Holistic Bandwidth [II] 16, 180, breadth, depth and thoughts initial

If we were able to put the care record into an appropriate text analysis program is there a measure of the conceptual span - the holistic bandwidth of care - somewhere in there? Could there be a disciplinary or task-based mesh, a tag cloud that could be superimposed on Hodges' model to represent care as holistic bandwidth?

Very early on in the web site's history a page was added on the multicontextual nature of health (and social care). This contexts page like the others has not been properly researched, which I recognise is a risk for readers in terms of 'evidence based sources' and a risk for me since of course the Web is a rather public arena to air initial thoughts.

Since the site and this blog are a call for research in this area, I'm sure a search would reveal a literature, but without recourse to said literature I'm not sure how explicitly - my incomplete - notion of holistic bandwidth has been studied in care contexts. On the context page I included several basic diagrams to indicate how Hodges' model might be used as a 'measure'. This page plus the others need revising with a bin (icon) close to hand, in the meantime how can we measure holistic bandwidth?

We could add the problems identified in each care domains, e.g.:

INTRA-interPERSONAL = 3
POLITICAL = 2
SOCIOLOGY = 5
SCIENCES = 6
= 16

Continuing in a fit of numerics we could throw in some multiplication - 3*2*5*6 = 180 ?
'180' is much more impressive than a paltry '16'.

What next...? Could the domain scores be weighted in some way? Is it valid to assign a primary domain? And while we are at it where does self-care fall (intra-interpersonal surely)? Wither the literary heavyweights of severity, chronicity, strengths, recovery and well-being. ...? Oops - how could I forget - dependency measures are nothing new; but the literature bearers are not the issue.

If we still frequently fail to deliver holistic care, then what is holistic bandwidth (actually measuring)? Is it -

• The scope of care [in one or all of - assessment, planning, intervention, evaluation, outcome]?
• Simplicity [breadth]?
• Complexity [breadth and depth]?
• (Rapid) care integration [time, connectedness]?
• Concordance: clinical problems + patient (carer) problems + outcome set?
• ....?

Book Review: An introduction to Health Research Methods [i]

For this review, the preface says it all in the purpose of this book as a: "necessary foundation for meaningful improvements in clinical and public health practice." From an outcomes based view, to the research process itself the book is organised through five - very recognisable - steps:

1. The Research Question 5-43
2. Study approaches 35-100
3. Study design and data collection 101-211
4. Analysis 213-271
5. Dissemination 273-345

I have included the page numbers across the steps to give you an idea of the weighting. The text cuts across the various methods, disciplines and credentials of the researcher.

If you are looking for whitespace this book is not for you. As a result though this adds of course to value-for-money. As evidence of packing-it-in the publishers have packed the pages, which for a research book is welcome. The execution while dense with ink on the page, is well delivered in presentation. The font is large, clear, distinct and readable. The adopted format is established very quickly. The first paragraph refers to a figure which is also on the first page. Figures are used to good effect throughout the book, shaded tones not colour.

As per the steps outlined above, two structures to help formulate a general research topic and question are described Exposure, Disease, Population [EPD] and PICOT. Mental health represented here encouraged my reading early on. Literature is also explored, the process of reviewing and systematic revires and meta-analysis in chapters 3 & 22.

With so much research being conducted the matter of originality and gaps in the literature are included. Figure 3-1 provides useful "Ideas for new studies" p.18, the issue of gaps also earns a figure of its own. Chapter 4 quite rightly brought pangs of guilt here dealing with "Focusing the research question" - primary (new data), secondary (existing data), tertiary (review and synthesize the literature). I have struggled to finalise a goal and set specific objectives. This did give me something to ponder upon which I will save for the end.

Each chapter begins with a pithy sentence of advice. Some chapters are very short, e.g. chapters 5 and 6 but this is justified and not suggestive of a need for an alternative structure. Step 2 signifies the arrival at more technical content; time frames, population selection, case definitions, cohort studies, cross sectional surveys, case control studies - with odds rations. This is all framed in accord with the introductory theme. Even an introductory book cannot avoid maths and Jacobsen deploys the figures to very good effect, for example Incidence in figure 11-5. Chapter 12 may be less heavy on the maths but it is a vocabulary expander for the uninitiated in research, as figure illuminate random control trial approaches, randomization efficacy, numbers needed..., flows of participants and screening a diagnostic test results (positives and negatives). The author's picking out Qualitative Research - Chapter 13 gave me hope for Hodges' model which can readily differentiate between quant and qual. And yes, brainstorming and mapping are mentioned at the start of the book.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Definition of a conceptual framework, Antonenko (2015)

"Definition of a conceptual framework  

Anecdotal evidence obtained from numerous discussions with students, colleagues, and the few research design books that address the issue of conceptual frameworks (e.g., Ravitch and Riggan 2012) indicates that the construct conceptual framework is viewed from at least three perspectives. The first, and most superficial, view defines conceptual framework as a visual representation of the structure of the study and its alignment with the relevant theoretical foundations. According to this view, conceptual framework is a figure, typically presented as a concept map, that summarizes all key information presented in the literature review of the study" (p.55).

At first it is confusing when within academic writing you have to present your theoretical - conceptual framework. In Hodges' model I already have one. Antonenko is very informative but I don't believe that this first definition is necessarily that superficial. It depends on the context and purpose. There is something in instrumental value that seems closely allied with the visual form and the paper provides an example.

If as Antonenko suggests there is a conceptual framework presented in the literature review, perhaps Hodges' model as a conceptual framework that can integrate discussion and the conclusion(s)? From the paper there are other points of note - even in the sub-headings alone, for example:

Conceptual framework is more than a literature review

The connective function of conceptual frameworks

Discipline is essential to prevent any risk of superficiality, or navel-gazing and Antonenko lists many strategies, including:

Avoiding getting stuck in a ‘‘no-risk’’ zone (Miles and Huberman 1994, p. 22), a situation where all concepts in the framework are abstract and interconnected. Informed commitments must be made regarding what the researcher finds as most relevant and important pieces of the conceptual framework. The entire point of building a conceptual framework is to be explicit and selective about the focus of the study (p.66).

Antonenko, P. D. (2015). The instrumental value of conceptual frameworks in educational technology research. Educational Technology Research and Development. 63(1), 53–71. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-014-9363-4

My source and with many thanks:

Technology Enhanced Learning studies, Module 6. Lancaster Univ.

Boyer's model, Hodges' model, scholarship, future website and Drupal

Ack: This blog post draws on a brief but informative two page text by Marta Nibert, Educational Consultant for Occupational Therapy, University of Idaho.

Models abound of course (not only on catwalks where other career choices are displayed), but in nurse education and the sciences. The review of Curriculum Development In Nursing Education reminded me of Boyer's model of scholarship. I have maintained a link to this for many years, the book review prompted me to read more. Boyer is a gift for this scholar of Hodges' model and any others, a gift not just in that off-the-shelf sense, but in a constructive advisory sense.

The table below highlights Boyer's types of scholarship, purposes and measures of performance. The focus of Boyer's model is the quality of professorial activities, in the same way highly skilled and experiences nurses can be removed from the front-line, so to can specialist faculty be distanced from teaching.

Type of Scholarship	Purpose	Measures of Performance
Discovery	Build new knowledge through traditional research.	• Publishing in peer-reviewed forums. • Producing and/or performing creative work within established field. • Creating infrastructure for future studies.
Integration	Interpret the use of knowledge across disciplines.	• Preparing a comprehensive literature review • Writing a textbook for use in multiple disciplines. • Collaborating with colleagues to design and deliver a core course.
Application	Aid society and professions in addressing problems.	• Serving industry or government as an external consultant. • Assuming leadership roles in professional organizations. • Advising student leaders, thereby fostering their professional growth.
Teaching	Study teaching models and practices to achieve optimal learning.	• Advancing learning theory through classroom research. • Developing and testing instructional materials • Mentoring graduate students. • Designing and implementing a program level assessment system.

What I will try to do here is briefly suggest how Boyer can inform consideration of scholarship in Hodges' model and a future website. This is not just a one-way dialogue I believe Hodges' model can also inform Boyer's model. For example according to Nibert, Boyer proposes using 'creativity contracts'. The creative utility of Hodges' model is surely demonstrated in the posts and archive on W2tQ spanning nursing, education and health care? Since the publication of Boyer's paper in 1997 it could be argued there are new forms of scholarship that cast light and shadows on traditional academia and forms of research. More specifically though we can take Boyer's measures of performance and apply them in turn to h2cm. Even though the purposes differ (I am neither quality faculty nor professor) the reflection is helpful:

DISCOVERY

Publishing in peer-reviewed forums.

• There is a limited bibliography listed here on W2tQ.

Producing and/or performing creative work within established field.

• The bibliography and website constitute a mixture of formal and rather ad-hoc creative works in nursing. Much more needs to be done.

Creating infrastructure for future studies.

• As noted in the book review I am fascinated by this word infrastructure. I recognise the need for a 21st century home for Hodges' model; the limitations of a static website and the need to benefit from the stimulus and energy that a community of users would provide. Drupal is the future (for me), a means to provide an infrastructure out of which a community may grow and inform.

INTEGRATION

Preparing a comprehensive literature review.

• Hodges' model deserves a comprehensive literature review, one that spans education, nursing, global health, informatics and cognitive science.

Writing a textbook for use in multiple disciplines.

• 'Book' is an established content type within Drupal and this is a worthy objective, as Hodges' model is the ideal academic Swiss Army knife.

Collaborating with colleagues to design and deliver a core course.

• This is so dependent upon infrastructure and it seems my actively engaging with academics in curricula design and course planning. Drupal is being adopted in education so the scope to engage from an external position is a possibility.

APPLICATION

Serving industry or government as an external consultant.

• Is professorship a pre-requisite for consultancy work? No. Do we just leave this to the professors? No.

Assuming leadership roles in professional organizations.

• Being in the North West of England, a full-time nurse and with many meetings down South this is a barrier to adopting such roles. For the future should there be any opportunities these must be tried - only that way can they be tested.

Advising student leaders, thereby fostering their professional growth.

• As a mentor in clinical practice with the chance to develop local educational links there is scope here; and possibly others?

TEACHING

Advancing learning theory through classroom research.

• As noted above it would be marvellous to be presented with the task of producing lesson plans to encourage research into Hodges' model.

Developing and testing instructional materials.

• As far as the classroom is concerned this is very much a bullet point for the future. Using Drupal however a future site can incorporate some instructional materials.

Mentoring graduate students.

• Ongoing, but would like to engage more in this - and whilst h2cm is on my agenda I do understand models represent a small part of student learning.

Designing and implementing a program level assessment system.

• Another point for a future departure; how do you demonstrate competency in Hodges' model? There are means of assessment, which were applied in the 1980's, case studies, essays and discussion. ...

More to follow...

Additional link:
Instructional Design Review (ID Review) checklist at Schema Performs

PJ's project [ii]: Hodges' model An aide mémoire, or candidate Gärdenforsian conceptual space? Or would you like a mint?

This 'project' has in reality been ongoing through some thirty years. Although Hodges' model is by its very nature - broad and generic - I'm sure there is a specific research question here. For me this question combines nursing (theory and practice), informatics, health and public engagement. One possible question that h2cm provokes concerns whether the model can be considered a conceptual space?

Over a couple of years I've been adding to some notes which for want of another I've framed under the question above. These notes inevitably languish for a while given a full-time nursing job (plus learning Drupal, this blog, doing posters ...). Picking the text up recently though the intro material seems to have fallen into place. An introduction should cover the recurring issues, challenges - opportunities found in nursing. Although I have the secateurs in hand and the spring is warm, Hodges' model requires that education and cognitive science are also be considered in this way. Anyway, here is the current working outline:

Hodges' model: A mere aide mémoire, or candidate Gärdenforsian conceptual space?

Abstract

Part 1: Introducing Health & Social Care, Education, Hodges' model

1 Introduction
 1.1 Health and Social Care
 1.2 Recurring Issues in Health and Social Care

2 Education
 2.0 Introduction
 2.1 Education in the 21st Century
 2.2 Issues arising in Education

3 Health Care and Nursing Theory and Hodges' model
 3.0 Introduction
 3.1 Models of Nursing (Care)
  Definitions
 3.2 Hodges' Health Career - Care Domains - Model
 3.3 Information, energy?, records

Part 2: Cognitive Science & Conceptual Spaces

4 Cognitive Science and Computing
 4.0 Introduction
 4.1 Models, contexts, situations, the Project and (Darwinian) Justification
 4.2 Forms of Literacy, Requirements and Socio-Technical Perspectives
 4.3 Computation and Computer Graphics

5 Gardenfors' Conceptual Spaces

 5.0 Introduction

Drawing upon the cognitive science and computing literature the objectives of Gärdenfors’ Conceptual Spaces are made clear from the outset:

‘… is to show that a conceptual mode based on geometrical and topological representations deserves at least as much attention in cognitive science as the symbolic and associationistic approaches’ . p.2.

To what extent is h2cm a geometrical and topological representation? It appears on a simplistic level to qualify as a complex plane (Derbyshire, 2008). In this case, however, the closest we get to imaginary numbers in the negative sense are the null hypotheses of clinical research and reasoning amid uncertainty (REF). Gärdenfors continues:

‘This is a book about the geometry of thought. A theory of conceptual spaces will be developed as a particular framework for representing information on the conceptual level.’ p.2.

Hodges' model provides a framework, but as already noted it is not as yet theory based. It is based on practice, with appeals to experience and the knowledge and skills deployed in the health and social care sector. Could the h2cm framework work with Gärdenfors theory of conceptual spaces and his resulting framework for representing information? When Gärdenfors refers to his book being about the geometry of thought, here I would ask: What have nursing theorists sought? In addition to the stated motivations, surely a geometry of nursing thought? Nursing theorists seek rules and laws for a 'geometry' of care. A geometry of care is no less idealised, no less Platonic in form ultimately reflecting the values of the profession. A geometry of care would clearly be an achievement of harmony in the midst of discord and suffering. Additionally as the nursing discipline appears to some to be compromised in respect of practice, training, attitudes and professionalism.

 5.1 Representation, Explanation and Construction
 5.2 Background on key research methods
 5.3 Gärdenfors conceptual spaces - selected definitions
 5.4 Purposes, Holistic Bandwidth, Safety, Benefits and the Socio-Technical (repetition, move?)

Part 3:

6 Nursing, Care Theory and Care Domains
 6.0 Introduction
 6.1 Indicative literature review
 6.2 H2CM, Research methods and Data, Data, Data, (Data!)

Conceptual Spaces: Process, Practice and Domains - Hodges’ model

Part 4:

Coding and Classification, Ontologies, RDF, Semantic Web
Icons, glyphs, blobs
Patterns, wholes and parts
Users, Purposes and Scope of Application
Drupal and Ruby
Domains and Domain Specific Languages
Closing Discussion

(Back to this post:)
Don't ask why I am doing this. Chaos does reign here - 'Indicative literature review' in the midst...! In my defence these are notes, what's the question? Bits of the text move about, some disappears. Part 4 could become two, or three new parts, but no more than that! To what extent is there a case for M.I.N.T. a Modern Information-oriented Nursing Theory?*

Can you get there from a conceptual framework? When you get on the "conceptual framework" bus, can we simply change the destination to "conceptual space"? Has the academic bus already been and gone, or it drove right past: "Not in Service". Is this too big an ask of a bus? You need a ship to cross an ocean - even one that is illusory.

One thing I am sure of is that the model - #h2cm, this blog #W2tQ, my picking out Drupal, Ruby and the potential of visualization in the social sciences must come together in some way. One can inform the other. There is something really worth doing here. If in the end I don't get to do it well maybe others can finish the piece (the ambiguity here is intentional). Where's that illusory ship....

* M.I.N.T. sounds better than F.I.H.T. - you know cool and refreshing; but I do prefer and we really do need a Future & Information-oriented Health Theory?

Derbyshire, J. (2008). Unknown Quantity, Atlantic Books. p.12.

Gärdenfors, P. (2000). Conceptual Spaces, Cambridge.

Paper: Wang and Nickerson (2017). A literature review on individual creativity support systems

Hodges' model can lay claim to being a creativity support system [CSS]. While I do not have evidence, the model presents a diversity of stimuli in its structure and the care - knowledge - domains. It follows then that from the outset it is a motivational primer on both affective and achievement counts. Immediately, there is the motivation provided by the blank space, viewed as one or four conceptual spaces to find an initial starting concept. Affective as users gravitate towards their chosen reflective and creative journey, and achievement priming as having a goal that is prompted by professional, interpersonal and educational goals. If there is a case of 'creativity block' then perhaps a group approach can be adopted? Hodges' model then becomes a collaborative creativity support system. With Hodges' model and no doubt the proposed CSSs the collaborative agents add their own affective and achievement priming, whether student-student; patient-student (supervised); or mentor-student.

With the important caveat that the studies identified do not include healthcare but many papers are general. The authors provoke many questions: "Creativity support systems, like other information systems, are most effective when they instantiate underlying theories..." (p.140). I have already posed this question - which is (as ever) compound. As per the review's general domain papers, is there an underlying theory for all of Hodges' model; or is there a need for a theory per care domain?

"The literature on individual creativity support systems has drawn from theories about design, human computer interaction, information systems, and creativity.. " (p.140). 

If 'design' can be complex, what of 'care design'? That is what we are about. This in turn impacts upon the other sources of theory above.

There is much to draw upon in Wang and Nickerson (2017) but finally on page 145:

"the authors did a survey to verify the notion that creative self-efficacy, individual knowledge and IT support affect individual creativity through mediating variables: individual absorptive capacity, exploration and exploitation." 

Creativity must contribute to literacy, Wang and Nickerson allude to a relationship, referring to self-efficacy above. This is what we are seeking in health literacy and self-care. An ability to explore and exploit available resources being a sign of autonomy and efficacy.

Table 3
A framework for designing individual creativity support systems.

Aspects	Components	Features to Support the Component
Motivation	Motivational priming	Affective priming Achievement priming
Creative Process	Process completeness Process control	Modules to support each step in a complete creative process Allowing iteration and selection of steps
Divergent thinking	Stimuli Long term memory Working memory Creativity techniques	Providing different levels of stimuli, Providing stimuli dynamically External long term memory, such as knowledge base and case library; Facilitating search Supporting association, Visualization, Random combination Facilitating the use of creativity techniques; Computational creativity techniques
Convergent thinking	Comprehension Decision	Labeling, classification, simulation Criteria based comparison, Decision support

Table 4
The steps in a complete creative process.

Process Stage	The Divergent Step	The Convergent Step
Problem finding	Formulating problem presentations in various ways	Selecting the best ways to present the problem
Information finding	Collecting potentially relevant information	Selecting the most relevant information
Idea finding	Generating many ideas	Selecting the best ideas
Solution finding	Improving the selected ideas	Selecting the improved ideas and integrating them into a solution

Reference:
Wang, K., & Nickerson, J. (2017). A literature review on individual creativity support systems. Computers In Human Behavior, 74, 139-151. (tables p.145).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.04.035

Laughter and Medicine Conference

Manon, Laughing Gas, 2019, installation, Kunsthaus Zürich
photographer: Franca Candrian, 2022.

British Academy/Wellcome Trust Conferences bring together scholars and specialists from around the world to explore themes related to health and wellbeing.

'Connecting knowledge across the disciplines, this conference will put practicing doctors in direct dialogue with researchers in the humanities – especially scholars of literature, cinema and cultural history. Together, they will seek to understand the social, diagnostic, therapeutic and physiological implications of laughter, inside and outside the clinic. Laughter is not always the 'best medicine', nor is it linked only to comedy and enjoyment. 'Healing laughter' differs markedly from pathological laughter, hysterical laughter, forced or bitter laughter, laughter aimed at mitigating awkwardness in unsuccessful communication, laughter intended to deceive, or laughter signifying fear, discomfort or aggression. Irony and other double-coded signifiers that abound in comic and parodic representations of medical practitioners and their patients often reveal medicine’s paradoxical place in various cultural imaginaries and in individual and collective experience.

This conference will study the diverse forms of laughter occurring around medicine in particular eras and cultural environments alongside comparative analysis of patterns and problematics over the long history of Western medicine and its representations.'

         https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/british-academy-conferences/laughter-and-medicine/

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

I don't find this funny!	I laughed so much it hurt!
"All the world's a stage"	Politics is a running joke - that's never funny. The human epic of triumph and tragedy.

Previously (with overlap):

arts :: drama :: poetry :: literature :: narrative

Developing a Palliative Care Model for People with Dementia in the Community c/o @PallC4Dementia

Challenge

People are living longer, which means that more of us will get age-related illnesses such as dementia. Dementia is caused by different diseases of the brain. These diseases affect the parts of the brain which are normally used for learning, memory and language. Although Dementia usually affects people as they get older, it’s not a normal part of ageing. Many people don’t realise that Dementia is a terminal illness. People may die from dementia, not just die with dementia. Palliative Care aims to improve the quality of life of people and their families who are facing an incurable, life-limiting illness, such as dementia. Palliative care involves actively looking for symptoms of any kind- physical, social, spiritual, or psychological - and providing excellent care to lessen these symptoms. People with dementia need palliative care just as much as people with cancer, but they often don’t get it.

Research Project (currently ongoing)

This project aims to improve the palliative care of people with dementia, and their families, by developing a “model”. This model aims to support people with dementia to live well at home in the community for as long as possible. The model will map out what services, assessments and treatments the person might need and where, so the health system can better organise their care. To develop a model that will work in Ireland, we must first learn what is already known about “good” palliative care for people with dementia. This mixed methods study will be carried out in several phases:

• We will conduct a review of the literature, to find all available research in this area. This will allow us to see what existing models and services are supported by research evidence.
• We will conduct a survey of healthcare workers and researchers to ask them two things. Firstly, what do they think an ideal model of dementia palliative care would look like? And secondly, what existing services providing dementia palliative care are there?

...

• ... Please visit the project's website for full details....

Phase 1: The research team designed a survey to i) identify existing models for dementia palliative care in Ireland and the UK, and ii) to identify key components of effective models. The survey is currently live on this website. The research team has also developed a protocol for a scoping review to guide their search of the literature for relevant research. The protocol is registered with PROSPERO ID: CRD42018091158, and the search is currently underway.

...

Follow us on Twitter

@PallC4Dementia | #PallCare4Dementia

For further information contact

Email: s.fox AT ucc.ie
Email: info AT aiihpc.org 

• ... Please visit the project's website for full details....

a Paper: Hodges' model and mental health nursing in bushfire-affected communities

An email from ResearchGate informed me that a co-authored paper:

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. 20, 7, 631-640.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2012.01961.x/abstract

- had been cited in another publication. A check was rewarded. It always feels good to be able to add a  study to the bibliography listing (please see the sidebar). This is an early view, by Brent Hayward in Australia:

Hayward, B.A. (2020), Mental health nursing in bushfire‐affected communities: An autoethnographic insight. Int J Mental Health Nurs. DOI: 10.1111/inm.12765

What stands out to me are Hayward's profession of mental health nursing within a public educational service and disaster response. I'm not sure how many times I have referred to the generic nature of Hodges' model, but this shift from reading a forensic paper to applying h2cm in disaster response is encouraging. While the immediacy of today's media brings home the catastrophic scale and tragedy of bushfires - work like this also reveals the humanistic side.

The research method of autoethnography has definite currency. Since the MRES at Lancaster, I have wondered if there is any autoethnographic merit in this blog? Hayward has clearly seen the value of the model with regard to reflection and self-reflection. Over the past few years - Brexit, climate change, the bushfires (and California) the importance and relevance of the political domain within Hodges' model continues to increase. (The content of many posts should provide evidence of this.)

It also appears that Hodges' model can draw out the distinction between intrapersonal and interpersonal relations and reflexivity. It could be argued that the humanistic-mechanistic axis also demarcates what is intrapersonal and what interpersonal. The latter standing for the (overt) skills so essential to effective mental health nurses. Hence, what are labelled the interpersonal and sociological domains. The combination of autoethnography, gestalt and use of a visual prompt for reflection is also informative and as Hayward notes could provide an avenue for the work of others. ...

"My unsuccessful attempt to locate literature about mental health nursing in bushfire-affected communities caused me to look towards nursing models more broadly. I was drawn to Doyle and Jones’ (2013) paper on the application of Hodges’ Health Career Model in forensic mental health nursing because of its deliberate consideration of political issues. This resonated with me as a public sector employee. Hodges’ model was originally developed in 1983 but has received little attention in the literature. Doyle and Jones’ paper was in response to this deficit, and in this frame, the present study continues this legacy. Hodges’ model is appealing here because of its attention to reflective practice and the theory-practice gap–two purposes which are of particular relevance in the present study." pp.2-3.

"Second is the use of a nursing theory or model to interpret findings. Only Gardner and Lane (2010) used a model, and this was one for clinical supervision rather than mental health nursing practice per se. Mental health nurses who are considering autoethnographic approaches should consider these methodological elements for both rigour and practical purposes. This study has also contributed the second published clinical application of Hodges’ model and its effectiveness here suggests that further exploration of its application would be useful." p.6.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Brent for not only recognising the potential of Hodges' model, but actually applying it in research* and in such a vital context.

Hopefully I can reflect more on what is clearly for Hodges model and the concepts of health career, life chances and global health - a very significant paper.

*See also:

https://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2013/12/papers-actual-post-grad-studies-and.html

AI in the Creative Industries: An Interdisciplinary Conference [One week left!]

[reposting as there's just over one week left to submit abstracts for our summer conference on AI]

AI in the Creative Industries: An Interdisciplinary Conference [EXTENDED DEADLINE]

7th June 2024 - Hosted by Futureworks, Manchester UK

Artificial Intelligence has advanced extremely rapidly over the past months. Responses have been polarized; with some predicting the end of the world and others celebrating a technology with the potential to create a new industrial revolution. The biggest difference between these new algorithmic technologies and those that preceded them are the potential for new AI models to generate creative content. Visual art, photography, literature and digital scripting have been produced by AI, to varying levels of success. To the existing debates around AI (questions of ethics, consciousness, or cyborg theory, for example) have arisen new problems regarding the role of art and the artist in the age, not of mechanical reproduction, but mechanical production. Can a robot be creative?

This conference aims to bring together researchers from across media studies, music and sound, the visual arts, video games, film and TV, animation, sociology, history, literature, politics, philosophy and aesthetic theory, to interrogate the growing role of AI in the creative industries, its potentials (both negative and positive), and how we are to react to the rise of AI as both tool and creator.

Abstracts for 20-minute papers are welcomed on subjects including, but not limited to:

• AI creativity: is it truly creative?
• AI and transhumanism
• AI and the question of consciousness
• Copyright law and artificial intelligence
• Utilization of AI as a creative tool
• The depiction of AI in creative media
• The ethics of AI usage and its potential to help or harm
• The aesthetics of artificial intelligence

Please submit 250 word abstracts with accompanying 50-word bio and 5 keywords to organizer joe.darlington AT futureworks.ac.uk by 29th February 2024. 

Submissions are encouraged from academics, postgraduate researchers and non-academic speakers alike. Creative practitioners are also welcome, as are those working in the production or utilization of AI.

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World Philosophy Day 2009

The world's population really needs the skills (literacy!) to balance arguments and debate issues. Today being World Philosophy Day, 19 November 2009 we can see this need as global events re-frame our words. For decades now some of the world's cities - capitals have become synonymous with fevered political debate, equality, equity, poverty, power.... 'Copenhagen' is the latest example, stressing the need for informed argument and rationale thinking on an individual and group level, as the UNESCO introduction reveals:

Ever since its inauguration as a “Philosophy Day at UNESCO” in 2002 and particularly since its institutionalization in 2005 as a “World Philosophy Day”, this celebration of philosophy has inspired much enthusiasm. With its aim to bring philosophy closer to everyone, academics, students and the general public alike have all shown great interest in this activity that offers new opportunities and space for philosophical reflection, critical thinking and debate.

My previous studies comprised a joint honours degree in computing and philosophy, which may account for the appeal of Hodges' model and the reflections here on W2tQ. As mentioned previously, in the 1990s I wrote a dialogue (of sorts):

The aims of this 'dialogue' are threefold. First, simply to explore through the minds and voices of two ancient characters, contemporary nursing informatics and telematics issues. Secondly, to test the viability of the dialogue as an alternative format to the usual academic paper. And thirdly, to introduce unfamiliar readers (students?) to 'the' master of the dialogue form - Plato.
Readers may (hopefully) be stimulated to seek out Plato's works, which are freely available in affordable paperback editions. 'The Last Days of Socrates' is recommended as a starting point. Plato captures in the dialogues the technique employed by Socrates, that still bears his name - 'Socratic questioning'.
As health professionals search for ways to reassert values amid unprecedented technical and social change, philosophy is once more on the agenda. This attempted 'dialogue' has two protagonists. Telemachus, who is in name from Homer's Odyssey and other Hellenic literature. The name appeals to me here due to the study of 'tele'-matics, a key branch of informatics research.
Epictetus (50-120A.D.) was a philosopher of the stoic school. Sometimes we find unexpected connections in things, as with Epictetus: nursing - health - ethics/values - philosophy - Enchiridion (Manual) health - how to live ones life - leadership - 3,000 drachmas paid for E.'s lamp after his death - Florence Nightingale - nursing!
Telemachus is a student of the Academy established by Aristotle, starting his third year of nurse training. Epictetus is staged as a professor, a member of the faculty for health. With apologies...

Nursing Telemachus and Computers

There is also a philosophy listing on the INTER-INTRAPERSONAL links page. One initiative here in the UK which I must admit I have not attended thus far is Philosophy in Pubs. Many colleges also do courses were you do not necessarily have to sign-up for the whole deal - that is exams - but you can still enjoy what is a marvellous subject. I remember a lady of some 70 years who did just that with literature, she also beautifully shredded my unspoken thoughts on Sylvia Plath's Ariel and other works. So do go and check what's happening in your area.

Despite the significance of today it is troubling that the existence and value of university philosophy departments can be thrown into doubt as recently as March this year. I must check what happened in Liverpool? And also wonder what there is to learn from Eastern and African philosophy?

Book review: Handbook on the Ethics of AI #2

Handbook on the Ethics of AI

Well, I am sold. So, encouraging again to read 'reflect -ion' on the first page and throughout chapter 1:

'... why the very idea of AI gives rise to (or should give rise to) ethical reflection.' (p.21), and I'm sure the book as a whole.

Most readers may pass this by, but to me this matters. Ethics scholars however will see how important and conjoint reflection is to deliberation and argumentation of ethics. Especially, as noted in post #1 the five part division of the text Foundations and Context; Responsibilities; Rights; Politics and Power; and Thinking Otherwise. 

Tables break up and inform the text. I like the way for many tables the source is: Author's own elaboration.

Given the subject matter, yes, the authors have the literature but they are also formulating their chosen theme against the present, near future, socio-political scenarios and much more. So, reflection - this should be expected. With Hodges' model I'm often asked why are those concepts placed in that particular domain? Perhaps that is a question for general artificial intelligence? Subjectivity is a key challenge, and its effective communication.

If I say, chapter 1 is a great primer on What Is This Thing Called the Ethics of AI and What Calls for It? I'd sell the book short, the whole text fulfills this purpose. The definitions and responses to What is A.I. are very helpful, taking into account ancient to more recent history. I've a book in a box by David Chalmers (sorry Prof.) - one day - which helps here discussing intelligence and consciousness.

I'm primed to pick up on 'gaps' (Theory-Practice) and in human experience they are inevitably legion. The responsibility gap (and meaningfulness!) c/o Sven Nyholm is a place to return to, to debate why A.I. raises such a broad range of ethical issues. Patiency is never far away. Here, the patient is stark: in  moral agents and moral patients (p.20 and 89). This blog is littered with posts on Drupal, which to date I have never mastered. I remember sitting in DrupalCon presentations, in the midst very skilled professional coders. A member of the community stood at the podium recounting their lived experience of impostor syndrome. In November with a presentation of my own, I had my own encounter. Well into reading this book, it really did help. The conclusion of chapter 1 contrasts the frequent need for a big-picture overview and reflection on more specific issues. That's quite fitting for me.

I am biased in the encouraging kernels I find: as seek them I do. Yes, as chapter 2 AI Ethics before Frankenstein begins: 'there remains work to be done in charting the long-range conceptual development of  AI in the history of political thought.' (p.27, my emphasis). And much more I hope. Chapter 2 combines literature, myth and I enjoyed the discussion on techne, Prometheus, Hobbes, the interdisciplinary bridge of techno-politics and articulating the mechanistic in our lives. Focussed recently on thresholds and threshold concepts in revising two papers: Hunt writes, 'Frankenstein is a "threshold" text for "modern political science fiction" (p.31). 

This  resonated - especially 'for its prediction that the nascent Enlightenment-era sciences of chemistry, anatomy, and electricity could be used to artificially make a human being' (p.31). The exploration of bad education and bad governance through Shelley and social history is other-worldly in itself. Hunt's conclusion which includes 'Wollstonecraft was the pivotal figure in the process of refracting ideas of AI from Hobbes to Shelley, ...' left me wondering about the refactoring of code. 

Chapter 3, Smith's Faith, Tech, and Ethics of AI brings more reflect -ion with the bonus for me of Descartes. On faith, the human situation is also repeatedly stressed. Delving into creation too, this is detailed on forms of theology - Augustine, Bede, for example, and philosophy Bacon, Hume, Kant and their role in diminishing the influence of religious thought and epistemology (p.39). How long a push was that? Surely it is ongoing - in some quarters? Medieval thought is discussed, and I recall this broad period also being regarded as misunderstood [Medieval Philosophy - Bryan Magee & Anthony Kenny (1987)] . 

On a personal level, I've always placed belief in the intra- interpersonal domain of Hodges' model. In psychosis, depression, anxiety, phobias in short mental health, beliefs can be disrupted, and influenced of course when all is well. Religion I have framed at the individual and socio-political level. Clinically, it is the individual patient's beliefs, if they follow a particular religion that we also need to be cognizant of as health personnel. Machine, or human; object or being as Smith asks:

SELF / INDIVIDUAL  -  OBJECT / THING

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

the human - the machine -	- can become machine - can become human
socio-	-political

There is depth of discussion too: in AI and Power; a Christian response to AI ethics. This handbook is not just for quick reference. There is indeed redemption (p.43) to be found:

'It is easier to cover a blemish than examine why it resulted in the first place: genetics, diet, stress, or lack of self-care.'

I argue for Hodges' model as a tool to identify, (re)present, and relate the determinants of health: all of them. The points and paragraphs on theology, mind, body and self are well worth revisiting.

Johnson's chapter 4, What are Responsible AI researchers really arguing about? provides support for my ongoing belief in the value of sociotechnical theories and approaches, and another book on enactivism. Given the ethics of the global south (and technological/electronic colonialism) more could perhaps be made of LMIC, but the point is made in Table 4.1 (Examples of functionalist evaluations of AI models, p.52). Constructivism 2.2 is a rich seam for me. Table 4.2 touches on medical diagnosis and socio-technical. Johnson notes that in seeking answers to AI ethics problems, scientists see constructivist approaches and '.. constructivism as a metaethic, holding a rich space for more research into pluralistic AI-Alignment', (p.53). And, the potential for much more. This is suggested (for me) in reference to the need for a holistic view of AI model's genesis, and 'two sides of one coin' - dichotomy, polarity, oppositions, binary reductions ... ? 

Johnson's conclusion is an indirect thumbs up (cue Arnie style - of course) to Hodges' model as a project. Conceptual frameworks can indeed:

'... offer unique perspectives on the methods commonly employed and to understand and mitigate the risks and dangers of AI.' (p.62).

If ethics gets 'technical' then the book's full title is well-earned. Two case studies demonstrate functionalist and constructivist debates in responsible AI. I don't remember Capt. Kirk et al. stating to a malign alien 'intelligence' "The trophy doesn't fit in the suitcase because it's too large (small)," (p.58). The writer's put other solutions to the characters lips. Spock, however, would find the discussion here on 'Artificial General Intelligence, 4E Cognition and Enactivism' - "Fascinating!"

Much more to follow ...

Handbook on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. David J. Gunkel (ed.). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. ISBN: 978 1 80392 671 1245
https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-on-the-ethics-of-artificial-intelligence-9781803926711.html

Book review: Handbook on the Ethics of AI #1

Related previous posts: 'general + AI'

‘Attentive Writers’: Healthcare, Authorship, and Authority - Call for Papers

 Medical Humanities Research Centre, University of Glasgow, 23-25 August 2013

http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/conferences/attentivewriters/

http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/research/conferences/attentivewriters/

From nurses, physicians and surgeons to administrators, caregivers, technicians, veterinarians and voluntary sector workers, this conference adopts the term ‘attentive writers’ as evocative of the multitude of both non-professional and professional caregivers – clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers – whose attention to illness might take narrative form. The study of physician-writers was one of the earliest developments in the related fields of Literature and Medicine and the Medical Humanities, with canonical figures such as Conan Doyle, Goldsmith, Keats, Smollett, and William Carlos Williams, receiving much-deserved critical attention. Echoing Rita Charon’s concept of ’attentiveness’, this conference brings this established field of enquiry regarding ‘the physician as writer’ into dialogue with recent calls for a more inclusive approach to the Medical Humanities (i.e. ‘Health Humanities’) and questions the authoritative place of the Western – traditionally male – physician in our explorations of the humanities/health interface.

The relationship between healthcare, authorship and authority will be addressed through three inter-related strands of thematic enquiry: (1) an historical and literary examination of ‘attentive writers’; (2) a more devolved interrogation of the field of Narrative Medicine; and (3) an examination of ‘attentive writing’ as creative practice.

Current Confirmed Plenary Speakers: Professor Rita Charon; Professor Paul Crawford; Further TBA Papers might address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Nurse-writers, physician-writers, surgeon-writers, veterinarian-writers, etc. of any culture, historical period or literary epoch, and/or nurses, physicians, surgeons, and vets as literary subjects
• Non-clinical healthcare workers (adminstrators, janitors, technicians, etc.) as writers and/or literary subjects
• The literature of caregiving
• Gender and medical authority
• Historical development of medical and literary professionalism
• The afterlife of Foucault’s ‘medical gaze’
• Hybrid discourses and genres (the case history, illness narratives, etc.)
• Narrative Medicine (and, particularly, does it challenge or reinforce the notion of physician as sole author/authority) and related developments in professionalism and education
• The philosophy of attentiveness in healthcare and creative writing
• ‘Attentive writing’ as creative practice; including ‘process oriented’ writing practices and those primarily concerned with the creation of aesthetically valuable outcomes.

Abstracts of up to 500 words should be submitted, along with a short biography (no more than 250 words), to arts-attentivewriters at glasgow.ac.uk by 4 March 2013 (note the extended date). Further information for creative writers wishing to make a submission will be announced shortly.

Any queries may also be directed to: megan.coyer at glasgow.ac.uk

Jill Anderson Senior Project Development Officer, Mental Health in Higher Education [My source] 
Join mhhe hub: http://mhhehub.ning.com/

 <>

It is six years this April of trying to be an 'attentive writer' here on W2tQ, so this sounds a very interesting conference in an apparently fabulous city I have yet to visit. Hodges' model is a great tool to assist in attentiveness and creativity. After the disappointment of the conference in Australia for May, I am considering other conference options and writing projects.

THE GRID by Eli Payne Mandel

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

[125] 'Therefore, a mathematician babbles when he refers to cutting a given line in two. The actual line that he shows to us on the abacus has length and width. But the line he has in mind is a stroke with length and no width. What is drawn on the abacus cannot be such a stroke, and he who goes about cutting it cuts not the line that is but the line that is not.' (Sextus Empiricus, Against the Mathematicians 9.282) (n.b. The above is printed upside-down on the page.) Scatter the trace of the vessel from the ash. Pythagoras here is riddling about confusion and mental cloudiness, for if one wants to do philosophy one must pass over physical and sensible demonstration in favor of abstract argumentation. The ash is analogous to the dust on the abacus in which diagrams are delimited and proofs brought to an end.  (Iamblichus, Exhortation to Philosophy 34)' p.55

'[1] In ancient Greek, an abacus is a sand table. 'The abacist draws lines and maybe moves pebbles around the lines. When done, she wipes the sand blank.  [2] A board or slab for drawing, computation, games; a cutting board. Technical term, likely to be a loanword, but conjectured origin in Hebrew abãq "dust" remains unproven. --  Pierre Chantraine, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue greque.' p.10.

'[122] The abacus computes and it erases. It tells a life. Then gambles it away. Achilles and Ajax sit down to play a game of dice. They have hung up their shields. They lean on their spears. They are tired. The Anatolian air is cold off the water. Attendants wrap them each in wool cloaks thick with eight-pointed stars. The stars wander along eddies and meanders. The only straight lines are servants of error. Their fingers are on the abacus, but Achilles and Ajax do not play, do not speak, lost in the maze of their cloaks. [124] The first reference in Western literature to written language is in the Iliad. An unsuspecting  man in a story is carrying semata lygra / grapsas en pinaki ptukto thymophthora polla: baleful signs written on a folded tablet, utterly soul-  destroying. The words, which some scholars conjecture to be Linear B, spell out the man's death, and the reader murders  the unreading man. After the murder, Death Wipes the tablet  blank and folds it back again.' p.54.

'[3] Because dust blows away and only the slab remains, an abacus is also the part of a column in immediate contact with what it supports. If that structure no longer survives, the abacus upholds the edifice of the sky.' p.10.

THE GRID by Eli Payne Mandel, Carcanet Press. 2023.

https://www.elipmandel.com/

Previously on W2tQ (with overlap):

arts :: drama :: poetry :: literature :: narrative

New network in Environmental Humanities: H-EcoLit

supported by H-Net

Dear colleagues, 

Hello. Sorry for cross posting as I am sharing with you the below that may be of your interest. 

 

• newly launched network in Environmental Humanities: H-EcoLit supported by H-Net

You are welcome to register for free as member of our newly launched network called "H-EcoLit", supported by the H-Net of the Michigan State University:

https://networks.h-net.org/h-ecolit 

H-EcoLit is an international network of academics and researchers of all levels who study the fields of Environmental Humanities, Literary Theory and Cultural Criticism. The network seeks to explore issues beyond the traditional binary of nature-culture, and examines the changing status of subjectivity, agency, and citizenship, while envisioning matters for sustainable futures in a more-than-human world. H-EcoLit is aligned with the H-Net’s aims for supporting open access research, interdisciplinary projects, and ‘unites’ different voices across the globe. The intended audience includes academics, scholars of all levels and policy makers who are working on the Environmental Humanities, Literary and Cultural Studies, and related to Environmental Humanities areas.

Welcome to join us! Thank you!

• Publications edited and co-authored by Professor Peggy Karpouzou and Dr. Nikoleta Zampaki

1. Special Issue: "Critical Green Theories and Botanical Imaginaries: Exploring Human and More-than-human World Entanglements" published in Open Cultural Studies:

https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/culture/8/1/html  

2. Special Issue: "Ecologies of Life and Death in the Anthropocene" published in Lagoonscapes. The Venice Journal of Environmental Humanities: 

https://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/the-venice-journal-of-environmental-humanities/2024/2/  

3. Special Issue: "The Digital Environmental Humanities: Towards Theory and Praxis" published in HJEAS:

https://sciendo.com/issue/HJEAS/30/2  

4. our open access chapter titled "Toward Posthuman Aesthetics: The Flesh of the World in Auguste Rodin’s Le Penseur and The Thinking Robot" published in Nidesh Lawtoo's volume titled Mimetic Posthumanism. Homo Mimeticus 2.0 in Art, Philosophy and Technics at Brill:

https://brill.com/display/title/63101 

5. our chapter titled “The Poetics of Zombification in Ryan Mecum’s Dawn of Zombie Haiku” In Zombie Futures in Literature, Media and Culture. Pandemics, Society and the Evolution of the Undead in the 21st Century edited by Simon Bacon, published by Bloomsbury: 

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/zombie-futures-in-literature-media-and-culture-9781350285491/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2ke9BRjbumYjBJu_Pc9RJdnHVdnagHuCfHbyf9YOYcKp8YEELC0zSpKYQ_aem_Ah1fwQ0N-t8hZfEJlaY8Dw

[I note online events are included in an announcements page:

https://networks.h-net.org/group/12251094/announcements

PJ ]

We will keep in touch. Thank you!

Best regards, 

on behalf of the Editors

Nikoleta

--

Dr. Nikoleta Zampaki

Postdoctoral Researcher

Faculty of Philology, School of Philosophy, 

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

E-mail: nikzamp AT phil.uoa.gr

My source: SOPHERE list

Universal Health Coverage Day c/o CHIC mailing list

Dear Peter,

Today, we recognize Universal Health Coverage Day and join partners around the world to advocate for #HealthForAll. How will we get there? Professional community health workers (CHWs) who are salaried, skilled, supervised, and supplied.

We have a long way to go. Millions of CHWs - 70% women - are not paid, supported, or supplied. And now, new evidence from the Coalition and collaborators spotlights the severity of stock-outs experienced by CHWs on the frontlines of care: CHWs are out of stock-out nearly ⅓ of the time, and the problem is getting worse.

This #UHCDay, we hope you'll join our #SupplyCHWs campaign to highlight the unacceptable frequency at which CHWs in low- and middle-income countries experience stock-outs and call for solutions to address this widespread issue.

Join the Campaign

In Solidarity,
The Coalition

 

READ: The first ever global estimate of the extent of stock outs among CHWs
SHARE: One-page summary with everything you need to know
ACT: Share the findings on social media and tag decision-makers to take action

Curious about the Coalition's other work? Read our latest update here and sign up to stay in the loop!)

 INDIVIDUAL

|

 INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

My access to health care Cognitive / Conceptual My health literacy (and other literacies)	logistics, stock control, 'Just in Time' Systematic Literature Review 'Coverage'?
Universal Health Coverage/Care communities paraprofessionals - lay individuals	Funding, Workforce planning SDGs Professional community health workers (CHWs) who are salaried, skilled, supervised, and supplied.

Olaniran, A., Briggs, J., Pradhan, A. et al. Stock-outs of essential medicines among community health workers (CHWs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): a systematic literature review of the extent, reasons, and consequences. Hum Resour Health 20, 58 (2022).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-022-00755-8
https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-022-00755-8