Technologies for Development: Project - founding ideas

Reading the website of the project (posted yesterday) I noticed that their founding ideas can be mapped to Hodges' model. As depicted below some are pretty obvious, notably the POLITICAL domain and the SOCIOLOGICAL.

Their first founding idea is placed in the interpersonal domain. This is very subjective exercise - literally playing with words - but here I am prioritizing individual cognitive access above physical access. I am thinking of individual participants. As Nanotechnologies for Development state the first idea also focuses on countries - the group. So maybe I am wrong, if there is a wrong when using models - idealisations - in this way?

Staying with the group, access and participation are also a crucial matter of human rights - education, health information, health and social care, employment, freedoms, and security - freedom from violence, unlawful imprisonment...

These founding ideas clearly denote underpinning values, note in-particular the way risks and benefits are included at the individual and the group level.

In the SCIENCES domain from the beginning acknowledges time, process, project management. Nanotechnology needs to be understood in terms of the environments we inhabit. Not just us, now; but grandchildren... too. Not just the physical environment, but that embodied under and within this other divide: skin.

Within the mechanistic domains how will consultation about benefits and risks be negotiated and communicated to the humanistic domains?

How will the individual - group : community - commercial enterprise and innovation be squared?
 
This individual-group distinction is becoming ever more significant - of which more to follow.

individual
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

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

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

The first founding idea of this project is that developing countries should not be denied participation in advanced modern technologies.	The third core idea is that such developments entail risks and benefits that need to be addressed from the beginning.
The second that they should do that in their own culturally-specific ways. Our approach rejects any a priori distinction between traditional and modern technologies, but rather seeks innovative ways to connect indigenous and globalized knowledge and practices.	The fourth founding idea is that choices about those benefits and risks need to be made in a democratic way.

Source: Technologies for Development: Project Founding ideas

Technologies for Development: Project Closing Conference - Nanotechnologies for Development in India, Kenya, and the Netherlands

[ This is a small but interesting interdisciplinary conference - pj ]

December 15-17, 2014. Maastricht University Brussels Campus

What is the challenge of development today? What is the role of science and technology in development? What are the problems and possibilities that emerging technosciences—such as nano-bio-technoscience—pose for development? What institutional and organizational configurations enable development? How can interdisciplinary inquiries into the social studies of science, technology, and innovation contribute to developmental agendas?

The closing conference of the NWO-WOTRO http://www.nwo.nl/en/about-nwo/organisation/nwo-divisions/wotro sponsored project, *Nanotechnologies for Development* http://fasos-research.nl/nano-dev/, invites proposals that reflect on the relationship between science, technology, development, and innovation.

We are interested in contributions that offer insights into the historical and contemporary principles and practices of development and the role of science and technology therein. These reflections can be empirical, conceptual, or methodological. We also welcome contributions that reflect on collaboration between researchers and development practitioners. We thus invite proposals from a broad range of participants: activists, academics, development practitioners, and beyond.

The conference programme will strive to strike a balance between various approaches and perspectives and consist of keynotes, panel presentations, and a closing roundtable discussion.

The conference will be held at the Brussels campus of Maastricht University (Avenue de l’Armée / Legerlaan 10, 1040 Brussels, Belgium) on December 15-17, 2014. Participation is limited to 50 participants.

To participate, please submit a title, 500-word abstract, a list of 5 keywords, and your CV (max. 400 words) to techdev-conf-fasos AT maastrichtuniversity.nl. The deadline for sending your abstract is September 14, 2014. The conference committee will notify their decision by September 30, 2014.

UK: Health Insights - how innovations support in health and care communities

Hi Peter We are delighted to introduce our new series of Health Insights. These free to attend events for healthcare professionals feature interactive round table activities, news on how the latest innovations support the health and care community, and best practice experiences from NHS Trust colleagues. CLICK HERE TO SEE NEW DATES AND LOCATIONS Starting in Leeds and Newbury this October and held in association with NHS England, each one day conference will feature: Digital Discovery Sessions - facilitated round tables exploring procurement issues An update from NHS England on Tech Funds and Open Source Programme Host Roy Lilley, popular Healthcare Broadcaster, with lively panel debates Speakers will include Rob Webster, CEO of NHS Confederation, Tim Straughan, Director of Health and Innovation at Leeds and Partners, and Clive Kay, Chief Executive of Bradford Teaching Hospitals. REGISTER FREE TODAY We hope to see you at your local Health Insights. Kind regards Samantha Phillips HIMSS UK

Technology Enhanced Learning: A Medical Student Conference, Belfast, 3rd October 2014

Abstract submissions are open for the Technology Enhanced Learning: A Medical Student Conference being held on Friday 3^rd October in Riddel Hall, Queen’s University, Stranmillis, Belfast. The team welcome abstracts reporting on innovations in technology enhanced learning within medical education. This could include the development of electronic materials as well as medical education research. Further details on abstract submissions including the categories and the types of presentation opportunities can be found on the QUB website.

Deadline for receipt of abstract submissions: Wednesday 17^th September.

Bookings are also open for this event through the Higher Education Academy’s website for students and educators to join the team in Belfast for a celebration of student engagement in the area of technology enhanced learning within medical education. The day will showcase student presentation poster presentations and demonstrations. In addition there will be a keynote from Jane Hart from the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies and a group discussion on the future of technology enhanced learning in medical education. Prizes will be awarded for best poster and best presentation.

For further information about the event please go to the QUB event page or contact Karen Murphy from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences.

Compare and contrast potential - Energy for Change Index and Hodges' model

The biopsychosocial model is quite all encompassing used as it is to help explain and represent pain, explain human development and balance the physical excesses of psychiatry.

For all its scope the biopsychosocial model is two domains short of Hodges' model.

Hodges' model is dated though, a child of the mid-1980s. The biopsychosocial model predates Hodges' and as models of nursing have fallen out of favour in terms of the attention they receive the biopsychosocial is subjected to critique as per:

Ghaemi, S.N. (2009). The rise and fall of the biopsychosocial model. Br J Psychiatry.195(1):3–4.

Hatala, A.R. (2012). The status of the “biopsychosocial” model in health psychology: Towards an integrated approach and a critique of cultural conceptions. Open Journal of Medical Psychology, 1, 51-62. doi: 10.4236/ojmp.2021.14009

A cursory check reveals a diverse and current literature on the biopsychosocial model. If this is positive for the general role of 'models' in health and social care education and learning then there is another encouraging source in the five energies for change with its five domains, as per the figure:

The five energy domains

• Spiritual
• Social
• Physical
• Psychological
• Intellectual

There is clearly great similarity with Hodges' model although in h2cm the spiritual combines all the four domains of which the political also replaces the intellectual. I would equate the intellectual with the psychological, accepting of course the existence of individual and group psychologies. Being intellectual and becoming intellectual to the extent of an individual realising their potential has long been recognised as a political matter and consequence (Freire). As such the Political domain within Hodges' model is central to its relevance within the field of engagement and innovation and beyond.

Whilst the energy for change domains have a specific derivation and (instrumental) purpose I would suggest that a possible strength for Hodges' might lie in the notion (which it is) that there is an underlying conceptual structure from which the domains arise. This structure might support the model's application in time, as well as assuring its longevity and the stamina of its champion.


My prompt: Land, M., et al. (2014) Pedal to the metal to improve the NHS. HSJ, 124, 6389, 26-27.

Image: (please see title and image link)

Global Research Nurses competition: win attendance to UK research nursing conference

The Global Research Nurses’ network is pleased to announce the second competition for nurses working in clinical research …

THE WINNER WILL BE INVITED TO ATTEND THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF NURSING INTERNATIONAL NURSING RESEARCH CONFERENCE IN NOTTINGHAM, UK, 20th – 22nd APRIL 2015, ALL EXPENSES PAID.

SECOND PRIZE – ONE YEAR’S SUBSCRIPTION TO 2 ONLINE JOURNALS:

THE JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING & THE JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING

To enter, research nurses should write a 1,000-1,500 word article to discuss the role of the research nurse: “Using examples from research projects that you have worked on discuss what skills nurses contribute to a clinical research team.”

Full information and criteria, as well as information on how to upload your entry, can be found at https://globalresearchnurses.tghn.org/extra/competition-2015/

Entries must be received by 31st October 2014. Please share this opportunity widely!

Thanks and kind regards
Tamzin

Tamzin Furtado
Project Manager
The Global Health Network

HIFA profile (and source): Tamzin Furtado is Project Manager of Global Health Trials, UK. Professional interests: Global health, clinical trials. tamzin.furtado AT ndm.ox.ac.uk

ENS4Care: Evidence Based Guidelines for Nurses and Social Care Workers for the deployment of eHealth services

From the ENS4Care website:

“Innovative, high quality, safe and cost-effective national healthcare systems are dependent upon policy-makers and stakeholders developing and implementing high-quality eHealth services”
(Sheikh et al., 2011)

This is particularly the case under the current social and economic situation plaguing EU Member States. ENS4Care is designed as response to this need with an ultimate aim of contributing to an evidence based deployment of eHealth services in the EU and Europe. While Member States are individually striving to respond to a growing demand for quality, safety, equity and access, they are at the same time challenged to be innovative with regards to the sustainability of their healthcare system. Furthermore, in order to render health and social protection more adequate and sustainable, there is a need to invest in health and social care staff´s skills and capabilities to support people in need (Social Investment Package, 2013). The identification of these skills together with the exchange of good, innovative, implemented and cost-effective solutions and approaches is increasingly needed. In this context, the policy initiatives set out in the Digital Agenda ensure that the European Commission, closely cooperates with EU Member States, and different stakeholders, are the driving forces to making clear implementation proposals in the field of eHealth services. http://www.ens4care.eu/projects/policy/

My source: GANM (Global Alliance for Nursing and Midwifery)

Would you let a robot take your blood?

A Robot With A Hypodermic Needle 

Written by Lucy Black
27 July 2013

Would you let a robot take your blood? The answer to this question illuminates our real relationship to machines that aspire to rise above the robot vac. Is there another sort of uncanny valley?

Veebot is a very clever use of some basic image processing plus some very accurate positioning mechanisms. It first locates a good vein using infrared. Once it has a target it switches to ultrasound to make sure that there is enough blood flow to make it worth inserting the needle.

More...

My source:
International Society for Presence Research: June
http://ispr.info/

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

group

trust, confidence, anxiety, expectations, 'needles' - phobia, previous experiences, model of the 'other', intelligence, physical tests to differentiate mental health problems, subjective feelings - 'creepiness' human pa	safety, measurement, imaging, mechanics, technology, electromagnetic spectrum, infra red, ultrasound, motion, accuracy, research, trials, evidence, logic, blood sample,  appearance, (surgical robots R-here) factors in             RFT - 'right first time'
public awareness, interaction, relationships, community of practice - acceptance, publicity, media, dissemination	investment, policy, certification, law, standards, testing, supervision, labour relations

L-earning a Living with McLuhan

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

group

In 1964, Marshall McLuhan predicted that the future of work would involve -

"learning a living"... .	production
communities of practice	earning a living

Source:
Parchoma, G. (2006). A proposed e-learning policy field for the Academy. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 18(3), 230-40. (p.232).
Reading for module 2.

At a glance 65: Better Life for older people with high support needs: the role of social care

I am referencing the following as I struggle to complete a piece of work for the TEL course. These key messages resonate with Hodges' model (back to work....):

Published: May 2014

Key messages

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has identified seven key challenges to be addressed for older people with high support needs to achieve a better quality of life. Social care has a key role to play in meeting these challenges.

1. Old age is not about 'them': it is about all of us
2. Older people are individuals and they are, as a group, becoming more diverse
3. Relationships matter to us whatever our age; we have a fundamental human need to connect with others meaningfully
4. Older people with high support needs have many assets, strengths and resources that they can also bring to the development and provision of services
5. Whatever our age or support needs, we should all be treated as citizens: equal stakeholders with both rights and responsibilities
6. The individual and collective voices of older people with high support needs should be heard and given power
7. We need both to innovate and improve existing models

SCIE's role is to share knowledge about what works and use this to produce practical resources. Many of these resources will support people working in all aspects of social care to address these challenges.

http://www.scie.org.uk/index.aspx

[Itforum] Unique Technology / Assessment Request

The ITForum featured the following post with ongoing discussion and resources related to TEL - technology enhanced learning:

Hello Michael,

When I read your post my thought was that this was a classic example for an adaptive learning module/set of modules. This was a significant concept in the 1970s/1980s when elearning was peaking.

It seems unfortunate that the proliferation of the LMS has all but reduced the learning environment to subject-matter presentation and quizzes.

The recent proclamation of the eLearning Manifesto (http://elearningmanifesto.org) as well as ideas expressed by OULDI (http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/OULDI/) and my own ideas of Design Alchemy (Sims, 2014) provide alternative ways of thinking about elearning. These may assist in re-thinking strategies to achieve your goals.

Roderick Sims, PhD

design alchemist
 
ITFORUM mailing list
http://listserv.lt.unt.edu/mailman/listinfo/
This is a listserv of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. The focus of this list is instructional and educational technology topics ranging from technology integration through cognitive systems thinking and beyond.

Thanks to R Sims and Ack. ITForum. I have added the link to Sims, 2014 above.

The original question concerned - core competencies required for nursing programs....

ERCIM News No. 97 Special theme: "Cyber-Physical Systems"

Dear ERCIM News Reader,

ERCIM News No. 97 has just been published at http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/en97

Special theme: "Cyber-Physical Systems"
http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/en97/special/

Guest editors:
- Maria Domenica Di Benedetto, University of L’Aquila, Center of Excellence DEWS
- Françoise Lamnabhi-Lagarrigue, CNRS, Laboratoire des Signaux et Systèmes
- Erwin Schoitsch, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology/AARIT.

Keynote: "The Importance of Cyber-Physical Systems for Industry" by Clas Jacobson, Chief Scientist for United Technologies Systems & Controls Engineering, USA

This issue is also available for download as:
pdf:  http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/images/stories/EN97/EN97-web.pdf
epub: http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/images/stories/EN97/EN97.epub

Next issue: No. 98, July 2014 - Special Theme: "Smart Cities"
(the call will be published shortly at http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/call)

Thank you for your interest in ERCIM News.
Feel free to forward this message to others who might be interested.

Best regards,
Peter Kunz
ERCIM News central editor

Includes:
Optogenetics to Unravel the Mechanisms of Parkinsonian Symptoms
Big Data in Healthcare: Intensive Care Units as a Case Study
SEMEOTICONS: Face Reading to Help People stay Healthy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cor Baayen Award 2014: Nominate a promising young researcher. Deadline: 30 April
http://www.ercim.eu/activity/cor-baayen-award
-------------------------------------------------------------------
ERCIM "Alain Bensoussan" Fellowship Programme
ERCIM offers fellowships for PhD holders from all over the world. The next round is open. Application deadline: 30 April 2014 http://fellowship.ercim.eu/

Follow us on twitter http://twitter.com/#!/ercim_news
and join the open ERCIM LinkedIn Group http://www.linkedin.com/groups/ERCIM-81390

Sensing Spaces: Care architecture - memories of choice

Good architecture is often invisible,
but it allows whatever is happening in that space to
be the best experience possible.

Pezo von Ellrichshausen

Good architecture may have something in common with good health; it is something that can be taken for granted. When things go awry and are wrong then architecture and health suddenly impose upon us, a major intrusion.

As I may have mentioned before, in the past I've been asked how I've managed entering such and such care facility for so long. Within health there is recognition of heartsink patients. There are still heartsink buildings too. Not purpose built, seemingly either all narrow dark corridors, interrupted when doors let in shafts of light and assault dignity and privacy; or large 'lounges' that still invite armchairs to be flung against walls.

Architecture like this is not invisible. Walls are walls, blanc, flat and solid. Pictures removed due to safety concerns. Two holes and exposed plaster testify to what? Now, after six months....?

Even for the confused there are few potential found spaces, spaces to sit, stand, be; spaces towards which some personal impetus might have a person gravitate. A space of relative quite, looking out on some-thing relaxing even if not a small garden feature.

"Where's Joan, her friend's here to see her?"

"It's OK, I know where she'll be."

Royal Academy: Sensing Spaces
Education guide



 

Better information means better care

BBC Radio 4: Inside Health 21 January 2013

Margaret McCartney and Mark Porter ask whether the anonymity of patient records on a new NHS database can be guaranteed?

NHS: Your records:

Using information about the care you have received, enables those involved in providing care and health services to improve the quality of care and health services for all. The role of the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) is to ensure that high quality information is used appropriately to improve patient care. 

NHS England has therefore commissioned a programme of work on behalf of the NHS, public health and social care services to address gaps in information. Our aim is to ensure that the best possible evidence is available to improve the quality of care for all.  ...

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/records/healthrecords/Pages/care-data.aspx

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

individual

my interests	scientific interests
social interests	commercial interests

group - population

... 11.12.13 . ... time to deliberate upon Dementia ... G(r)8

@dhgovuk

#G8dementia

News update: 11.12.13 posted 2024hrs UT 
BBC News G8 'will develop dementia cure or treatment by 2025'

See also:
Department of Health, 29 November 2013, England
Dementia: A state of the nation report on dementia care and support in England

Site: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dementia-care-and-support

Above banner source acknowledged and with thanks:
http://dementiachallenge.dh.gov.uk/category/g8-dementia-summit/

Held in equal esteem: Physical health and Mental health

As a mental health nurse you are familiar with concept of ‘esteem’. Self-esteem is central within assessments of clients, central to all care workers as safe and effective practitioners; and self esteem tests carers in those people for whom their condition means self-esteem is something attributed by proxy.

I noticed just recently use of the term esteem applied to the disparity between physical health and mental health. The two upper-most domains in Hodges' model (interpersonal and sciences) draw attention to the historical duality of mind and body. To integrate the two means acknowledging differences and this is acute in terms of finance, research and treatment plus many other measures.

The limitations of my emphasis in a series of previous posts on holism, holistic care, holistic approaches become apparent as long as the political domain is not addressed. You can be as holistic as you like, identifying, processing and integrating the full remit of health care concepts relevant in a case. If esteem is not achieved then the benefits of being holistic must be severely damaged. They may even be considered futile politically (speaking - just a whisper)?

Through the links below this post demonstrates that esteem is stirring in the political, policy and legislative domain and is being addressed, even if a solution will not arrive overnight.

My original sources: New Scientist, the HSJ and BBC.

Nick Craddock (2013) Opinion: Where's our Higgs? New Scientist, 27 April, 2914; pp.30-31.
Psychiatry needs the star quality of physics to help recruit top academics and fight the scourge of mental illness - this opinion piece concludes:

So, in 2013, psychiatry has powerful scientific tools and a developing narrative that already points to strong theoretical bases. Yet, in the UK research into mental illness is stalled at around 5 per cent of the annual medical research budget, and the picture is similar in other rich countries. That will have to change – and governments and funders are starting to see this. The door is open: all that is needed is for more of the best to come in and find out just how hot psychiatry really is.

‘Esteem gap’ between mental and physical health remains
10 October, 2013 | By Alastair McLellan
The government knows the challenges the facing mental health sector, but without radical solutions the goal of treating mental and physical health service users on an equal footing seems as far away as ever
http://www.hsj.co.uk/opinion/leader/esteem-gap-between-mental-and-physical-health-remains/5064120.article

Debate on 10 October: Parity of Esteem for Mental and Physical Health - Lords Library Note
http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/lln-2013-024/debate-on-10-october-parity-of-esteem-for-mental-and-physical-health

Lords debate – Parliament TV:
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=13879&st=11:51:20

Royal College of Psychiatrists: OP88. Whole-person Care: from rhetoric to reality (Achieving parity between mental and physical health)
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/usefulresources/publications/collegereports/op/op88.aspx

TO: EU -omics research community; if you are seeking a holistic approach for personalised medicine...

The relevance of Hodges' model as a resource in 21st century health care and research can be found within personalised medicine.

This is in addition to the need to assure holistic bandwidth within existing health care delivery, when it is person centered care that is the concern. Personalised medicine brings with it further challenges as it emphasizes the scientific, the inevitable reductionist work can potentially increase the distance between the humanistic and the mechanistic. The working document from the European Commission -

Brussels, 25.10.2013 SWD(2013) 436 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT. Use of '-omics' technologies in the development of personalised medicine
http://ec.europa.eu/health/files/latest_news/2013-10_personalised_medicine_en.pdf

on page 7 we read:

The figure is instructive as it shows that a holistic approach is needed to fully appreciate the challenges and opportunities presented by personalised medicine. 

'Holistic' is a much maligned word, with its fuzzy, new age connotations. Especially when the word count = '1'. Another related document also picks up the holistic call:

IMI2 will deliver tools, methods and prevention and treatment options (directly or indirectly) that will progress the vision of personalised medicine and prevention. Through providing the framework required to support collaboration between scientists, regulators, HTAs, patients and healthcare providers, IMI2 will ensure that research is translated into implementable solutions to current healthcare challenges. Solutions that are not purely focussed on the development of new medicines, but that provide a holistic personalised healthcare package as well as maintain people healthy and productive through out their lifetime. Reclassification of diseases based on their root cause and not symptoms will help addressing unmet needs even in areas where a range of options exist but patients do not respond, because their symptoms are misleading therapy choices.
[ IMI - Innovative Medicines Initiative ]

Outline Strategic Research Agenda for a biomedical research public private partnership under Horizon 2020: (draft) The right prevention and treatment for the right patient at the right time. 08 July 2013http://www.efpia.eu/uploads/Modules/MCMedias/1373296554546/IMI2%20Strategic_Research_Agenda_v%208%20July%202013.pdf

On page 10:

A sustainable healthcare system is a holistic one in which the patients are responsible for their wellness and quality of life; physicians, therapists, nutritionists, community carers, and all other actors in the value chain are motivated to this goal; delivery of care takes into account patient beliefs, values and both rational and irrational behaviors; the care is affordable to both public and private payers and promotes health; sustainable businesses can thrive; and the education, prevention and management of chronic conditions are aligned to achieve this goal.

The focus of these documents is -omics and the development of new medicines. By its very nature this research, data and knowledge lies deep within many sciences: new sciences no less. This recognition of the need for holistic approaches and perspectives is still very encouraging. As the first document on personalised medicine notes, future treatments must be from "bench to bedside". We can equate this as "mechanistic to humanistic", but only as long as the patient in that bed is a person and not just viewed as a diagnosis with an associated -omic profile.

Have a look also at the figure on page 7, the medical innovation cycle. As discussed previously on W2tQ patient safety needs situated awareness and holistic perspectives.

My original (and seemingly incomplete) source:
http://www.researchresearch.com/index.php?option=com_news&template=rr_2col&view=article&articleId=1339313

Calling all healthcare radicals!

A call to action: Helen Bevan’s blog (BMJ)

Rocking the boat and staying in it: how to succeed as a radical in healthcare

 

 

Corporate Rebels United is a global movement of “corporate rebels” across multiple industries and sectors. Many healthcare rebels/radicals are part of this. This is the manifesto of Corporate Rebels United which perfectly captures the mission of organisational radicals in healthcare to deliver the new truth of healthcare transformation.

Through Hodges' model I am an advocate for 'radical history', nursing care lessons from the past can (must!) inform future health and social care.
 

Positioning Nursing in a Digital World. RCN eHealth Survey 2012 Report

Abstract:

Commissioned by the RCN, this eHealth survey explores the knowledge and experiences of nursing staff in relation to current eHealth developments, together with their attitudes to new and emerging uses of technology in health and social care. The aims of the 2012 survey were to identify the readiness of nursing staff to participate in eHealth, to understand the barriers that prevent nursing staff from benefiting from information and communications technology, and to ascertain what progress has been made since the previous RCN eHealth survey in 2010. 

Image source: http://www.gerrybolger.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image1.jpg

Health 2.0 Europe 2013: Nurses, registration and £££

This year I've really enjoyed the Health 2.0 Manchester chapter meetings and there's some great evening sessions to follow this northern autumn. In June as I posted on W2tQ I also spent a weekend at the NW Health Hack in Knutsford. 

For several months European Health 2.0 conference has been publicized at the Manchester meetings. I was keen to attend until I saw the registration fee even with a 15% reduction. The fee increased yesterday too as I was reminded by Pascal Lardier on twitter:

@pascal_lardier 19 Sep
Today is the last day to pay less for your ticket to @Health2eu Register here: http://www.health2con.com/events/health-2-0-europe-2013-registration/ … #health2con #nhssm #hcsmeu

I retweeted the above and replied to Pascal and Health2eu, telling them what they already know - Health 2.0 rocks! but adding that I thought few nurses would be able to afford the registration fee.

NW Health Hack was a success for me (in addition to our group coming 3rd) because it was free, apart that is from driving there over the weekend on my days off (thanks again to all the sponsors). As the NHS is trying to save money I've also taken some unpaid leave this year.

NHS nurses, like many public sector groups have effectively had a pay cut these past few years. There are other general challenges:

• Are those nurses who might attend already 'onboard'?
• Does nursing engagement itself need a health check (what is 'clinical engagement' now)?
• Much was made of achieving clinical engagement in previous NHS IT projects. How can clinical engagement that reaches nurses be assured now?
• If (technical) innovation is to be a constant stream, please don't leave the nurses on an island: they can set sail too.
• Are nurses, like the one writing this, tainted, having been sat on the fence (health care || ICT) for too long?
• Once projects are established how can nurses, patients and carers stay the course and keep in touch and engaged?
• As 'NHS clinicians' can nurses participate in initiatives such as the forthcoming Code4Health, or will operational constraints limit their involvement?
• How are the socio-technical aspects and outcomes measured (hospital vs. home personal use vs. self-care...) ?
• Is there a golden ratio for the mix of delegates?
• If there's a strategic partner involved where's the strategy?

Pascal sliced through my query and many of the points above:

Pascal Lardier ‏@pascal_lardier 19 Sep
- then they should reach out to me!

So if the World Wide Health 2.0 conferences are of interest to you, do as Pascal suggests. New communities can provide new opportunities. Don't just help make your day, help make tomorrow too.

In 2012 the NHS employed 146,075 doctors, 369,868 qualified nursing staff, and 37,314 managers. 
http://www.nhsconfed.org/priorities/political-engagement/Pages/NHS-statistics.aspx#staff

Additional notes 29 Sept:

Health 2.0 MCR ‏@H20MCR

@h2cm patients are also asking how can @Health2eu Health 2.0 Europe conference be made more accessible for them @pascal_lardier?

Pascal Lardier ‏@pascal_lardier

@H20MCR @h2cm @Health2eu @pascal_lardier they should email me pascal AT health2con.com there is a FREE reg code for them.