New Drupal based Social Media Classroom

I learned of this new initiative on the Drupal for Libraries list in a post by Ari Davidow.

Using Drupal with the help of a MacArthur grant, author and educator Howard Rheingold has set up:

Social Media Classroom and Collaboratory

Welcome to the Social Media Classroom and Collaboratory. It’s all free, as in both “freedom of speech” and “almost totally free beer.” We invite you to build on what we’ve started to create more free value. The Social Media Classroom (we’ll call it SMC) includes a free and open-source (Drupal-based) web service that provides teachers and learners with an integrated set of social media that each course can use for its own purposes—integrated forum, blog, comment, wiki, chat, social bookmarking, RSS, microblogging, widgets , and video commenting are the first set of tools. The Classroom also includes curricular material: syllabi, lesson plans, resource repositories, screencasts and videos. The Collaboratory (or Colab), is what we call just the web service part of it. Educators are encouraged to use the Colab and SMC materials freely, and we host your Colab communities if you don’t want to install your own. (See this for an explanation of who “we” are).

This provides an interesting perspective on the use of open source tools with value-added service provision.

[ This link still works, but 'News' refers to 2008 ... ]

International Journal of User Driven Healthcare (IJUDH) CfP

Dear Mr. Jones

In view of your work in patient-centered care, I’d like to invite you and/or your colleagues to submit a paper to this Special Issue of the new journal described further below and via the web link provided. I think our global readers would be very interested in your thoughts (and projects) on innovative ways to get relevant healthcare information into the hands of ‘users’ (both patients and providers), within the user-driven EBM paradigm, per below.

Please also share this call for papers with your colleagues.

Thanks for your consideration,

Susan Ross, MD

International Journal of User Driven Healthcare (IJUDH) Call for Papers

Editor-in-Chief:
Rakesh Biswas,
Center for Scientific Research and Development (CSRD),
PCMS Campus, India

Published: Quarterly

Call for Papers - Special Issue:

Submission Due Date: July 1, 2010
Special Issue On User Driven Healthcare and Evidence-based Medicine

Guest Editors:
Susan Ross, MD, FRCPC

Introduction

User Driven Healthcare (UDH) is part consumer-driven healthcare, part narrative medicine, and part Health 2.0. It stems from a concept of participatory healthcare whereby all stakeholders, enabled by information, software, and cyber-community, focus on healthcare value. But where does Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) fit into this framework? It is sometimes forgotten that EBM is a three-legged stool, comprised of the triad of evidence +provider expertise + patient preferences. In this EBM framework, provider expertise is needed to bridge the inferential gap between population-based evidence and the individual patient. And each patient's values and preferences should narrow that inferential gap further. But since the introduction of EBM nearly two decades ago, the primary focus of EBM proponents has been on Evidence, at the expense of patient preferences and provider expertise. Perhaps this is why the promise of EBM to foster the most efficient and high quality healthcare has not yet been realized.

Objective of the Special Issue

This Special Issue will focus on the following questions: Is the recent emergence of User Driven Healthcare really a new, post-EBM paradigm for healthcare, or just an overdue consideration of the other two legs of the original EBM stool? How might this trend affect all stakeholders?

Recommended Topics

Topics to be discussed in this special issue include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Developing valid patient-level evidence using the Web
• Evidence generation—clinical research strategies using social media and mobile technologies
• Examples of UDH to a) help formulate the right questions to ask in EBM; b) develop answers to those questions; c) disseminate the answers to patients and providers with a need to know; and d) test the impact of UDH-generated Evidence on patient outcomes
• Helping online patients sift the ‘wheat’ from the ‘chaff’—information management for patients in an EBM world
• How to incorporate patient preferences and values into ambulatory care decision-making (i.e., into the 10 minute visit)
• Measuring the impact of UDH on patient outcomes
• Patient-level decisions vs. population-level evidence (bridging the inferential gap)
• Pharmaceutical communication strategies using social media—impact on healthcare quality and costs in an EBM framework
• Place of social media in EBM—patient and physician online communities
• Practice of UDH vs. EBM around the world
• Regulatory issues of evidence dissemination by industry using social media in healthcare Statistical and other evaluative methods to assess the validity and reliability of evidence developed using social media and mobile technologies
• Trends in N-of-1 studies, and their relevance to EBM and UDH
• Use of collective intelligence to solve healthcare problems for individuals and communities

Submission

...

All submissions and inquiries should be directed to the attention of:
Susan Ross, MD
Guest Editor

Call For Papers: Special Track on AI for Tackling Dis/Misinformation during Pandemics

Call For Papers: Special Track on AI for Tackling Dis/Misinformation during Pandemics In conjunction with the ACM International Conference on Information Technology for Social Good (GoodIT 2021)

The GoodIT conference is sponsored by ACM SIGCAS, the Association for
Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computers & Society.

The conference focuses on the application of IT technologies to social good.

The Special Track on AI for Tackling Dis/Misinformation during Pandemics focuses on new data technologies based on artificial intelligence, data governance, machine learning, natural language
processing, and social network analysis to aid experts in analyzing large volumes of social media data in order to detect fake news, misinformation, and disinformation. A number of open challenges need
more investigation from the research community, such as recent trends in composing information disorder by combining false and real content, the mechanisms that drive fake content diffusion during pandemics, how to differentiate fake content from personal viewpoints, why people tend to believe fake content and make decisions based on it during pandemics, and what are the different motivations behind the dissemination of fake content. Fact-checking and claim verification are two important strategies that are worth incorporating in the automated tackling and curtailment of fake content during and after pandemics.

************ Key Dates ************

Papers Submission Due:      May 1, 2021

Authors Notifications:        June 22, 2021

Final Manuscript Due:        July 10, 2021

GoodIT 2021:                    September 09-11, 2021

************ Important Links ************

Special Track Website: https://aitdmp.conceptechint.net

Submission Link: https://goodit2021.hotcrp.com/

************ Submission Guidelines  ************

All submissions will be reviewed using a single-blind review process.

The identity of referees will not be revealed to authors, but authors can keep their names on the submitted papers, on figures, bibliography, etc.

Papers should not exceed 6 pages (US letter size) double column including figures, tables, and references in standard ACM format. Papers must be submitted electronically in printable PDF form.

Templates for the standard ACM format can be found here:

https://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template No changes to margins, spacing, or font sizes are allowed from those specified by the style files. Papers violating the formatting guidelines will be

returned without review.

ACM has partnered with Overleaf, a free cloud-based, collaborative authoring tool, to provide an ACM LaTeX authoring template. The ACM LaTeX template on Overleaf platform is available to all ACM authors at: www.overleaf.com/gallery/tagged/acm-official

Accepted papers will be included in the ACM Digital Library. 

Special  issues associated with the conference are being organized.

************ Topics ************

Papers on practical as well as on theoretical topics and problems in various topics related to rumors, fake news, misinformation, and disinformation during and after pandemics, are invited, with special emphasis on novel techniques and tools for automated tackling and curtailment of fake content during and after pandemics. Topics include(but are not limited to):

• AI approaches for the detection of online influence and manipulation
• AI approaches to identify misinformation and disinformation campaigns
• AI approaches for spotting misinformation and disinformation spreaders.
• Social media mining for automated detection of misinformation propagation and disinformation circulation
• AI approaches for automated identification and verification of claims
• AI approaches for intention detection for misinformation and disinformation contents
• AI approaches for credibility assessment of Social media sources
• AI approaches for fake news curtailment, filtering and prevention.
• AI approaches for analysis/detection of distributed and multi-platform misinformation and disinformation disseminations
• AI approaches for predicting the Impact of misinformation and disinformation during pandemics
• New datasets and evaluation methodologies to aid in automated detection and analysis of misinformation and disinformation content in social media channels

**********The Conference Sponsored by**********

Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computers & Society http://www.sigcas.org/

This workshop is supported by the Association of Cyber Forensics and Threat Investigators (www.acfti.org) and the Industrial Cybersecurity Center (www.cci-es.org).

########################################################################

This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/SOCIOTECH, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk

Thanks to Andrew Zayine.

NMC Code and Guidance on using social media responsibly

NMC: Guidance on using social media

In March the Nursing & Midwifery Council published a new Code for nurses and midwives.

There is also guidance on the use of social media for this group of health professionals.


https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/guidance/social-media-guidance/

The Silent Pandemic? The Global Rise of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer - via HIFA

Last year, a team at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, UK published a real-world analysis of 203 patients with early-onset colorectal cancer (eoCRC). The study showed a dramatic surge in cases over a short period, with over half of patients presenting with metastatic disease, predominantly left-sided tumours, and a median symptom duration of just 3 months before diagnosis. The authors warned that eoCRC could represent an "evolving pandemic." 

See - http://doi.org/10.1093/oncolo/oyae239

Since then, incidence continues to rise across all continents, with similar patterns emerging in multiple national and international datasets.

Why This Matters for the HIFA community

• eoCRC is rising rapidly among people in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s.
• Most cases are sporadic, suggesting major gaps in understanding modifiable and early-life risk factors.
• Awareness among young adults and clinicians remains limited, contributing to delayed presentation.
• Meanwhile, short-form social media (e.g. TikTok reels) and AI-driven content are now the dominant information sources for young people - creating both opportunities and risks for public health.

Introducing Our Upcoming Initiative

We, the Special Interest Group in Digital Health & AI at WHO/Europe Youth4Health network, are launching a global project to develop evidence-based communication guidance for raising eoCRC prevention and awareness among young adults. The project will:

• Convene clinical specialists, youth advocates, communication scientists, social-media creators, and digital-health experts.
• Identify which prevention and awareness messages should be prioritised for youth.
• Define how these messages can be adapted effectively for short-form platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels.
• Examine how generative AI can support safe, accurate, and engaging content creation.
• Co-design prototype posts to illustrate how the consensus messages can be translated into youth-appropriate communication
• Our aim is to bridge the gap between emerging science, behavioural insights, and contemporary digital communication channels.

Why We're Sharing This Here

As we shape this work, we're keen to learn from the HIFA community:

• What approaches have you seen succeed in raising awareness of cancer symptoms among younger populations?
• Are there youth-driven or co-designed campaigns that we should look to as models?
• What are the risks you foresee when using short-form social media or AI tools for public-health communication?
• What considerations are especially important in LMIC contexts?
• How can we strike the right balance between urgency and fear-avoidance when communicating about cancer to young adults?

eoCRC incidence is increasing rapidly and globally. Communication strategies - particularly those targeting young people - have not kept pace with this trend. We would greatly value your insight and experience as we develop this work.

HIFA profile: Kathleen Guan is a multidisciplinary researcher passionate about all things digital behavioral health and (global) community engagement. Her PhD research focuses on involving young people in the co-design of personalized AI and emerging technologies, including adaptive mobile apps, LLMs, neurotechnology, and social media reels. By developing novel participatory approaches with a focus on preventative and precision health, Kathleen aims to inform how digital tools can meaningfully enhance everyday life and help reduce mental health challenges alongside chronic disease risks. To achieve this, she prioritizes community-based implementation by working closely with stakeholders across healthcare, engineering, policy, industry, education, and the arts.

Kathleen previously studied human rights and developmental neuroscience (BSFS, Georgetown; MRes, UCL) and has experience in public health and digital innovation (with WHO, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Qatar Computing Research Institute, various early-stage digital health start-ups) as a research collaborator and advisor. She chairs the Special Interest Group in Digital Health & AI within WHO Europe's Youth4Health Network. Kathleen has resided in 7 countries and worked in diverse settings across Asia, North America, and Europe, fostering her deep commitment to global health equity. She is always open to collaboration for social impact and can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleenwguan/.

Call for papers: Social Robots: Form, Content, Critique - International Journal of Social Robotics

Dear Humanists,

With the usual apologies for duplications and request for cross-posting to suitable lists and potentially interested colleagues - on behalf of my co-editors:

Call for Papers: Social Robots: Form, Content, Critique
special issue of The International Journal of Social Robotics

Co-editors: Michaela Pfadenhauer (Karlsruhe University / Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Satomi Sugiyama (Franklin College, Switzerland), Charles Ess (University of Oslo).

We invite papers from scholars and researchers across the disciplines (including philosophy, robot ethics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, media/sociology, information science, art history) that examine and explore social robots through three distinct but inextricably interwoven frameworks:

• Form/appearance (e.g., human/animal likeness in appearance; everyday media forms and robotic functions; cultural attitudes toward robot forms, etc.)
• Content/AI/applications (e.g., implications of artificial intelligence in everyday human experiences such as memories, relationships, and conceptions of the self and self-understanding;  applications that shape human-robot interactions; applications of mobile media and their implications in human's robotic experiences, etc.)
• Critical issues that undergird the above, including; ethics, intimacy, emotions, authenticity, etc.

Paper submission deadline: 1 January 2014
Notification to authors: 1 March 2014
Submission of authors' revised papers: 1 May 2014
Final acceptance: 1 June 2014
(accepted papers will be immediately published at the IJSR webpage with a Digital Object Identifier for citation purposes)
Publication: August, 2014

The call is an outcome of the COST Strategic Workshop on Social Robotic and Sustainability that took place in Brussels, Belgium, on 10-13 June 2013.
http://www.cost.eu/events/socialrobotics
http://www.cost.eu/

...
Authors are required to register on the website and to follow the Journal's Instructions for Authors' as provided there.

Many thanks in advance,

- Charles Ess
Professor in Media Studies
Department of Media and Communication
Director, Centre for Research on Media Innovations
http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/research/center/media-innovations/

University of Oslo
P.O. Box 1093 Blindern
NO-0317
Oslo Norway
email: charles.ess AT media.uio.no

My source: http://digitalhumanities.org/humanist

Coronavirus: Under a conceptual Macroscope

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group - population

Cognitive access info clarity in communications Motivation Anxiety Isolation Impact upon mental health Psychological Trauma Staff Wellbeing during COVID19 Information Mis-Information Stay HOME [unless: homeLESS?]* Self-isolation Self-exile  Long COVID (My education?) Long COVID (My mental health?) My health literacy: touching my own face 'distance' hand washing  +++ watch the road as a pedestrian too SELF-CARE

Coronavirus transmission Epidemiological Modelling Statistics Triage Duration of Self-Isolation ICU beds Ventilators - INNOVATION Industrial production Excel & NEC [UK] extra beds Recovery - Rehabilitation Physical access info Logistics (transmission) Testing kits Anti-body test PPE Evidence: Face coverings Personal Protection Equipment Vaccine Research Development PHYSICAL DISTANCING 2 metres Long COVID (My physical health?)

SOCIAL DISTANCING DISTANT SOCIALISING^ Staying connected family, friends, community - using social media to reduce - Social Isolation Social Media - Public Protection Role? Community Response Social Care - 'Enforced' PJParalysis? Volunteers Protect Our NHS 'Social' rehearsal? Future preparedness? Public understanding of Science

WHO: Pandemic REPORTING National :: International Consistency - Standards Lockdown Reversing Lockdown: Government Communications: (Mis-)use of media National reporting Emphasis upon economic impact? Response of Businesses Transparency of contracts, 'deals' Definition of 'Key workers' NHS England Law - Policing Policy (distancing#)

*General Population Health Status, Health systems, Healthcare systems, Politics of Health, Socio-Economics - austerity, Inequality, Inequity, Preparedness .. the Collective ...

^#Political lack of coherence in policy: Poor integration.

^Thank you @SelfCareWeekEU

21 Aug update: See also -

Sheridan Rains, L., Johnson, S., Barnett, P. et al. Early impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health care and on people with mental health conditions: framework synthesis of international experiences and responses. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01924-7

Image source:
By CDC/ Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM - This media comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Image Library (PHIL), with identification number #23312.Note: Not all PHIL images are public domain; be sure to check copyright status and credit authors and content providers., Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86444014

To revisit post pandemic? 

There is scope to improve the placement of concepts as per Hodges' model.

Children: FACE the past, future, your social media, Capitalism

INDIVIDUAL

|

    INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

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

SOCIOLOGY  :   POLITICAL 

|

GROUP

MENTAL HEALTH and WELLBEING LIFELONG LEARNING   KEY LITERACIES  PSHE EDUCATION -  Personal, Social,  Health and Economic

The Face

'Apps such as TikTok and Instagram are filled with videos of young girls and teenagers advising their peers on elaborate skincare routines, especially through a popular line of content called "Get Ready with Me". Parents have sounded the alarm over this trend, while recent medical literature has recognised the phenomenon of "cosmeticorexia", also called "dermorexia", defined as a culturally reinforced preoccupation or obsession with achieving "flawless" skin that can lead to "excessive, age-inappropriate or compulsive use of cosmetic products".'

'Italy is investigating a beauty retailer and make-up brand owned by French luxury group LVMH over claims their marketing has fuelled "cosmeticorexia", an unhealthy obsession with skincare among young girls. The Italian Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) said yesterday it was probing Sephora and Benefit Cosmetics for suspected "unfair commercial practices" with the promotion of skincare products such as face masks, serums and anti-ageing creams to girls as young as 10 years old. Those marketing campaigns were carried out mainly via social media, the  regulator said, leading young girls to "compulsively" buy such products.'

My sources: Amy Kazmin, LVMH's Sephora probed in Italy over fuelling young girls' skincare obsession, FTWeekend, 28-29 March 2026, p.1. FTWeekend and The Times. Reviews.

See also: Kazmin et al. Beauty industry scrutinised over age-inappropriate teen marketing. FTWeekend. 11-12 April, 2026, p.14. 

London visit February. Waterstones, Foyles, Hatchards & others.

Book image: https://www.amazon.ca/Face-Cultural-Fay-Bound-Alberti/dp/1538766531
 

Previously: 'health' : 'face' : 'child' : 'obsession' : 'social media'

Visual Literacies as Visual Imageries - 8th Global Meeting of the Visual Literacies Project

Is it a stretch from Hodges' model to the visual literacies? A connection that allows visual culture to be read, theorised and practised through "writing, letters, graphic novel, storytelling"; I'm sure there is.

In 2012 I was able to attend a workshop on visual methodologies in Newcastle (UK). The speakers there took me out of my comfort zone; children's drawings, video, self-generated data, photographs. How much of health (digital, ...) literacy is visual? That preceding sentence itself bears closer examination. Is this a legitimate question? What do how and much mean in this context? What is the measure that provides the much? Where are the values? These may be initially intangible but social media and the portrayal of images, files, dialogue, what is personal and confidential could suddenly undermine values. What of the outcomes and the dependencies between literacy forms that can confound us? How are we to respond to critics of the many literacies that are proposed?

In health and social care dementia can amount to storytelling by proxy, but this is subtraction. Taking away, diminishing identity while also acknowledging the need to assure individual stories and narratives. There is a need to try to anchor identity in an accessible form across the senses and media. So much of health and social care is invisible: knowledge lies and is found in all its forms. It may be fragmented and fragmentary. Practitioners seek to illuminate. The matter of where, when, why and how to cast the light. Increasingly the patient must navigate their own course, be independent in their illness. Even if vision is physically limited, visual literacy is still demanded. The unique, personal sense of seeing. Policy dictates people see, the sick see and they recover through self-care, coping strategies, personal resources.

Concepts are increasingly a visual currency; reflection, reflective practice, the exchange of ideas across disciplines and much more. What is very interesting in this call is the invitation for cross-over presentations. Looking back to the 2012 workshop I am reminded about the frequent lack of overarching ideas or theory to encompass things like health communication or literacies.

Does this matter?

Jones, P. (1996). An overarching theory of health communication? Health Informatics Journal, March, 2:(1), 28-34. http://jhi.sagepub.com/content/2/1/28.abstract
(My source: Inter-Disciplinary.Net )

Call for Participation 2016

Wednesday 6th July – Friday 8th July 2016
Mansfield College, Oxford

Concepts like picture, visual art, and realism circulate in newspapers, galleries, and museums as if they were as obvious and natural as words like dog, cat, and goldfish. – James Elkins

Human societies of all kinds have throughout history always generated their own distinctive visual cultures. However, with the possible exception of art historians this sense of immense diversity and rich historical precedence has been somewhat ignored. Everyday discussions in all forms of media appear to suggest that ours is the visual generation, when this is clearly not the case. Indeed, the term ‘visual literacy’ has crept into our general language use indicating that there is a code for interpreting visual texts of all kinds. This notion in itself has become a source of discussion in many areas and forms one of the key topics for this conference. This project seeks to place a reflective pause in the busy lives of the delegates who attend, and the visual bombardment we all encounter with the aim of unpacking how the visuals in the respective professional and personal worlds represented actually create meaning. As Sherwin (2014: xxvi) suggests, its time that we all “retool our minds” in this digital-visual age in order to “judge well how we judge.” Or to put it another way, one of the key focal points will be the reimagining of how the visuals we deal with on a day to day basis generate understanding

Hence, this project aims at generating an interdisciplinary forum in which the notion visual literacy can be explored and expanded by a range of delegates from all walks of life. The conference as a whole could be of interest to a spectrum of delegates ranging from those who are simply interested in how visual frames create a sense of meaning in social media, everyday encounters as well as those interested in art history, advertising, drawing and doodling, comics, movies, museum curation and painting. As stated, in particular one of the key discussion points of this event is the reimagining of where the visual field as whole could move into in the future. In considering this overall domain and future directions, Gretchen Bakker (2015:205) begins her critique of this overall area with the statement: “Let us imagine ourselves.” Bakker’s comment reveals the shift in thinking across several fields related to visual literacy who would appear to have begun to question how visual elements actually create meaning. This project offers the time and space for these individual fields to describe not only how meaning is made within their field or daily walk, but future directions for their fields.

Thus, this project will seek to take this statement as a core theme, asking accepted delegates to not only imagine how their work could evolve beyond their current interests and understanding, but also imagine how their work connects to those working in other fields. There are numerous concurrent and intersecting fields at this current time.

Looking to encourage innovative inter- and transdisciplinary dialogues, we warmly welcome papers, narratives, presentations, artwork, or performances from all disciplines, professions, and vocations which grapple with issues related with visual literacies and visual imageries. These may be related to, but not limited by, any of the following themes;

1. Visual Literacy as a Focus and Framework
~ Is there such a thing as visual literacy in your experience and/or discipline?
~What are the current debates in your experience and field?
~What are the various elements that are a part of visual literacy in your experience?
~What are the modes and nodes of interdisciplinary connections to visual literacy in your field?
~How will the concept of visual literacy be described in the next decade in your discipline?

2. Visual Literacy as Practice
~What are the forms of representation and realization of visual literacy in your field?
~What are the current debates and issues around the notion of ‘practice’ in your field?
~What are the current ‘tools, approaches and applications’ of visual literacy in your field?
~What are the current interdisciplinary connections to the ‘tools, approaches and applications’ of visual literacy in your field?
~What are the ‘insiders views’ visual literacy? (That is from the perspective of artists, taggers, digital natives, digital or visual immigrants)

3. Visual Literacy as Analysis
~What are the modes of visual literacy analysis in your field?
~What are the ‘tools’ of visual literacy analysis in your field?
~What are the current debates around analysis in your field?
~What are the current debates and forms of analysis in the areas of art history, fine arts, creative arts, multimodality, cinema, television, drama and IT?

Call for Cross-Over Presentations

The Visual Literacies as Visual Imageries project will be meeting at the same time as a project on Diaspora. We welcome submissions which cross the divide between both project areas. If you would like to be considered for a cross project session, please mark your submission “Crossover Submission”. 

...

Additional links:

Visualities Research Group, Newcastle Univ.

Book: 

Rose, G. (2012) Visual Methodologies An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials, 3rd ed., London: Sage Publications Ltd.

Jarvis's book 'public parts' [i]: The sanctity of clinical data, INFORMATION, knowledge ....

In New Scientist last week another book, a brief review caught my eye. This one concerns a topic of great sociological, clinical and political interest to me. To be clear this is not a review; consider it raised eyebrows at the book's arrival and some speculations. Here is the intro from New Scientist's website:

WHEN writer Jeff Jarvis decided to tell the world about his prostate cancer he didn't spare the gory details: he happily blogged about his "malfunctioning penis" after surgery, and the adult diaper he had to wear.

Too much information, some may say. Not for Jarvis. He is an outspoken advocate for living one's digital life in the open and his latest book, Public Parts, is one of the first to analyse the shift towards more transparency thanks to Facebook, Twitter and the other big names of this new digital age.

(Niall Firth, CultureLab, New Scientist)

For quite a while I've been wondering about the informational form of 'climate' change. The existence of the NHS's HealthSpace, Google Health, and Microsoft HealthVault had me watching for erosion of the public's attitudes towards clinical confidentiality. Jarvis refers to this as publicness. Like a coast line this particular form of erosion occurs on many levels, given the vagaries of starting conditions (the patient-doctor relationship, the medical establishment), geography, tides, weather and local policies. Would the temperatures change within health care itself - professional values, disciplinary outcomes, The Royal Colleges?

Even if HealthSpace et al. are provided on the basis of being secure, encrypted, meeting the local requirements of data protection and information governance...; is this tantamount to making confidentiality soluble AND throwing it into the water? How big a step is it to the public's posting their personal health information in public online arenas: open and closed? Suddenly the patient becomes the data entry administrator, if that information can be shared and accessed by the health establishment. From a business model and policy perspective this also saves money in an Ikea flat-pack-transport-and-assemble-it-yourself kind of way.

Jarvis's book is evidence, that demonstrates the ability of social media like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to alter attitudes towards disclosure of personal data. Medical details are usually restricted to the medical consulting room and centrally held clinical record. Google Health is closing down though; it has failed to have the broad impact they hoped for (see Google's blogpost). I wonder if this is reflected upon in the text? With the NHS behind HealthSpace perhaps these three 'solutions' are far from equivalent examples?

If we take information as the concept around which this debate revolves with an individual, a person also at the center ('data subject') then several dimensions can be found. Usually, I am increasingly transparent to a greater degree from my work colleagues, friends, family to my partner. This is one of the many ways that relationships are defined and differentiated. Certain things are opaque to the public and commercial world at large, because they are considered private. Clinically, such a class of information is vested in a professional relationship. This does not mean I have signed a contract to only divulge my medical history to my doctor. Even there - a need to know assumption usually pertains.

As Firth notes it is good that Jarvis is stimulating a debate about what is privacy. How has the concept changed, since the 1950s, 1980s in the media (old and new) and in health care?

Apparently Jarvis makes an analogy with Gutenberg's original printing press and its social and political effects. There may be other subtle aspects though that any such revolution must either work around or overthrow. In the first instance though I consider - without reading the book I have to add - some of the main points which are illustrated below.

Information exchange (disclosure) is always within some context or other: interpersonal, political, social; scientific (clinical) and spiritual hence the inclusion of the clinical - social axis. Tied with this is 'space'. Although the spaces defined by virtual and mobile have assumed primacy physical spaces still count: surgery consulting room, clinic, community health center, hospital ward, patient's home, nursing home. ... I've added transparent - opaque to contrast with public - private these are related yes, but analysis may reveal they are distinct in their application?

Although society has changed markedly in terms of technology and the communications it affords - the modes, tools, languages, access, networks, distribution; there is surely still a notion of what is personal and what might become social - (public)?

Technology, technological means and the arrival of social media does not itself constitute universal attitudinal change in health as Google have found (perhaps the pace of change in attitudes was not quick enough for Google Health so they moved on). Amid the hectic pace of life we should be pleased if some things - like public health disclosure - prove to be laggards in terms of change.

I'll expand on this soon with a few more axes - continua to flare.

Axes image original source from: https://den.dev/

'Relative' poverty (4) - sociology

[The introduction is repeated across these posts: intrapersonal, political, sciences]
There are many paradoxes in life and many of these are concentrated in the realm of health and medicine (a major sub-division of life and death).

For decades the link between poverty and standards and quality of health has been recognized and politicized in the media and policy. In June there was news of a Bill to make the eradication of child poverty a legal obligation not something that can be the political objective at the start of a Government and then cast aside.

Many things are relative and poverty is often described in this way applying to individuals, social classes, communities, regions and whole nations. Using the domains of Hodges' model what reflections does this prompt? Let us see:

SOCIOLOGY: A key resource we all ordinarily rely upon is that of family, friends and community. While a source of stress at times as in you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family..., and then there's the history of psychosocial intervention; the family is nonetheless usually seen as the asset.
Social poverty - having no (immediate, accessible) next of kin, friends or social network has been identified as a key deficit that may result in negative outcomes and problems in rehabilitation, recovery and staying well. There is an expanding literature on the role of social networks. Despite the current emphasis on e-social networks the interpersonal form of social network remains pivotal as a key strength for people to deal with major challenges to their health, social care and well-being.

The socio-economic contribution of informal carers is well recognized (Carers UK) and vital in the management of long term medical conditions ('self-care by proxy'?). 'Caring' and carers predates what we today call 'nursing'. Carers shoulder a care burden saving the State an enormous sum of money. Within Hodges' model this domain - the SOCIOLOGICAL - may be a remote cousin, far from the sciences, but the fuzzy logic here is predicated on families and relationships.

In the social domain the whole community can act as a pool of kinetic and potential energy, a resource - locking up wealth in knowledge and skills that can counter social poverty and periods of self-neglect should this occur. The future health and social care agenda depends upon the workforce being able not only to create this social wealth, but ensuring people are able to release this knowledge. Physics, energy, time - there is no escape. Perhaps assumptions as per this quote* also have a role to play -

‘‘Of all the self-fulfilling prophecies in our culture, the assumption that ageing means
decline and poor health is probably the deadliest.’’
Marilyn Ferguson,
The Aquarian Conspiracy, 1980

Additional links:

Relative poverty, absolute poverty and Social exclusion - poverty.org.uk

World Poverty - Social Poverty

'Poverty' on W2tQ

Sociology care (knowledge) domain links resource

Biblio:

*Sirven, N., Debrand, T. (2008) Social participation and healthy ageing: An international comparison using SHARE data, Social Science & Medicine, 67, 12, 2017-2026.

Mitchinson, A.R., Kim, H.M., Geisser, M., Rosenberg, J.M., Hinshaw, D.B. (2008) Social Connectedness and Patient Recovery after Major Operations, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 206, 2, 292-300.

Social Media in Healthcare Infographic

Via: PowerDMS

Although the emphasis of this graphic is USA centric there are many aspects that apply generally, especially social media policy. If anyone has health care infographics with a UK, EU, developing nations focus please get in touch.

Thanks to Ray Lau, Graphic Designer for approaching me regards this.

Book review: Curriculum Development In Nursing Education (4th. Edition)

Revisiting this book Curriculum Development In Nursing Education [CDNE] in its 4th edition is pure co-incidence as I champion and study four care domains (and besides with the spiritual - there are five care domains). Working on a paper in summer 2020 I realised it was a decade since my review of the 2nd edition. 

While I, we all like - to think we progress in our thought, I see I'm picking up on the same themes - so this in itself is helpful. The graphics inside the front and back cover pages tell me to remember the 'brief' and not look for clinical practice (content) here. There's continuity in the style of the cover design and format. The text clear and prose easy to follow while very detailed with numerous sources referenced.

The book's webpage covers:

Overview, Table of Contents, About the Author(s), Sample Materials, and Instructor Resources. The latter include:

• PPTs
• Case Studies
• Questions + Activities

CDNE is front (back) and center focussed on the processes involved in curriculum development, through scholarship, faculty development and ongoing appraisal. It's always useful to revisit key terms and definitions. It is not only technology that is dynamic, as the past two years have shown. Plus, things have clearly moved-on since my original PGCE studies, teaching experience, mentoring and mentor updates. 

As regular readers will realize I constantly seek out links, associations and support for the project here. I still have an 'itch' regards nurse theory. The theory-practice gap is noted (p.347) and nursing conceptual frameworks (p.313). So and in due order, the book isn't about the content of curricula, but the organization. The discussion on definitions of 'curriculum' is salutary since 2019-2020:

1. post-COVID-19 (watch this space)

2. nursing - the curriculum - in the 21st century 

    (self-care, nursing workforce, the profession, global health, climate change, technoscience)

This is a major task. CDNE is vested in actions: especially by faculty, data gathering, implementation, checking of standards - fidelity of delivery. Once again there are template - form examples for data gathering. The book is general in terms of specific approaches to curriculum development.

The table (using Hodges' model) below represents figure 13-5 (p.347) "Examples of concepts addressed in Professional, Ethical, and Legal Obligations: A Critical Appraisal 2017-2018." 

I have indicated overlaps. Curriculum planning, design and development is about assurance, so too is Hodges' model with this being an original purpose for the model.*

Individual
|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

Group

clients communication relational practice ethical practice critical reflection patient safety	clients critical reflection (time, events, context, place) patient safety
ethical practice collaboration (team work inc. patient & carers) communication (family) relational practice social determinants of health patient safety (public health) social	health and healthcare policy political influences advocacy patient safety professionalism: accountability, self-regulation  justice

Reconceptualizing curriculum design sounds a rather academic exercise, and as such the book brings home the role that concepts play and the impact of such activities can have not only on teaching staff, but their numbers which are also explored (p.328). Emphasis on innovation and creativity in teaching, learning and deployment of educational technology are discussed at length (chapter 16). Chapter 16 is a reminder of how the combination of LMS and CMS is a non-trivial requirement in education. It seems the book was published just prior to COVID-19's intervention. We are all too aware of the effects of COVID on student's experiences and how suddenly the strengths and limitations of learning technology and video were exposed. Social media was shown in its dual-coated regalia of gift and curse. Social media is in the text (p.350, 353 for example) but is not listed in the index (as with values).

The core of the book delivers:

• Part  II  Core Processes of Curriculum Work
• Part  III  Preparation for Curriculum Development
• Part  IV  Development of an Evidence Informed, Context-Relevant, Unified Curriculum

Of course, I appreciate the book's concept-based content (p.242) which prompts me to continue to study and keep alive the dream of a new website that seems forever virtual. Efforts to ignite learning are listed in table 13-2 (pp.351-353) across three pages from algorithms, humor, to written assignments.

Ideas on teaching, learning, educational frameworks and pedagogies is a further revision exercise and update, and for some readers may act as a primer for more reading. The linking of content to philosophy and curriculum philosophy is once again very welcome. As befits a text that originates in the USA, NCLEX®, external reviews and accreditation are activities that affect curricula worldwide. 'Wanting my cake and eating it' I wondered if some of the references need updating, not - to be clear - that I have specific suggestions; more a case of what a decade in education, today, means? The student nurse who read a draft paper and commented on the references (XXXX) clearly still resonates with me. This may be COVID-induced angst, but may be something for the 5th edition? A decade and more is not long for the educational and philosophical foundations (p.274, psychomotor domain levels), but in EdTech terms...? There are now exacerbating factors too.

As with the author's findings (pp.309-310) I have a sense that in transdisciplinary, and interprofessional education, there is much to understand and unpick - metacognition, reflection (p.310). You will find 'climate of collegiality' (p.392). Am I losing the thread again in reaching for the green spray paint? Should nursing (and all healthcare no less) curricula take into account climate change, or is this a political step too far? 

It seems not:

Anthropocene skills need to be at the centre of curricula, Peter Sutoris  30 January 2021

'Anthropocene skills' - to what extent do these include reflection, critical thinking, integrated approaches..? Wither the global conceptual framework to act as a scaffold?

Is there a top 10 of research themes with fields of study? Perhaps the lack of such a list is a positive, as so many such lists are produced as social media click-bait. It might be worth referencing more recent and emerging fields; threshold concepts, networked learning for example. As in 2009, I am biased. While scholarship is a synonym for research, I would expect to see the latter in the index. The educational establishment must produce research and an ongoing conveyor of newly qualified nurses. Perhaps university and colleges in combination (p.304) may produce an educational ecosystem that can fulfill both purposes. A crucial human resource role at a time when demographics present a challenge that is local, national and global. 

As a practitioner - CDNE is an excellent book, with much educational learning even if you are not working specifically on curriculum review, design, planning and development. Chapters are all accessible, and as standalone reading with the summary and case studies. The index is comprehensive and well organised.

I have some draft notes for a course on Hodges' model. This book is a great motivation to not only return to that task, but complete it.

Special thanks to Clare McMillan, European Manage, Class Professional Publishing

https://www.classprofessional.co.uk/

- and to acknowledge, I received this book in Aug-Sept 2020. Apologies for the delay.

*This was pre-'Project 2000'. Yes a long, long time ago, the 1980s in fact.

Happy New Year everyone!

Reading the signs - Idealised Care

With the axes of the health career model labelled and the care domains - that fall between - identified, what can we read into and from the health career - care domains - model?

What basics of care and caring can we find there, what assumptions can we jump upon?

Here is a list ... (which also illustrates how the model grows with the learner) :)

• Health, well-being and social care are not declared in the face of the model, this suggests the model is high-level - generic.
• Health care (here) has at least seven disciplinary degrees of freedom:


• Sciences (biology, physics, chemistry)
• Politics
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Spirituality

• Health and social care theory and practices are reductive.
• Health care involves the traversal of space - distance.
• Health and social care has the potential to be depersonalising and alienating.
• Health and social care is simple and complex.
• The environment is inherent within the model in its varied forms.
• There is a moment of imbalance within the INDIVIDUAL - GROUP.
• Context is essential as a means to situate care (co-ordinate in an 'x','y' sense).
• The means is provided to situate the care context in a person-centred way.
• This model provides a template for personal and group reflection (shallow or deep).
• The model is open in terms of the final content, the content as expressed in care approach, philosophy, discipline, description (concepts, problems, priorities, strengths, a 'mash-up') is not dictated.
• In acknowledging the existence and primacy of the individual (located at the top so - must be important), the model provides a (potential) focus and vehicle for individualised, personalised, person-centred care.
• Whilst individualised care is at the center of care theory, practice and management, it cannot be defined purely by virtue of the INDIVIDUAL-group axis and the claim of an associated INTRA-INTERPERSONAL care domain.
• The individual must also be considered as a POLITICAL entity, a citizen, a legal entity that falls under the auspices of human rights. As such the individual is someone who can (or has previously) expressed their choices, wishes as to their health, care, well-being, best interests.
• Being an INDIVIDUAL within the family of humankind - 1 of some 6.x or > 7 billion - this person is unique and deserving of highest quality care, dignity and respect that should be accorded to all people.
• Health and social care whilst organisationally distinct (POLITICAL - POLICY) are to the INDIVIDUAL and carers (GROUP) concurrent, transparent and ideally integrated activities.
• Physical care (SCIENCES) can be, and is, defined in mechanistic terms; for example, time (objective), events, place, outcomes, observations / data (discrete, quantitative).
• Physical care is hence primarily objective.
• Emotional INTERPERSONAL care can be, and is defined in humanistic terms; for example, time (subjective), communication, responses to events (behaviour), feelings, beliefs, relationships (SOCIAL), expectations, fears, observations / data (subjective, qualitative).
• Physical care, emotional care is often mediated through the SOCIAL domain and the group - the family unit.
• Since this model indicates an initial structure and content the model is of potential use as a reflective resource for novice through to expert.
• The model is generic and as such not limited to health and social care.
• Such is the generic nature of the model it can support all learners in lifelong learning.
• The Spiritual is not there: it is ineffable. It is everywhere, everything, every'I' and everynow.
• Time is inherent in several forms within health and social care.
• The economics of health care is infused to all the domains, notably in the first instance to the SCIENCES and SOCIAL domains.
• The economic effects upon the individual in a humanistic sense, may be remote, but is inverse in terms of its impact.
• The model reinforces dualism: mind - body (but cognitively innoculates also).
• In highlighting boundaries, dichotomy, limits the model can stress the need for integration.
• The model suggests an antipodean fracture in relationships*: the patient and clinician (across physical care and mental health) inhabit the Northern hemisphere; while the carer (public), manager and policy maker the Southern.
• Health and social care is grounded in human communication (and that which is mediated).
• 'Sense making' must be a key issue in health and social care.
• Given the scope of the model, technology must be making a major impact across all fields of health and social care.
• The model can simultaneously represent the SOCIO- and the -TECHNICAL.
• A great many (potentially - all) values and standards are inherent in the model.
• This model can be represented using many media.
• This model is open to the Management Consultant's delicacy alphabet soup, i.e. using letters to represent approaches / methods, e.g. 4P's, 4C's.
• Health and social care can also be described holistically.

*Clearly, given the relationships and issues that arise this bears further examination and discussion.

This list is subject to revision - addition.

Image source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Antipodes_LAEA.png

World Happiness Report 2025

WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2025

. . . and looking ahead to WHR 2026 . . .

Prof Lord Richard Layard

Editor, World Happiness Report

In World Happiness Report 2024, we presented evidence of a concerning decline in the wellbeing of young people in Western industrialised countries.

Obviously, a child’s wellbeing matters for the same reason that any individual’s wellbeing matters. But wellbeing among children and adolescents is also critical since it is the best predictor of how happy said child will be in their subsequent life – with a higher predictive power than the qualifications which they might obtain.

There has been much debate about the reasons for such a downward trend, with many competing theories and policy recommendations. However, one explanation has captured public and political attention more than any other: social media.

Also in 2024, Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business, published The Anxious Generation, arguing that the decline in youth wellbeing is driven by a transition from a play-based childhood to a phone-based childhood. The book has been a best-seller and sparked heated debate, both in academia and the wider world.

As editors of the World Happiness Report, we have followed this debate closely, concerned that rigorous science was being overshadowed by shallow media narratives.

In World Happiness Report 2026, we see an opportunity to bring all sides of the debate together to establish the facts, clarify disagreements, and provide decision-makers with a balanced assessment of what we know, what we don’t know, and what should be done.

We’re encouraging researchers from across the world to submit chapter proposals focusing on the relationship between social media and subjective wellbeing before the deadline of Sunday 15 June. Full details are available on the World Happiness Report website.

My source: Email from info AT worldhappiness.report

Previously: 'happiness'

Theory on Demand #29 Good Data

GOOD DATA

"Data can have power in numbers. Not only in the literal sense, rather, just as repeat - ability is important, so aggregation and meta-analysis of repeated and comparable studies acts to reduce the uncertainty of individual studies. Cochrane reviews in medical research carry a good deal of weight for this reason and are considered 'gold standard'.33 These reviews reduce the influence of individual companies or vested interests, and lead to more informed health policy." (p.48).

"Those questions underpin a consideration of contemporary genomic initiatives, particularly those that are marketed as 'recreational genomics', and gene patents such as those held by Myriad Inc. More broadly they underpin thought about population-scale health data initiatives such as the UK care.data program that, as discussed below, encountered fundamental difficulties because bureaucratic indifference to consent eroded its perceived legitimacy."54 (p.144).

See other TOD titles c/o The Institute of Network Cultures (INC)

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

Something you know values value personal ethics ('good' data = 'here'?)	biometrics: Something you are Something you have  (proximity = 'are' + 'have')? 'open data index'
social activism social assets social capital social data social ends social (collective) ethics social good social justice social media(?) social science	data: "power in numbers" values value bureaucratic ethics audit records security corruption

My source: https://twitter.com/ArnaldoPellini/status/1089196464310501377

'Finding the Signal through the Noise' - WHO EARS

It is deprived communities who desperately want to do their best for family, but struggle to have access to and make sense of many sources of information. News and information not just through 'traditional' channels, but social media. Trying to be objective, non-judgemental it can still be surprising how TVs and smartphones are the key personal and furniture items.

Outside of London, Liverpool has a low uptake of immunisation against measles:

Liverpool, now has cases and a child's death from measles:

https://liverpool.gov.uk/council/public-health-liverpool/measles-on-the-increase/

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/alder-heys-plea-after-child-32050189

Located in-between, I often visit Manchester and Liverpool. I wonder now if I should visit Liverpool less. My daughter and her partner expecting their second child have a decision to make next year.

I noticed on X a reference to 'social listening'. This was missed while drafting a paper on COVID, technology, social media and information disorder. More positively, work on 'infodemic' was captured and posted. 

Blowing the dust of another draft, I will reassess this stream of work and seek specific literature, especially contributions to improved outcomes - public (mental) health.

McGowan B. S. (2022). World Health Organization's Early AI-supported Response with Social Listening Platform. Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA, 110(2), 273–275. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1398

See also:

Fryer, Jon. “Information Literacies – Learning, to Thrive in a Digital Age” IRMS Bulletin 230 (2022): 16-21.

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