If you must rumple the care domains - rumple them together

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

group

'A Man’s body and his mind, 
with the utmost reverence to both I speak it, 
are exactly like a jerkin, and a jerkin’s lining; – 

rumple the one	– you rumple the other.’ 1

¹ Sterne L. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1761), vol. 3, ch. 4 (eds M New, J New). University of Florida Press, 1978.

Source: Royal College of Psychiatrists (2013) Whole-person care: from rhetoric to reality Achieving parity between mental and physical health. Occasional Paper 88, March 2013. p.2.

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Human-Computer Interaction journal "Body Sensing and Tracking in Healthcare"

Special Issue Editors
Kenton O’Hara (Microsoft Research)
Abigail Sellen  (Microsoft Research)
Juan Wachs (Purdue University)
Bart Jansen (University of Brussels)

Recent technical developments in sensing and tracking the human body and and its motions have sparked huge interest in healthcare domains. New interaction techniques promise to transform key aspects of healthcare practice for both diagnosis and treatment. Developments in sensing capabilities and machine learning open up rich possibilities for tracking and analysing the body’s form and movement. Alongside established optoelectronic sensing, in which machine readable markers are placed on the patient’s body, marker-free computer vision technologies (e.g., Kinect) have made body tracking cheaper and more practical. In addition, sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, and ultrasonics offer new opportunities for how body form, motion, and orientation can be understood.

These body-tracking technologies are already being explored in both patient- and clinician-oriented applications. They are being deployed in diagnosis and ongoing assessment of motor impairment conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis.  Research is examining their use in rehabilitation of movement disorders arising from injury or other conditions.  Within the operating theatre, touchless gesture recognition enables clinicians to interact with medical images without compromising sterility. Other augmented-reality research explores how cameras and projectors can be used to superimpose medical images on the patient enabling clinicians to view inside the body in relation to external anatomical features.

These systems raise important research questions that are central to the concerns of Human-Computer Interaction, from the development of new forms of interaction to the understanding of emerging practices with these systems in clinical contexts. This special issue will bring together original research exploring HCI concerns of body form and motion tracking in healthcare including: surgery, patient diagnosis, assessment, rehabilitation, and other forms of clinical intervention.  It will also address the effect of these new technologies on existing clinical and treatment practices.

Research topics include:

• Novel applications of body tracking for assessment, rehabilitation, and diagnosis of particular clinical conditions.
• New interaction techniques with clinical relevance enabled by these technologies.
• Studies of collaborative practices in clinical contexts with such systems, changes in clinical practices they enable, and challenges for existing clinical practice arising from their deployment.
• Specific modeling methods and considerations that are required for successful body tracking technologies in relation to specific clinical requirements (e.g., skeletal models and smoothing of dynamic data for motion).

Papers exploring other issues arising from the design and deployment of these new techniques are also welcome.

Timeline
Proposals due: May 30, 2014
Response to authors: July 4, 2014
Full papers due: October 31, 2014
Reviews to authors: January 30, 2015
Revised papers due: March 27, 2015
Reviews to authors: June 5, 2015
Final papers due: July 3, 2015

Submissions
To help authors align their research to the theme of this special issue, we encourage potential authors to submit proposals for papers. Proposals should be about 1000 words and provide a clear indication of what the paper is about. Proposals will be evaluated for relevance to the special issue theme, and guidance will be given. Both proposal and full paper submissions should be submitted to the HCI Editorial site (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hci). Follow the guidelines and instructions for submissions on the site. There is a place on the submission site to note that your submission is for this special issue. Special Issue submissions will be peer reviewed to the usual standards of the HCI journal.

Kenton, Abi, Juan and Bart
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To join or leave the Caring Technology Research Announcement List, go to
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/caring-tec-research
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Announcement archives:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/Caring-Tec-Research.html

Rare Disease Day 28 February 2014

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

individual

Source: http://www.rarediseaseday.org/

I am honored to stand, in her graceful place, and shine a light on a delicate group of individuals who, nevertheless, in sheer numbers are a force to be reckoned with. Thank you, Sean Hepburn Ferrer

A disease or disorder is defined as rare in Europe when it affects fewer than 1 in 2000. A disease or disorder is defined as rare in the USA when it affects fewer than 200,000 Americans at any given time. One rare disease may affect only a handful of patients in the EU (European Union), and another touch as many as 245,000. In the EU, as many as 30 million people alone may be affected by one of over 6000 rare diseases existing. 80% of rare diseases have identified genetic origins whilst others are the result of infections (bacterial or viral), allergies and environmental causes, or are degenerative and proliferative. 50% of rare diseases touch children.

In the words of Audrey Hepburn, “We cannot save everyone… but the knowledge that someone is coming to their rescue… that we care as a society is ultimately as important…”. It is in this spirit that we invite you, alongside Sean Hepburn Ferrer, to Join Together for Better Care.

group - population

Winwick Hospital remembered

Image source: Metro

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

Global Research Nurses’ Network discussion: Nearly Free Nursing Colleges - Mental Health Nursing Rwanda

Nearly Free Nursing Colleges

Reply by Carole Bennett

I have been working in mental health nursing in Rwanda, I have seen a significant need for a mental health nurses handbook and guide. At the request of the faculty at Kigali Health Institute, I have complied two electronic texts.

1.Mental Health Nursing I: Diagnosis, Treatment Guidelines and Standards of Care : The African Context. and
2.Mental Health Nursing II: Vulnerable Populations of Africa and Emerging Best Practices.

They have links to research, questions that guide the student reading, and then clinical cases for integration of what they have learned in each chapter. They are based on an 8 week course with 3 classes per week.

I would like to place them on the internet for free access but don't know how that is done.

They would be applicable for any nurses, mental health or general nurses working in post-conflict countries. The first handbook uses heavily the WHO MH Gap intervention guide which is excellent and COHSASA standards of care. The second book includes mental health in primary care, chronic mentally ill in villages, pregnant women and infants, refugees, women who are victims of gender based violence, Incarcerated mentally ill, and traditional healers. It is challenging but could be available to anyone with motivation and an internet connection.

Perhaps resources like this could be compiled into a program of study with internet oversight. I would be interested in pursuing this concept with others. I will be returning to the US in a few days but would like to see these ebook widely distributed and utilized. Does anyone have any ideas how this could be accomplished?

www.globalresearchnurses.org

1st Mental Health and Well-Being Conference of Ghana “Understanding, inclusion and stigma reduction”

For text please see the conference website: http://www.mhfgh.org/

Computer-based 'avatar' therapy promising for persecutory auditory hallucinations

A study in the British Journal of Psychiatry has reported symptom reductions among patients hearing voices, who developed computerised 'avatars' of the voices and then engaged in dialogue with them. When compared with treatment as usual during a randomised trial, the therapy group showed mean reductions in scores for auditory hallucinations and for the omnipotence and malevolence of the voices. The researchers conclude: 'Patients who are able to sustain a dialogue with their persecutor feel much more in control.'
BJP June 2013, 202:428-433

Source:
http://www.mental-health-forum.co.uk/news-blog.html

In addition see and listen to:

UCL news:  Avatar therapy helps silence voices in schizophrenia

BBC Radio 4: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23141916

KT-EQUAL events: inc. Food and Nutrition in Later Life; Meeting the Needs of People Living with Dementia and their Carers ...

Dear KT-EQUAL supporters,

Hello. Here's an update about some of our activities and other news that may be of interest to you.

-----------------------------------------

Upcoming events programme
You are warmly invited to join our upcoming events:

------------------------------------------
Food and Nutrition in Later Life
------------------------------------------
When:    8 January 2013
Time:     9.30am - 16.15pm
Where:   University of Reading

The day features talks from experts, as well as an interactive "hands-on" showcase.  The event should be informative and fun, and provide an opportunity to meet and network with others who have personal or professional interests in food and nutrition for older people. The programme has been designed to appeal to a wide audience, including older adults, practitioners from health and social care, academic researchers, industry and charities.

Free to attend with lunch and refreshments included.

For further details and to book: http://kt-equal.org.uk/calendar/96/60-Nutrition-in-Older-Age

------------------------------------------
Thinking outside the box - meeting the needs of people living with dementia and their carers
------------------------------------------
When:    24 January 2013
Time:     9.00am - 16.45pm
Where:   The Forum, St James Parade, Bath, BA1 1UG

Dementia is a major challenge facing our health and social services over the next 20 years.  This has now been recognised by the government and significant resources are being directed towards early diagnosis, new treatments and management of people with dementia.

This funding will only be effective if we can develop news ways of supporting and managing people with dementia and there carers.  This will require a multidisciplinary team approach to problem solving and service delivery.  Health and Social Care Practitioners are familiar with the concept of multidisciplinary team working but often lack insights into dynamics of group working. We need to ensure that the interventions are effective and consider outcome measures that are appropriate for a long term neurodegenerative condition that are appropriate for patients and carers.

This event aims:

- to help researchers, health and social care professionals to think differently about meeting the needs of people who are living with dementia
- to consider the range of outcome measures that might be used to assess the benefit of an intervention
- to make researchers aware of the challenges and opportunities of multidisciplinary working
- to inform new researchers of the needs of people with dementia
- to trigger ideas for new research and provide a forum where participants can develop potential proposals

Please note that this event has limited places to ensure that representatives from several disciplines have the opportunity to participate.

Free to attend with lunch and refreshments included.

For further details and to register interest: http://kt-equal.org.uk/calendar/96/61-Thinking-outside-the-box-meeting-the-needs-of-people-living-with-dementia-and-their-carers

------------------------------------------
Design for Living in Later Life
------------------------------------------
When:    31 January 2013
Time:     10.00am - 16.30pm
Where:   The Open University, Milton Keynes

This event brings together the latest research ideas and developments about creating lifetime environments for people of all ages.

Free to attend with lunch and refreshments included.

For further details and to book: http://kt-equal.org.uk/calendar/96/54-Design-for-Living-in-Later-Life

------------------------------------------
Keeping safe and maintaining independence: older people and sight loss
------------------------------------------
When:    7 February 2013
Time:     9.30am - 15.45pm
Where:   Weetwood Hall Conference Centre and Hotel, Otley Road, Leeds, LS16 5PS

This workshop event is concerned with sight loss in later life and how we can enable people to live a quality life despite the difficulties that arise from diminished vision.

This event aims to raise awareness of sight loss and its impact and to increase knowledge and understanding of how to support people with sight loss. The programme will showcase new developments in research and practice that have the potential to inform practitioners.

Free to attend with lunch and refreshments included.

For further details and to book: http://kt-equal.org.uk/calendar/96/62-Keeping-safe-and-maintaining-independence-older-people-and-sight-loss

------------------------------------------

New posts on the KT-EQUAL blog which may be of interest to you:

Housing LIN newsletter – Housing with Care Matters, December 2012

This reflects back on some of the successes the Housing Learning and Improvement Network (LIN) had in 2012, including the recent 2nd annual conference attended by over 300 people.

The conference also saw Norman Lamb, Minister for Care and Support Services, announce an additional £40m in this financial year for Disabled Facilities Grants. Details of this and a number of other recent policy and funding announcements to do with housing, care and support are featured in this end of year newsletter along with information on new learning resources from the Housing LIN, important new publications such as HAPPI2, calls for information, and details of Housing LIN forthcoming regional meetings and events.

New dementia website launched: dementiakt.ca

The Canadian Dementia Knowledge Translation Network (CDKTN) and the National Core for Neuroethics are pleased to announce the launch of the online Dementia Knowledge Translation (KT) Learning Centre. This website is targeted towards new and established dementia researchers engaged in KT.

------------------------------------------

Invitation to take part in a study

I am sending some details passed onto us by one of our members, based at TRL:

We are currently undertaking a European study regarding older road users and what different countries do about supporting mobility. The aim of our project is to investigate travel patterns and road safety amongst older road users across Europe, see how they are changing and look at what work is being undertaken to support improving mobility. As part of this we are looking to undertake interviews with possible major players as to what they are doing. Would anyone be interested in taking part in a telephone interview with one of our researchers on this topic?

If you are interested please contact Jenny Stannard, Principal Project Manager and Road Risk Consultant.
email: jstannard@trl.co.uk

It would be helpful if you would contact Jenny by 18 January 2013 if you would like to take part.

------------------------------------------

Recent Highlights

A new BBC film highlights the work of our i-design team in Cambridge: how do older people use technology? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20664470

Falling off the Bandwagon: Sustaining digital engagement by older people - a series of consultation events have recently been undertaken exploring potential solutions to the challenges faced by older IT users. A major consultation event took place at St Georges House, Windsor focusing on solutions and how to implement them.  http://www.stgeorgeshouse.org/consultations/social-and-ethical-consultations/recent-consultations/

We were delighted that The Princess Royal presented a keynote address at our recent 'Showcase world class occupational therapy research to meet the needs of an ageing population' event. This event took place at the College of Occupational Therapists where The Princess Royal is Patron. It was a unique opportunity to bring together leading experts to discuss ways of meeting the challenges of an ageing population. http://blog.kt-equal.org.uk/

------------------------------------------

I hope that this is helpful. It's been a pleasure to meet with some of you over the course of this year - look forward to further developments in 2013. If you have any queries and or comments/suggestions please do not hesitate to contact me.

As this eventful year draws to a close, we would like to thank you for all your continued support and extend seasons greetings.  All the very best for 2013.

Bangar
--------
S Bangar
KT-EQUAL Research Co-ordinator
School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR)
University of Sheffield
Regent Court, 30 Regent Street
Sheffield  S1 4DA

http://www.equal.ac.uk/

*Please note: I work 4 days each week.

_______________________________________________
Sparc-network mailing list <Sparc-network@lists.reading.ac.uk> (... and my source)
http://www.lists.rdg.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/sparc-network