Open access: everyone has the right to knowledge

SOURCE: The Conversation

By Alessandro Demaio, University of Copenhagen; Bertil Dorch, University of Copenhagen, and Fred Hersch, University of Sydney

This week, we celebrate open access week – an event aimed at bringing attention to this rapidly emerging form of scientific publication and its ethical imperatives.

Traditionally, knowledge breakthroughs and scientific discoveries are shared through publication in academic journals. Peer-reviewed and highly competitive, careers are made and broken on the number and impact of these publications.

With the complex, long-standing hierarchy of journal ranking, scientific publishing is big business. From a distance, one might assume that scientific publications aim to maximise the dissemination of ideas, break down barriers to science and make knowledge accessible to the masses – but this is not actually the case.

The publication process

When a scientist, whether in the field, the laboratory or the hospital, makes a discovery, she puts her ideas into an academic paper and submits it to a journal. The journal’s editors decide whether it’s relevant to the scope of the publication, and if it is, they (usually) send it on to a small group of the researcher’s peers.

These are other specialists in the field who will read and give feedback on the paper. If they think the work is worthwhile, and they have no changes to suggest (which is seldom), then the paper will be published in a future issue of that journal.

At this point, no one has paid for anything. The authors don’t pay to submit the article, the journal doesn’t pay for the scientists’ work and the peer reviewers are voluntary. Even the editors are often unpaid, unless they can integrate this service into their professional work.

Journals seek remuneration through subscriptions or once-off access fees by the user – often in the order of US$30 per paper. Those of us lucky enough to have an affiliation to a university, or live in Denmark where the government spends many millions on subscriptions for the entire population can access scientific knowledge free of charge.

Open access

Open access publication differs in one very important way from “traditional” academic publishing. Instead of the individual paying to access an article, or buying a subscription, researchers pay for the publication of their work, often out of their research funds.

In the order of US$1,000-$2,500 per publication, this article processing fee is payable when and if the paper is accepted – and it’s routinely waived for researchers from low and middle-income nations.
This means that while the editorial and peer review process are the same as above, access to the published work is free forever and available openly (hence, open access) online.

The traditional publishing paradigm can be regressive and exclusive. Think for a moment how it works: I am a researcher, I do research in developing countries. What if I was to go there; take the time, resources, ideas or even blood samples from thousands of local people; take the information back to my university; access all the scientific knowledge I need in order to develop the work; and then publish my findings in journals for which there’s an access fee of one week’s wages for the people involved in my study.

Sure I might be able to send them a copy, but for the vast majority of people in that community, science remains out of reach. Now, these study participants may also have no internet access for open access sourcing, but many now do and at least the barrier to knowledge is not put up by the scientific community itself.

Similarly, in high-income nations, it’s still the wealthy, the highly educated or those at higher-education institutions who have greatest access to the vast majority of published science. How is this just?

And what happens when we add an additional layer of ethical consideration: that these researchers and their work is often is paid for by society, by taxpayers, through public funding. How can we then justify publishing it in academic media inaccessible to the vast majority who paid for it?

We can’t just blame researchers or the research community for this – and we’re not saying that because we’re researchers. Academic performance and assessment, in the large part, is determined by the amount and impact of one’s publications. The older “traditional” journals have greater histories and so researchers are almost coerced into publishing with these journals.

Some good news

The good news is that things are changing. In the first decade of the 21st century, we have seen an explosion in open access publications. During this time, we’ve observed a ten-fold increase in publications (almost 200,000 at 2011) and more than a six-fold increase in the number of open access journals, to almost 5,000.

Things are clearly moving in the right direction, but this impressive number still accounts for only around 20% of all publishing.

Simultaneously, global leaders have acknowledged the ethical dilemmas of our current system and backed open access. The European Union, for example, is currently piloting a project to encourage all EU-funded research to place their results in an open-access repository or publish them in open access journals.

And some nations, including the United Kingdom, Denmark and Australia, are either planning or implementing policies making publication of publicly-funded research in open access journals mandatory.

The call for change is being echoed by the academic community, which is asking for greater open access and the removal of economic barriers to science.

Research should be about furthering knowledge for all. And there’s no reason why open access publication shouldn’t be routine.

There are also strong economic arguments for investing in a knowledge economy. We are confident that with enough support, we will see more nations, companies and organisations mandating open access publication – a move that’s likely to bring social and economic benefits.

And who knows, maybe we’ll also begin to see the “traditional” academic journals change their business model and one day make knowledge open to all.

Dr Alessandro Demaio is PhD Fellow in Global Health with the Copenhagen School of Global Health at the University of Copenhagen. In addition, he is a Director of the Global Steering Committee for the Young Professional Chronic Disease Network and NCD Action. For The Conversation, Alessandro expresses his own views only.
Bertil F. Dorch is currently senior executive adviser to the university librarian at Copenhagen University Library Services (part of The Royal Library, Denmark), and have previously been Head of Center for Research Support Services as well as a research scientist at University of Copenhagen (The Niels Bohr Institute), within the field of astrophysics.
Fred Hersch does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.


This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article.

c/o HIFA - Publications re. primary health care & community health

Dear [HIFA] friends and colleagues with an interest in primary health care and community health:

Since my last communication with you more than 6 months ago, the entire field of global health has continued to be upended by our US government, with unconscionable effects on millions of people around the world, on advancements in global health research and its ethical foundations, and on the careers of thousands and thousands of people working around the world in the field of global health. As I said before, and I repeat now the obvious, it will take decades to build back what has been destroyed and to regain respect from the rest of the world for the United States and the values that most of us hold dear.

William Foege, eminent global health leader and former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote this biting editorial <https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/18/rfk-jr-public-health-threats-william-foege-smallpox/> in which he said, among other things, 

"We will live through this drought of values, principles and facts and again apply our talents to improving global health and happiness. Do not back down.”

Atul Gwande, now one of the foremost champions of primary health care and community health of our time (even though he is, like me, an erstwhile surgeon!) and former Director of the USAID Bureau of Global Health during the Biden administration, gave an eloquent presentation of his perspective on the aftermath of the destruction of USAID on 28 April 2025 at the Harvard School of Public Health.

You can watch this here:
<https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=Atul+Gwande+presentation+at+Harvard+School+of+Public+Health+April+28%2c+2025&mid=26DA144398CF1F613D0A26DA144398CF1F613D0A&FORM=VIRE>.

Here are a few items of possible interest:

The Fourth International Symposium on CHWs will be held virtually next week.

I was most fortunate to be able to attend the second International Conference on Primary Health Care was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from October 6-10. It was a glorious event, with 750 attendees, mostly from Africa but with strong representation from UNICEF, WHO, Africa CDC, and other international organizations. 

The conference was sponsored by the International Institute for Primary Health Care – Ethiopia. <https://iphce.org/> Directors of PHC from 45 different African countries were present along with at least 50 community health workers from across Africa. There was palpable enthusiasm for the growing momentum for PHC across Africa.

Abhay and Rani Bang are world-renowned champions of community-based primary health care through their work with SEARCH <https://www.searchforhealth.ngo/> (Society for Education, Action, and Research) in Gadchiroli, India, with tribal people. Their seminal publications on the effectiveness of community-based primary health care and community health workers as well as their contributions to India’s national program for reducing neonatal mortality through home-based neonatal care, among others, have gained for them global recognition. Attached is an English translation of an article about their life’s work that was published in April Der Spiegel in the leading German magazine, Der Spiegel.

Nicholas Kristof has continued to share with the world some of the heart wrenching effects of the collapse of the United States Agency for International Development. The New York Times opinion columnist wrote <https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/opinion/trump-usaid-cuts.html> on 20 September 2025 on the human dimension of the shutdown of USAID, citing estimates that 690,000 will die in 2025 and 829,00 will die in 2026 as a result of cutbacks in USAID funding, and 3.1 million children will die during Trump’s second term from these cuts (a PDF is attached if the link doesn’t work for you [mod: HIFA does not carry attachments]).

Two recent publications on novel approaches to reducing child mortality have gained widespread attention.

One study <https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w34152/w34152.pdf> in Kenya provided a one-time transfer of $1,000 to poor families and observed a decline of nearly half in under-5 mortality as well as in infant mortality. Another study reported that wrapping

A recently reported study <https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12462887/> from Uganda found that giving mothers fabric treated with permethrin, a long-acting insecticide to protect against mosquito-born illnesses, as a baby wrap dramatically reduced malaria infections in the infants carried in them. There were 66 percent fewer cases among those children compared with babies in the untreated wraps. By the end of the six-month study, only 16 percent of children in the treated wrap group had been sick with malaria, compared with 34 percent in the untreated wrap group, many of whom had multiple malaria episodes.

Now available for purchase on Amazon.com are several important publications related to community-based primary health care and community workers.

Feel free to share this email and these resources with anyone else or with any relevant listserve you may have access to.

You are receiving this email because of your interest in primary health care and community health.

If you know of anyone that you think would like to be included in the listserv, just send me the person’s name and email address.

Warm regards, Henry

Henry B. Perry, MD, PhD, MPH Senior Associate, Health Systems Program Department of International Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore, MD, USA 21205 Hperry2 AT jhu.edu

HIFA profile: Henry Perry is a Senior Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA. Professional interests: Community health and primary health care. hperry2 AT jhu.edu

c/o HIFA2015 - Meeting Information needs for Mental Health Care

Dear all.

I've been reading the messages about mental health and information needs in low resource settings. I agree that it's still such a disappointment that certain publishers refuse to make these core documents / books (like Where there is no Psychiatrist and Where there is no Child Psychiatrist) open access. Hope 2013 will bring changes......

I know a few free online/download alternatives for the mental health field:

In the Hesperian.org bookstore you find free downloads of a couple of health care guides in different languages including 'Where Women have No Doctor'. This book contains a brief mental health care chapter. Other helpful Hesperian books like 'Disabled Village Children', and the 'famous one' 'Where there is no Doctor'.
Link: http://hesperian.org/books-and-resources

Another is the WHO 'mhGAP Intervention Guide for mental, neurological and substance use disorders in non-specialized health settings'. Free download in English, French and Spanish. This is a 109 pages decision tree manual for depression, psychosis, bipolar disorders, epilepsy, developmental and behavioural disorders in children and adolescents, dementia, alcohol use disorders, drug use disorders, self-harm/suicide and other significant emotional or medically unexplained complaints. It contains also  a chapter on 'general principles of care' and a brief chapter on 'advanced psychological interventions'.
Link: http://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/mhGAP_intervention_guide/en/index.html

The international NGO Basic Needs offers downloads of manuals and reports like 'Community Mental Health Practice, Seven Essential Features for Scaling Up in Low and Middle Income Countries', 'Essential Skills for mental health care',  'Mental Health Care, An Introductory Manual for Training General Health Personnel' amongst others.
Link for books: http://www.basicneeds.org/html/Publications_BasicNeeds_Books.htm
Link for manuals: http://www.basicneeds.org/html/Publications_BasicNeeds_Manuals.htm

For mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings the WHO/World Vision/War Trauma Foundation publication is very helpful: 'Psychological First Aid: Guide for field workers', 60 pages and lots of illustrations.
Link for the PDF:
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789241548205_eng.pdf

Or the WHO/IASC 'Guidelines for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings', 205 pages and free downloads available in 7 languages. The manual is distributed on CDrom as well.
Link: http://www.who.int/mental_health/emergencies/9781424334445/en/index.html

For psychosocial support of children the NGO HealthNetTPO offers free downloads of their 'Psychosocial Care Package Children' with Modules, Tools and Publications sections. It contains information that describes the rationale, content and step-by-step implementation of the separate components of a comprehensive psychosocial care package (such as a Classroom Based Intervention, Counseling, Clinical Supervision, Screening and Psycho-education).
Link: http://www.healthnettpo.org/en/1311/psychosocial-care-package-children.html

In the field of psychosocial support for children and adults after emergencies or in HIV projects, the IFRC Psychosocial Centre offers free downloads of their manual like 'Psychosocial interventions - A
handbook', 'Community-based psychosocial support - A training kit', 'Children's Resilience Programme' and more.
Link: ...
This is where I stumbled on in the last few years. Hope it is helpful. Maybe I should write a blog post about it on the in2mentalhealth website, in order to make a comprehensive list which is available on
the internet for a longer period of time. So, if you have any additions please reply in this discussion or mail me with the link!

'Together we know more'.

Roos Korste
psychologist, trainer, blogger and founder of in2mentalhealth:

http://facebook.com/in2mentalhealth

http://www.linkedin.com/in/rooskorste

Plus:
Thanks for the comprehensive list Roos. Handicap International developed a Policy Paper on : "Mental health in post-crisis and development contexts" which can be found here [PDF, 1.1Mb]:

http://www.handicap-international.us/fileadmin/files/documents/PP03_Mental_health_01.pdf

Do feel free to add this to your list of materials. [ *see note below ]

Kind regards

Antony
Antony Duttine
Rehabilitation Technical Advisor in Global Health

[ *Note from HIFA2015 moderator: Neil Pakenham-Walsh

I would also like to mention the Essential Health Links (EHL) gateway. EHL was set up by myself and Lenny Rhine while I was working at INASP in the late 90s and early 00s. It is now hosted by AED Satellife and Lenny continues to maintain it on a voluntary basis. The Mental Health and Psychiatry section is available here:
http://www.healthnet.org/essential-links/mental-health-and-psychiatry

Essential Health Links has more than 750 websites selected according to criteria such as appropriateness for low-resource settings and free access. "Essential Health Links is offered freely for use as a template by others (e.g. medical school libraries, ministries of health, publishers, libraries, NGOs) to develop customised gateways on their own websites. This approach should reduce the risk of duplication of effort while maximising the usefulness of the gateway for specific target groups."

With thanks, Neil PW ]

Person-centred care [PCC]: is it really happening? c/o National Voices

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

PCC = what’s important to the individual, is co-ordinated around their needs and involves them in decisions. "To be person-centred, that care needs to work together to wrap around all the needs of the individual in a holistic way. Sadly, our report found that neither the NHS nor adult social care can demonstrate co-ordination of care, despite ‘integrated care’ being a key goal of all national and local leaders over the past five to 10 years. The way health and care services work must change to reflect the needs of the population. It would be a start to recognise that co-ordination of care is an important factor, and that we need to be measuring whether it is happening."	(many) Definitions = 5 key indicators of pcc:  good information, good communication, involvement in decisions,  care co-ordination  and care planning. Service user reported data from 19 nat. surveys NHS:  in primary care, only 39% of patients said their GP was ‘very good’ at involving them in decisions. What’s more, personalised care planning doesn’t really happen. Only 3% of GP patients with one or more long-term conditions reported having a written care plan, suggesting that opportunities to deliver personalised care in the NHS are being missed.
"Personalisation of care is more advanced in adult social care than in the NHS, with 89% of adult social care users reporting that the care and support they received helped them to have control over their daily life. Similarly, 63% of people using a social care personal budget said that this had improved their ability to make everyday decisions. Participation and control of decisions is well-established in adult social care, with just over 90% of those using community adult social care saying they were involved in decisions about their care and support needs." (See original post - report for important additions)	20+ years policy  England Care Act 2014 National Voices coalition of health and care charities  report ‘Person-centred care in 2017' No National data on this... "It is clear from our report that a strategic overhaul of how care is measured is needed. Rather than single-service, single-setting, activity measures, more credence needs to be given to the experiences of the people who rely on services. Only then can we help local systems succeed in offering personalised, integrated and holistic care. Whilst there have been some advances in the delivery of person-centred care, there is still a long way to go before the policy rhetoric matches the reality experienced by people."

Design4Health 2023

Design4Health is the collection of events, publications and networks established by Lab4Living.

Design4Health includes an international peer reviewed journal and a series of international conferences, first convened in 2011, that bring together designers and creative practitioners with researchers, clinicians, policy makers and users to discuss and disseminate their research.

Our publications and events provide an opportunity to reflect on how the disciplines of design and health might continue to develop new ways of thinking and working, and how we might impact positively and sustainably on the social, economic and cultural factors within our communities and beyond.

 

Design4Health conferences

Established in 2011, there have been five international conferences held so far, including one in Melbourne, Australia. The next full conference will take place in Sheffield in Spring / Summer 2023.

Watch this space! Design4Health 2023

The next conference will take place in Sheffield in Spring / Summer 2023. We will announce the date, themes, and formats of the next conference here and via www.design4health.org.uk and @design4health. We invite you to join the D4H mailing list for updates and announcements about Design4Health.

Join the conversation: @design4health #D4H2023.

(I will look to update this post, or re-post as details follow. PJ)

IMIA monthly news bulletin; no. 8, 08 December 2009

My source: Rita Arafa, BCS Health Northern Specialist Group, Membership Secretary.
Original source - IMIA: International Medical Informatics Assoc. see below.

For more frequent news updates, and subscription options by email, RSS feeds, etc., see the IMIA
...

Items:

1. MedInfo2010
a] Early bird registration deadline
b] Submissions feedback dates
2. Forthcoming events
a] IMIA Working Group activities
b] Regional events
c] National/international events
3. Boards (deleted for brevity)
4. Publications
5. Corresponding members - new SOP (deleted for brevity)
6. January 2010 bulletin

1. MedInfo2010

MEDINFO 2010 - 13th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics;

12 to 15 September 2010 in Cape Town , South Africa.

a] Early bird registration deadline

Early bird registration closes 18 December 2009 - book early to save money. The site for conference registration and accommodation booking payment is open - via the main MedInfo 2010 website.

(NB BCS Health will be offering funding for those participating in Medinfo 2010 – details to be announced soon).
b] Submissions feedback dates

The SPC and reviewers are currently working hard on the paper submissions and other scientific submissions. Notification on acceptance of papers should be by 28 February, 2010.

2. Forthcoming events

Due to the increasing number of events, we will only here mention those in 2009-10. Notices of events in 2011 and beyond will be added to the IMIA website and IMIA news website when they are announced or when there is significant new information.

a] IMIA Working Group and Special Interest Group activities

The IMIA Health Information Systems Working Group (IMIA HIS WG) will be organising a two day workshop on Health Information Systems – 30 Years of Evolution, that will take place on September 10-12, 2010 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, just before the Medinfo 2010 Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Further details will be advised in due course.

A number of WG/SIG chairs and vice chairs have changed as of the 2009 GA. This information will be updated on the IMIA website in the next few days. ... If WG/SIGs have activities planned, please send in the information so that we can help promote them.

b] Regional events

The 2010 Special Topic Conference (STC) of the European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI) will take place in Reykjavík, Iceland on June 2-4, 2010. The event has the theme ‘Seamless care – safe care. The challenges of interoperability and patient safety in health care’. 

c] National/international events

HIMSS10 - March 1-4, 2010. Atlanta, Georgia, USA. http://www.himssconference.org/

eHealth2010 - May 6-7, 2010. Vienna, Austria. ...

e-health 2010 - May 30 - June 2, 2010. Vancouver BC, Canada. http://www.e-healthconference.com

HINZ2010 - 2-4 November, 2010. Wellington, New Zealand. http://www.hinz.org.nz

AMIA2010 - 13-17 November, 2010. Washington DC, USA. http://www.amia.org

4. Publications

Applied Clinical Informatics (ACI) is a new official eJournal of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS), and will be published by Schattauer. This is Schattauer's first online journal. Full information about this new development, including instructions for authors, can found at the journal website –

http://www.aci-journal.org

The proceedings of the Post-Congress Workshop of the 10th International Nursing Informatics Congress (NI2009), which was held at Vanajanlinna, Finland on July 1-4, 2009, are titled “Personal Health Information Management – Tools and Strategies for Citizens’ Engagement”. The 215 page book has been edited by Kaija Saranto, Patricia Flatley Brennan and Anne Casey.

6. January 2010 bulletin

The January 2010 bulletin will be published on 04 January. We welcome all feedback (to imia@imia-services.org) and any news items, conferences, etc for the websites.

END OF IMIA News Bulletin, December 2009
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dr Peter J. Murray
Executive Director
IMIA, International Medical Informatics Association

CASA - Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis: Working Papers

Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2012 10:24:30 +0000
From: Willard McCarty
Subject: CASA Working Papers


Many here will find something of interest, I suspect, in the Working Papers series of the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London,
http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/casa/latest/publications/working-papers. 


[updated]
 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/casa/about-us/publications

In particular my eye was caught by Martin Dodge and Rob Kitchin, "The ethics of forgetting in an age of pervasive computing", CASA Working Paper 92.

Undoubtedly those with GIS-related concerns will find much more than that.
Yours,
WM
--
Willard McCarty, FRAI / Professor of Humanities Computing & Director of the Doctoral Programme, Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London; Professor, School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney; Editor, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews
(www.isr-journal.org); Editor, Humanist
(www.digitalhumanities.org/humanist/); www.mccarty.org.uk/

My source:  Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 26, No. 520. www.dhhumanist.org/
With CASA logo added here. 
                

The Science Collaboration Framework (SCF)

My attention was drawn today (by Robert Douglas) to The Science Collaboration Framework (SCF) that is based on Drupal.

Here are some details from the SCF website:

About:

Interdisciplinary research programs at Harvard and elsewhere naturally tend to be distributed geographically, across campuses and departments. Effective collaboration for these programs requires the ability to bridge distance, which in turn implies digital collaboration, and therefore abilities to publish and discuss on-line content such as articles, news, and perspectives; to provide semantic context to on-line content for more powerful interactions within multiple sub-disciplines and to integrate as well as distinguish the individual contributions of many scientific workers.

The Scientific Collaboration Framework (SCF) is reusable software that can be used to develop web-based, collaborative, scientific communities. The framework is designed to support interdisciplinary scientists in publishing, annotating, sharing and discussing content such as articles, perspectives, interviews and news items, as well as assert personal biographies and research interests – the basics of any online community. These web materials can then be linked to external, heterogeneous knowledge repositories of life science resources such as genes, antibodies, cell-lines or model organisms. SCF, thus supports structured “Web 2.0” style community discourse amongst researchers, makes various data resources available to the collaborating scientist and captures the semantics of the relationship among the discourse and resources.

Our framework is based on Drupal – a popular content management system that is highly extensible and has a thriving ecosystem of contributed modules. SCF includes new modules for managing publications, interviews, member information, news items, announcements, and biological entities (e.g., genes). The framework is freely available as a Drupal distribution; however the modules can be used a la carte as well.

SCF is a project of the Initiative in Innovative Computing at Harvard University in collaboration with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. The first instance of SCF is being adopted by StemBook (stembook.org) – a comprehensive, open-access collection of original, peer-reviewed chapters covering topics related to Stem Cell Biology. A joint project with Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF) to develop a community site for Parkinson's researchers is under development. SCF is also being evaluated by several other communities.

Publications:
Sudeshna Das, Tom Green, Louis Weitzman, Alister Lewis-Bowen & Tim Clark. Linked Data in a Scientific Collaboration Framework. 17th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2008), Beijing, China.

I am particularly interested in SCF since as noted above "the modules can be used a la carte as well." The potential of putting this together with the Drupal Education distribution is really exciting. I still believe that SVG (or similar) has a role to play for my plans. In the meantime though back to Drupal version 6.9....

Additional links:

Alzforum

Memo: Understanding the difference between 'self-care' and 'SELF-CARE'

As we learn in infancy, run into physical structures and it hurts. The presence of structure in this case clearly has impact - not just literally - but globally.

While for me, the model is a constant, I'm constantly surprised by the 'work' that its structure, the two axes - can do from the initial - blank - template (empty set):

 

UK does deal with Nepal to bring in nurses to plug holes in staffing - despite Nepal being on a global red list for recruitment because of its own nurse shortages https://t.co/jSPTQmodLr

— Shaun Lintern (@ShaunLintern) August 23, 2022

 

 INDIVIDUAL

|

 INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

self-care 'understanding'	self-care (emphasis [again] on task-oriented care?)
SELF-CARE Social Care	SELF-CARE Code of Practice for International Recruitment 'Red List' NHS Workforce Planning, Recruitment and Retention, Pay, Terms and Conditions Local, National, Global 'jobs' market 'Memorandum of understanding ...' 'Selflessness' [here?]

WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel: Fourth round of reporting:
https://www.who.int/news/item/02-06-2022-who-global-code-of-practice-on-the-international-recruitment-of-health-personnel--fourth-round-of-reporting

Code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England
Updated 22 August 2022:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-international-recruitment-of-health-and-social-care-personnel/code-of-practice-for-the-international-recruitment-of-health-and-social-care-personnel-in-england

Memorandum of understanding between the UK and Nepal on the recruitment of healthcare workers:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/memorandum-of-understanding-between-the-uk-and-nepal-on-the-recruitment-of-healthcare-workers

Ten-fold increase in nurse recruitment from "red list" countries, RCN:
https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/Press-Releases/ten-fold-increase-in-nurse-recruitment-from-red-list-countries

c/o HSJ @ShaunLintern

Publication list - Peter Jones

Previously, I used to maintain a publications list, one that runs from the year 'dot' (ego eh!). The bibliography in the blog's sidebar serves this purpose, also being (much) enriched by other papers that use/cite Hodges' model. 

I decided to revisit the exercise. Successful at interview late in 2019, for a part-time (variable hours) tutoring role, no teaching opportunities followed as COVID intervened.

Invited now to f/w an updated CV and covering letter, I realise that apart from several recent papers I did not include a 'comprehensive' list - as I'm sure is the custom in academe; no doubt listings with many more entries. Here's the list:

Publications by Peter Jones (#1-4 software; #37 website; #40 this blog)

1. 1982 CAPA: COMPUTER AIDED PATIENT ASSESSMENT, Sinclair ZX81, advertised in Nursing Mirror (see below) provided on audio cassette tape.
2. 1983 THE NURSING PROCESS – Computer Aided Learning program, BBC Micro, published by Open Software Limited (OSL)
3. 1984 HAEM. Blood Groups Computer Aided Learning program, BBC Micro – (OSL). (see below)
4. c.1989 SHADES OF GREY, Computer Aided Learning program, BBC Micro. Simulation of nuclear weapons, Based on Fanchi, J. Local effects of nuclear weapons, BYTE, Volume 11. Issue 13. Dec., pp. 143–155. Computer Aided Learning program, BBC Micro, published by Open Software Limited. (see below).
5. Jones, P. (1986) Computing in Nursing NEWS. Computerised Patient Assessment. Nursing Times. 85: 5. Sep 3-9;82(36):63-5. PMID: 3532039 (Describes 'CAPA', a BBC microcomputer program for student nurses.)
6. Jones P. 1988 Thunderbirds are Go? (Impact of technology in society, disasters, macro-engineering). Popular Computing Weekly.
7. Jones, P. 1989 Modems are Cheap, it's the phone bills that hurt. Popular Computing Weekly.
8. Jones, P. (1989) Computers in Nursing NEWS. Creating a Program. Nursing Times. Feb 1-7;85(5):66-8. PMID: 2648342 (Describes 'HAEM', a BBC microcomputer program for student nurses on blood and blood groups.)
9. Jones, P. (1989) Information Technology is Good For You! (Effects of information technology) IT in Nursing, BCS-Nurs. Specialist Group. 1,1
10. Jones, P. (1990) Creating a Community Mental Health IS (Creation of a community mental health resource centre - a multidisciplinary research project). IT in Nursing and Paper at BCS NSG Conference. 2,4
11. Jones, P., Beckingham, D. (1991) The Ins and Outs of a small mental health Information System. Healthcare Computing 91 Conference Paper.
12. Jones, P. (1992) Nursing: All in the mind and machine? (Models of nursing and computing). British Computer Society -Nursing Specialist Group Conference Paper
13. Jones, P., Beckingham, D. (1992) Community Mental Health: IT in the Buffer Zone. Healthcare Computing 92 Conference (Poster).
14. Jones, P. (1993) Computerised Models of Nursing. (Data types in nursing - opportunities and problems). Healthcare Computing 93 Conference Paper.
15. Jones, P. (1993) Using a Semantic Network to Represent Nursing Terminology (project for B.A. (Joint Hons. Computing / Philosophy). Supervisor J Kirby - Medical Informatics Group. University of Manchester). BCS-NSG Conference Paper.
16. Jones, P. (1993) Nursing: All in the mind (and machine?). IT in Nursing, 5,4.
17. Jones, P. (1994) An Enthusiast's View of CAL. (Problems in production of CAL - Simulation effects of Nuclear Weapons - conversion of GWBASIC to BBC BASIC from BYTE - with original author's permission - J Fanchi). IT in Nursing. 6,2.
18. Jones, P. (1994) IT with Records in Mind (Mental Health CPA and Record types - idealised, cognitive, CBR, Distributed), IT in Nursing. 6,4.
19. Jones, P. (1996) Humans, Information, and Science, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24(3),591-598.
20. Jones, P. (1996) An overarching theory of health communication? Health Informatics Journal,2,1,28-34.
21. Jones, P. (1996) Nursing Technology and Elephants - Part 1: Technology as a beast of burden. IT in Nursing. 8,1,4-6.
22. Jones, P. (1996) Nursing Technology and Elephants - Part 2: Technology as a serpent. IT in Nursing. 8,2,5-7.
23. Jones, P. (1996) Nursing Technology and Elephants - Part 3: Technology rope to save humanity and health care, IT in Nursing. 8,3,5-7.
24. Jones, P. (1997) Providing Mental Health Care: Getting A Purchase On Information. IT in Nursing. 9,3.
25. Jones, P. (1997) IT: The ubiquitous Research Tool (The use of IT in research - to access; transform; transcribe and disseminate information). IT in Nursing. 9,4.
26. Jones, P. (1999) Visualization in Nursing: Workshop report, IT in Nursing, 11.1.
27. Jones, P. (1999) It's time to master the latest tools and Hodges' Health Career Model, IT in Nursing, 11.2.
28. Jones, P. (2004) Viewpoint: Can informatics and holistic multidisciplinary care be harmonised? British Journal of Healthcare Computing & Information Management, 21, 6, 17-18.
29. Jones, P. (2004) The Four Care Domains: Situations Worthy of Research. Conference: Building & Bridging Community Networks: Knowledge, Innovation & Diversity through Communication, Brighton, UK.
30. 2005. Bursary Award Poster: Introduction and Scope of H2CM. HC2005: Harrogate. With thanks to the BCS Health Informatics Forum and my manager(s).
31. 2005. Mental health and geography: questions and issues for a mental health trust organised using Hodges' four care domains GEOMED 2005. Cambridge – Poster.
32. Jones, P. (2008) Exploring Serres’ Atlas, Hodges’ Knowledge Domains and the Fusion of Informatics and Cultural Horizons, IN Kidd, T., Chen, I. (Eds.) Social Information Technology Connecting Society and Cultural Issues, Idea Group Publishing, Inc. Chap. 7, pp. 96-109.
33. Jones, P. (2009) Socio-Technical Structures, the Scope of Informatics and Hodges’ model, IN, Staudinger, R., Ostermann, H., Bettina Staudinger, B. (Eds.), Handbook of Research in Nursing Informatics and Socio-Technical Structures, Idea Group Publishing, Inc. Chap. 11, pp. 160-174.
34. Jones, P. (2012). Exploring several dimensions of local, global and glocal using the generic conceptual framework Hodges's model. The Journal Of Community Informatics. 8(3). Retrieved from https://openjournals.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/JoCI/article/view/3034
35. 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
36. Jones P. (2014) Using a conceptual framework to explore the dimensions of recovery and their relationship to service user choice and self-determination. International Journal of Person Centered Medicine. Vol 3, No 4, (2013) pp.305-311.
37. 1998-2015 Website devoted to Hodges' model p-jones.demon.co.uk Now on web.archive.org:  https://web.archive.org/web/19990501185433/http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/index.htm
38. Jones P. Exploring the relationship of threshold concepts and Hodges’ model of care from the individual to populations and global health. Rev Cuid. 2017; 8(3): 1697-720. http://dx.doi.org/10.15649/cuidarte.v8i3.464
39. Jones P, Wirnitzer K. Hodges’ model: the Sustainable Development Goals and public health – universal health coverage demands a universal framework. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health 2022;0:e000254. doi:10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000254
40. 2006- Ongoing This blog - Welcome to the QUAD.

Book TSR ii - Mental illness/health: History, process and progress

As posted yesterday through a book review, I developed an awareness for the role of process much earlier than previously thought. It wasn't Enid Mumford's work on the benefits of a socio-technical approach to successful deployment of information systems. I only discovered this well after the advent of home computing with the ZX81 and BBC micro 1981-1995.

It was 1978-79 to be more exact; on an admission ward during my three year student Registered Mental Nursing course at Winwick Hospital. On first recollection, I thought it was a clinic, with patients coming in for Clomipramine (Anafranil) infusion on to the ward. As students on placement we were allocated to support the clinic, completing regular observations, including pulse and blood pressure. Clearly, it was a long time ago. There is a paper (paywall), quite a significant one for me:

O’Flanagan PM. A Clomipramine (Anafranil) Infusion Unit. Journal of International Medical Research. 1973;1(5):375-381. doi:10.1177/030006057300100519 

I remember this Consultant's name being mentioned, but this was before my time(?). From the paper's first - accessible - page I can see the patients involved were actually in-patients. Which given the procedures, safety, observation makes better sense. There is reference to a film, in a hospital newsletter 'The Standard':

'Anafranil Film

In response to the interest shown in the film on Anafranil Infusion, Dr. P. O'Flanagan was present in the In-Service Training Room on Monday, October 29th for a second showing of the film, and to answer any questions from the audience.'

https://winwickremembered.org.uk/mags/mag316.htm

I wonder if the film is archived somewhere?

It isn't a surprise to see my former Community MH manager and friend David McKendrick listed on the Publications Committee. I do miss David - a great mentor!

In the previous post about 'The Sleep Room' I contrasted the mind-body dichotomy. In terms of evidence on 'both sides' of this divide, many people have made the observation of how you can see a broken arm, or leg, and other physical ailments, but mental health issues are often not obvious:

Powell J, Clarke A. Information in mental health: qualitative study of mental health service users. Health Expect. 2006 Dec;9(4):359-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1369-7625.2006.00403.x. PMID: 17083562; PMCID: PMC5060370.

The evidence-base of general medicine - physical health and psychiatry must be dynamic. The volume of publications bears testimony to the relentless change across all the sciences, research, technologies, knowledge, theory, practice, management and policy. On Twitter there is constant 'debate' between psychiatry and anti-psychiatry. 

Studies of intravenous clomipramine continue, the intervention much changed from the 1960-70s:

Fallon BA, Liebowitz MR, Campeas R, et al. Intravenous Clomipramine for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Refractory to Oral Clomipramine: A Placebo-Controlled Study. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1998;55(10):918–924. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.55.10.918

Persson M-L. Adler Mats y Hetta J. Pulse Intravenous Clomipramine as an alternative antidepressant treatment to ECT: A pilot study. Eur. J. Psychiat. [online]. 2007, vol.21, n.4 [citado 2025-04-07], pp.263-267. Disponible en: <http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-61632007000400003&lng=es&nrm=iso>. ISSN 0213-6163.

Karameh WK, Khani M. Intravenous Clomipramine for Treatment-Resistant Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2015 Jul 28;19(2):pyv084. doi: 10.1093/ijnp/pyv084. Erratum in: Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2016 Apr 27;19(10):pyw031. doi: 10.1093/ijnp/pyw031. PMID: 26221004; PMCID: PMC4772819.

Perhaps, someone can please enlighten me? Given the time between William Sargant's practice, and today how much more do we know? We know the gap can't be fully closed (phenomenologically?), but has the evidence-gap been reduced? What are the evidential mile[Km]stones in psychiatry - mental health nursing? What are 'the standard' measures? If we look at a model that is bio-psycho-socio-political, what difference might this make, to the 'debate', theory, practice, research, management and politics (policy)? 

'Woke' is a tainted word these days, but in mental health care and nursing we all need to wake up and in a safe space.

CFP - 2026 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Health and Education (ICAIHE2026)

July 8-10, 2026, Tokyo, Japan

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to invite you to submit your papers for publication and presentation at 2026 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Health and Education (ICAIHE 2026) scheduled on July 8-10, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan.

https://icaihe.org

Also, we invite you to submit a workshop/special session proposal to participate in ICAIHE 2026.

The workshop/special session proposal submission deadline has been extended to: February 28, 2026.
The regular paper submission deadline is: March 1, 2026.
----------------------------------------

INTRODUCTION
---------------
With the spread of digital technology in healthcare and education, there is a growing interest in using artificial intelligence (AI) to promote human well-being in the extensive areas of health and learning. As more data becomes available from IoT, wearable devices, sensors, social media and many other online platforms, new possibilities emerge for understanding and revolutionizing digital health and learning.

ICAIHE 2026 focuses on AI-enhanced and data-driven approaches to health and education. It aims to leverage advanced AI technology to provide new opportunities in the healthcare and education sectors. This conference is committed to bringing together researchers to explore how these cutting-edge AI technologies can optimize personal health and learning environments, and to demonstrate how these emerging technologies can drive transformative practices that promote human well-being.

IMPORTANT DATES
---------------
Workshop/SS Proposal Due: February 28, 2026 (Extended)
Regular Paper Due: March 1, 2026
Workshop/SS Paper Due: March 8, 2026
Author Notification: May 1, 2026
Paper Registration Due: May 15, 2026
Camera-ready Submission Due: May 22, 2026

SCOPE AND TRACKS
---------------
Prospective authors are invited to submit papers on topics including, but not limited to:

Track 1: Emerging AI Technologies for Health and Education

• Generative AI and LLM
• Agentic AI and AI Agents
• Explainable AI
• Multimodal AI Models
• Small Smart AI Models
• Knowledge Graphs
• Privacy Protection, Security, and Ethics in Emerging AI Applications

Track 2: AI-Enhanced Healthcare and Medical Services

• AI-Enhanced Big Data Analytics in Healthcare and Medical Services
• Multimodal Data Fusion in Digital Health
• AI-Enhanced Biometric Analysis in Digital Health
• Machine Learning and Deep Learning for Healthcare and Medical Services
• AI-Enhanced Precision Healthcare
• Metaverse and Digital Twin for Healthcare and Medical Services
• Human-AI Interaction in Digital Health and Well-being Promotion

Track 3: AI-Enhanced Education and Learning

• LLM-Enhanced Educational Content Generation
• LLM-Enhanced Personalized Learning
• LLM-Enhanced Automated Learning Feedback and Assessment
• AI-Enhanced Collaborative Learning
• AI-Enhanced Learning Analytics
• AI-Enhanced VR/AR/Metaverse for Immersive Learning
• AI Agents for Learning Management Systems

ICAIHE 2026 CALLS
---------------
Prospective authors are invited to submit original papers. Formats for the submissions are either

- Full Paper: 12-15 pages
- Short Paper: 6-11 pages
- Work-in-Progress Paper: 6-7 pages

SUBMISSIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
---------------
All accepted papers will be published in Springer CCIS series. Selected high quality papers will be recommended for possible publications on journal special issues.

For further details, please refer to https://icaihe.org/sub.html

Submission Link: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/ICAIHE2026

 

-------------
Hosted by
Waseda University, Japan 

 

My source: AI-SGES list - https://www.bcs-sgai.org/?section=server

Award: h2cm #1 Framework ... #2 and #3?

"Elden and Levin (1991) suggest distinguishing between insider and outsider frameworks. A framework is described as a way of understanding. Insiders are the project workers or programme staff who have first-hand experience of the situation. They have their views about programme goals and problem solutions. The outsiders are the external researchers, the social scientists, who bring a battery of research skills and a wealth of theoretical ideas: 'The richness and quality of the research depends on the ability of the insiders to play their different frameworks and expertise against each other to create a new, third explanatory framework." (1991: 132). p.28.

 INDIVIDUAL

|

 INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

outsider new insider	outsider new insider
insider new outsider	insider new outsider

Nurses, and nursing encompass all three, but (should - must) realise they are also part of the 'system', together with their colleagues in the multidisciplinary team. 

In grounded theory, participatory - ethnological and other qualitative approaches, we need to ensure the 'ground' to inhabit is sufficiently accessible. Hodges' model can assist in scoping a project; what is the perspective, standpoint, or positioning? While the health, or social care staff are the insider's and conceptually at the center of the model, the aim is to place the patient, carer at the center, with the situation we collectively encounter. The model's subjective - objective duality can also act as a regulator to assure overall balance.

Elden, M., & Levin, M. (1991). Cogenerative Learning. Bringing Participation Interaction Research. In W. F. Whyte (Ed.), Participatory Action Research (pp. 127-142). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Clarke, A. (1999). Evaluation research. SAGE Publications Ltd,
https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781849209113 

[Clarke, again: p.174]

"Carol Weiss (1988a), one of the foremost writers on the impact research findings on policy, describes four ways in which evaluation information is used in the decision-making process. First, the information provided by evaluators can serve as a warning that that something is going wrong. For example, if early research findings suggest that some groups are not receiving the designated services, or intermediate outcome measures are not being achieved, then corrective action can be taken before the situation worsens. Second, evaluation findings can provide guidance for improving a programme. ... A third contribution evaluation can make is by way of offering a new way of looking at a familiar problem; Weiss refers to this as 'reconceptualization'. Finally, evaluation can be used to mobilize support for a project or programme." p.174.

Weiss, C.H. (1988a) 'Evaluation for decisions: Is anybody there? Does anybody care?', Evaluation Practice, 9 (1):5-19.

n.b. When on the PhD programme [MRes], I looked at evaluation and design-based research as potential research methods.

Maguire et al. - 'A systematic scoping review of the noma evidence landscape: current knowledge and gaps'

Abstract

Background Noma (cancrum oris) is a severe gangrenous disease of the mouth and oro-facial structures. Noma often affects young children living in extreme poverty, malnutrition and poor sanitation. Gaps remain in understanding its aetiology, pathogenesis, prevention and treatment.

Methods and findings We systematically searched databases for all primary research studies (clinical trials, cohort studies, case–control, cross-sectional, other observational studies, case studies/series) reporting noma patients of any age up to 7 December 2022. The 366 publications (published between 1839 and 2022) included in our scoping review describe 15 082 patients. Although 53 cohort and 29 cross-sectional studies were identified, enrolling 13 489 patients, interventional research remains extremely limited, with only six studies identified (101 patients, range: 7–26) and only one in the past decade, highlighting a critical gap in treatment evaluation. A total of 380 different treatment modalities were described, which underscores lack of a standardised practice. Disease aetiology remains unclear, with 117 microorganisms reported across 113 studies, yet none more consistently linked to noma development. Since 2000, 91.2% of cases have been reported in Sub-Saharan Africa, though occurrences outside the ‘noma belt’ and into Asia and the Americas suggest a broader risk. The 212 potential risk factors identified in 269 (73.5%) publications reflect substantial heterogeneity, complicating efforts to determine definitive causative factors. Additionally, the inconsistent definition and reporting of noma staging significantly hinder comparability across studies, with wide adoption of the WHO staging classification needed.

Conclusion This comprehensive review of the literature underscores the urgent need for robust, policy-driven research to address the vast knowledge gaps in the physiopathology of noma and the limited evidence currently available to guide therapeutic and preventive policies. Collective action and increased research investment are crucial, especially now that noma is officially recognised as a neglected tropical disease by the WHO.

Brittany J Maguire, Rujan Shrestha, Prabin Dahal, Roland Ngu, Lionel Nizigama, Sumayyah Rashan, Poojan Shrestha, Elinor Harriss, Paul Newton, Yuka Makino, Benoit Varenne, Philippe J Guerin - Systematic scoping review of the noma evidence landscape: current knowledge and gaps: BMJ Global Health 2025;10:e018023 https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/7/e018023

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT mental & emotional complications WITHDRAWAL LOST EDUCATION & LIFE CHANCES DEPRESSION PSYCHO-	malnutrition and poor sanitation PHYSICAL IMPACT LIMITED EVIDENCE - DISEASE KNOWLEDGE GAPS - AETIOLOGY  knowledge gaps in the physiopathology of noma
-SOCIAL MANAGEMENT SOCIAL IMPACT - LIFE CHANCES STIGMA SOCIAL EXCLUSION	extreme poverty, infrastructure NEED FOR POLICY-DRIVEN RESEARCH THERAPEUTIC - PREVENTIVE POLICIES RECOGNITION

Previously: 'neglected' : 'noma'

My source: https://x.com/benoit_varenne/status/1950955812915982487

Waste not - Want not: An Item for Discussion (to refine) ...

Proposed item for discussion:

That this meeting reflect on the need and case for a generic and foundational conceptual framework across health and social care disciplines. This will help all (lifelong) learners to develop as reflective practitioners and critical thinkers to better support integrated and person-centred care, to appreciate and achieve parity of esteem and the leadership required to further high quality healthcare outcomes, health promotion and self-care.

Many nurses, including students, will no doubt have heard the words of wisdom: “Things go round in big-big circles, some of them decades long. You'll see!” We realise there are problems that seem perpetual. Health care seems to have its share of legacy issues, that is, problems that stretch across the decades and confound successive generations of practitioners, managers and policy makers. These issues are ongoing subjects for discussion and debate like this proposal. Nursing is a vibrant profession, things, including 'us' change. There are theories and practises that (thankfully) fall out of fashion. Nurse education is no exception with its own approaches. Some are permanent becoming accepted fixtures, while others wax and wane. Respective examples are educational technology, a fixture whether on the desk, one's lap, in the hand or simulation lab; nursing theory and models of nursing had their moment several decades ago as now they struggle for attention. To a degree this is understandable; curricula are over-crowded, practice must be evidence-based, healthcare is multidisciplinary, nursing is person, patient and carer-centred. Society also 'moves on'. Crucially, however; we must remember that to nurse - is to be a reflective practitioner and critical thinker.

Mention of models and theories of nursing may reveal something of the proposer. Much has changed for the profession since the late 1970s. Nursing [UK] has been challenged both publicly and from within; culminating in serious individual and organisational failures. Such incidents, plus associated reports and recommendations, called into question the quality of nurse education, nursing and care. No system is 100% effective in terms of checks and balances: to err is human. In nursing, however, our constant aspiration should be to disprove this fact of human frailty. In healthcare and nursing so much of what we do is predicated on the quality of our communications. Demographic trends impose pressure on proportionally fewer staff. There are more patients and carers who need reassurance, explanation, time and attention. How can nursing solve the ongoing productivity conundrum?

While communication is the common factor for all health disciplines and the essence of humanity, there is no accepted overarching theory of health communication. Although this may seem an academic question, in healthcare it is paramount. Poor communication can undermine shared awareness, responsibilities, understanding and is a constant factor in patient safety. Now, we must also recognise the patient as expert and raise the level of health literacy of the public. While there is progress in overcoming stigma within mental health, public mental health remains lost within public health. The issue of parity of esteem, extends beyond the much debated and still to be reconciled fields of physical and mental health care.

In response, this discussion calls for a generic, foundational conceptual framework across all fields of nursing, including midwifery, learning disability, mental health, veterans and prison services and end of life. If more argument is needed then without such a generic framework, the health and social care goal of our times - that of truly 'integrated care' - will just be (circular?) hyperbole. For the people who are self-caring and those in our care, the empathy and rapport they experience will more likely be process-driven, our patient-carer-public-centred care invariably off-target.

Supporting information: (links deactivated and may no longer work)

Francis Report
https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06690

NMC Code
https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/read-the-code-online/#fourth

NMC Revalidation
http://revalidation.nmc.org.uk/what-you-need-to-do/reflective-discussion.html

RCN: Revalidation
https://www.rcn.org.uk/professional-development/revalidation/reflection-and-reflective-discussion

NICE: Reflection and reflective practice
https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/search?q=reflection+OR+%22reflective+practice

HSJ: The importance of reflective practices
https://www.hsj.co.uk/workforce/the-importance-of-reflective-practices/5048994.article

The King's Fund: Integrated Care
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/making-sense-integrated-care-systems

The King's Fund: Shared responsibility for Health
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/shared-responsibility-health

Health and Social Care Act 2012
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/7/contents/enacted