other development goals (healthy mothers are more likely to ensure that their children are well fed and educated), the total number of women dying in childbirth has remained virtually unchanged in eight years. Why? Health officials are clear in their answers. Aside from lack of money and political will, they also face entrenched traditions and fatalistic attitudes to maternal mortality, especially in very poor communities. "People think that dying in childbirth is not preventable," says Nadira Hayat, Afghanistan's Deputy Minister of Health. "They say it is up to God."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think they need knowledge, a nurse, a midwife.

Patti
Patricia A. Abbott, PhD, RN, FAAN
Co-Director of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Nursing Knowledge, Information Management and Sharing (KIMS), Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
___________________
Visit web site:
http://my.ibpinitiative.org/GANM/NMmakingpregnancysafer/

My source: posted by Jody Lori: [Nursing and Midwifery for Making Pregnancy Safer: Discussion] link to article in Time Magazine.

Additional links:

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/sierraleone.html

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/sierraleone_statistics.html

Biology, axioms, teleology and knowledge c/o Cox & Forshaw (2012)

'Teleological ideas generally have a rather bad reputation in science, and it's easy to see why. In biology, a teleological explanation for the emergence of complex creatures would be tantamount to an argument for the existence of a designer, whereas Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection provides a simpler explanation that fits the available data beautifully. There is no teleological component to Darwin's theory - random mutations produce variations in organisms, and external pressures from the environment and other living thing determine which of these variations are passed on to the next generation. This process alone can account for the complexity we see in life on Earth today. In other words, there is no need for a grand plan and no gradual ascent of life towards some sort of perfection. Instead, the evolution of life is a random walk, generated by the imperfect copying of genes in a constantly shifting external environment. The Nobel-Prize-winning French biologist Jacques Monod went so far as to define a cornerstone of modern biology as "the systematic or axiomatic denial that scientific knowledge can be obtained on the basis of theories that involve, explicitly or not, a teleological principle".

As far as physics is concerned, there is no debate as to whether or not the least action principle actually works, for it allows calculations to be performed that correctly describe Nature and it is a cornerstone of physics. It can be argued that the least action principle is not teleological at all, but the debate is in any case neutralized once we have a grasp of Feynman's approach to quantum mechanics. The ball flying through the air 'knows' which path to choose because it actually, secretly, explores every possible path.' pp.52-53.

Cox, Brian, and Jeff Forshaw. (2012) Quantum Universe, the: Everything That Can Happen Does Happen. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

See also: 

Jacques Monod - https://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/scientists/monod/

Harrison, Peter. 2022. 'The History of Science and Theology', St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology. Edited by Brendan N. Wolfe et al. https://www.saet.ac.uk/Christianity/TheHistoryofScienceandTheology

Greslehner GP. "Molecular Biology"- Pleonasm or Denotation for a Discipline of Its Own? Reflections on the Origins of Molecular Biology and Its Situation Today. Biomolecules. 2023 Oct 12;13(10):1511. doi: 10.3390/biom13101511. PMID: 37892193; PMCID: PMC10605324.

Previously: 'axiom' : 'biology' : 'corner'

ii Yes, Nursing is both an Art and Science but ...

The value and provenance of 
nursing, 
nursing's benefits and 
high quality nursing care 

cannot just be a matter of 
record*
on paper, screen, media 
or artificial neural network ...

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------- NURSING as ART & SCIENCE ------------ mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

Nursing ...  and its many dimensions ...	"How do you prove that you own a work of conceptual art? This is an interesting issue in today’s art market, with the trend towards the dematerialisation of art, and the primacy of the idea over its physical presence."
"For example, the late US artist Félix González-Torres’s works include “Candy Spills”, in which wrapped sweets are piled on the floor or in a corner, to be taken and eaten by viewers. When the pile has gone, the owner of the work replenishes it. So what stops anyone making and selling their own “Candy Spill”?"	"The answer is the certificate of authenticity issued by the artist or their estate. This scrap of paper is, in fact, the only proof that the work of art genuinely belongs to you, and this is actually what you buy and sell."

*
1. Often heard: "If it is not written down, it never happened."
2. Nurse registration.
3. The Uniform ™

Georgina Adams, Conceptual: only worth the paper it's written on, Financial Times, Life & Arts. June 9, 2012 p.11.

Joining the digital dots across primary care and integrated care

My partner and I both received a letter today from our respective GPs. An invitation for a 'FREE LUNG HEALTH CHECK'.

Overleaf is an information sheet in landscape about the health check, plus three more sides of A4, similarly formatted - inviting trifold presentation.

After the 'Re. ......' an opening sentence asks: 'Have you ever been a smoker?'

Suddenly, I was dragged backwards through his-tory (some things don't change); not one history, but several:

INDIVIDUAL

|

    INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

My personal and life experience  and not just since my teens . . .

The letter states: **If you have never smoked, you are not eligible for this service**

My mother and father  smoked when I was a child and my siblings.    They got the message early 1980s.    'Society' smoked back then!     Once old enough, I refused to go to the corner shop.   Into the 1990s, patients, smoking (some chain-smoking) on admission, long-stay and other clinical areas. As a community mental health nurse, I learned diplomatic and health promoting skills when in the car, giving a patient a lift to hospital. And, when visiting their home where I was, of course, usually, a guest.

I wondered what has happened to the GP's records? To the primary care clinical record ? The custodians of my health record, that they should need to ask that question?    Or, does confidentiality tie some bureaucratic knots?   Where is 'integrated care' and its driver 'clinical informatics'?  The letter included the NHS Number.    Don't get me wrong, I/we appreciate the obvious effort here, even if the chronology is confusing, or,  speaks of afterthought? The letters are dated 19/06/2025. I must admit I haven't accessed my GP record, checking it for accuracy.   If anything, this is a prompt to do so. And seek a general medical.

Previously: 'smoking' : 'winwick'

Fallding: 'model'

"The ideal type, as a case of the heuristic, resembles what is now called a model. ... He [Nagel] makes model refer simply to the mental imagery with which we clothe our theoretical entities in order to have some pictorial grasp of them : ... essentially analogies, yet they do more than help us visualize; they help our thinking to unfold by taking it in new directions. 

[Model] is taken to mean a system of concepts that is useful in mapping the variables in a field under investigation. It may be a corner of a field or the whole field of the subject: a model may be of bureaucracy, for instance, or of society in general. ... in scientific work we do not start out with an empty mind, nor even with isolated hypotheses. We start with a guess about the whole structure of our universe of discourse. The coherence that goes into this system of concepts, a coherence whereby each concept is defined by the relationship in which it stands to the others, is analogous to explanation but is not explanation in fact. For it is not an account of reality as it has been experienced" (p. 510).

Harold Fallding. Explanatory Theory, Analytical Theory and the Ideal Type. In. Thompson, K. and Tunstall, J. (eds.): Sociological Perspectives, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1971.

Excerpt from Harold Fallding. (1968) The sociological task. Prentice-Hall.

Interviews: In the political melee don't forget the green corner...!

individual
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

Therapeutic alliance

"Sir Robin cited research conducted by two psychologists on interviews during the 1987 general election campaign. Dr Peter Bull and Kate Mayer found that Kinnock and Thatcher avoided more than half the questions put to them. They concluded the party leaders used 31 different forms of evasion, among them ignoring the question, acknowledging the question without answering, questioning the question, attacking the question, attacking the interviewer, declining to answer, giving an incomplete answer, repeating a previous answer and claiming already to have answered the question." FT Weekend. p.1

Source:
Katz, Ian, (2014) The death of the political interview. FT Weekend, Life & Arts, September 6-7th. p.1.

Hybrid: Seminar & Tetralogic Model

Free Hybrid Seminar Oct 2nd - Personal Welfare Decisions:
Year in Review & Future Developments

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

my corner 'I' The person - self The person's - mental state, mental capacity orientation (time, place, person) continuity -  mental illness identity (advanced?) choice ... my decisions? PSYCHO-	physical environment place, time embodiment - sense of self deprivation of liberty anticipated future developments probability silk my body?!
next of kin family friends carers Social Housing Community Care Residential care sector personal welfare decisions	-POLITICAL UK - EU Politics European Convention on Human Rights Law - Case Law Solicitors Barristers Silk Judge Court of Protection Decisions of the Court Mental Capacity Mental Health Law 🌍

My source: https://x.com/hfp91/status/1837526633235833079

Relationships matter: Society Guardian & The WSJ

Re. Charles Leadbeater's State of Loneliness, The Guardian, Society, 01.07.09

The cover of this weeks Society Guardian immediately caught my eye with its picture (I wonder which corner of which care domain this lady is sat in?):

The text initially passed me by; then yesterday I caught up, it seems the business model quest in one sector is having a domino effect with new models needed elsewhere including health and social care.

Leadbeater's piece reminded me of Lean thinking the improvement process with its drive to identify value, reduce waste and repetition. ... His text points out that:

More efficient services quickly move in and out of people's lives, but they don't really change how people live. That is one reason why we have not made deep inroads into the most deprived communities, the most troubled families, the most intractable social problems. Services manage and process people and problems, but only rarely allow people to change their lives. Service solutions are ill-suited to the emerging challenges of the rise of long-term health conditions, diseases linked to lifestyle and diet, ageing or climate change. You cannot deliver a solution to an epidemic of diabetes the way that DHL delivers a parcel.

So any model, method that is primarily process centered may find itself compromised - providing just one cylinder's worth of power in a four cylinder engine. In Hodges' model I have identified the 4Ps. PROCESS, PURPOSE, POLICY, and PURPOSE (to which we must now add PROBITY). It will be interesting to see how value is defined across service forms of engagement, intervention (including signposting) and the new set of outcome measures to follow whether local, national, service-reported or patient reported outcome measures. Leadbeater continues:

The key will be to redesign services to enable more mutual self-help, so that people can create and sustain their own solutions. The best way to do more with less is to enable people to do more for themselves and not need an expensive, professionalised public service. Enabling people to come together to find their own, local solutions should become one of the main goals of public services. Services do a better job when they leave behind stronger, supportive relationships for people to draw on and so not need a service.

So Jo(e) Public needs to reflect, compare, evaluate, learn, collaborate and make informed decisions in order to stay well amongst many other things. They need to be engaged holistically.

Where is the model for this...?

I believe I know.

The Wall Street Journal has something to add here The Doctor Will Text You Now and relating to my earlier posts on 'Beware Reflex Moves'. Relationships matter, but if nurses are out there assessing, assessing, assessing who is doing the education, dividend added therapy outcome focused?

If e-health is going to make a real contribution in augmenting and freeing high value care resources then this in turn depends on the value invested in relationships.

Louis Petrillo, 57, a psychologist in Westfield, N.J., says he regularly turns to his family’s doctor, Robert Eidus, for online advice about his frail 90-year-old mother, who finds office visits difficult. His son who is away at college also used an online visit when he had sinus problems. “I can get into his virtual office anytime,” says Dr. Petrillo. He feels the online care works well largely because Dr. Eidus knows his family members’ regular health complaints.

If older adults move home and need new primary care services, what are most probably(?) well established patient - doctor (patient - primary care team!) relationships are not just undermined they are undone! A person's sense of community is fractured. ...

Yes that image speaks volumes.

Image source: Guardian

Mathews, A.W., The Doctor Will Text You Now, JULY 1, 2009, The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition

Non-Cartesian points, opposing corners and capital redux

individual
|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL
|

group

"I felt capital Patient?
	Patient capital? like  the  mad man  in the corner,"

a senior NHS figure said of recent top level meetings discussing the financial travails and sliding performance of the provider sector. ... The delineation between these two camps is becoming clearer. ... p.3 

Source: McLellan, A. (2015) Leader: Modernisers must cut the deficit to keep their side of the deal. Health Service Journal, 3 June. 125;6449:p.3.

See also:
Capital 'p': Patient, Person, Person-centred, Personhood