Barretts Esophagus Can Result From GERD

Barrett?s esophagus is a condition of the lower end of the esophagus where intestinal cells have[...]

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International Literacy Day - Literacy and Hodges'
model: An umbilicus of meaning

Literacy has always been important - it pre-dates prehistory.

Nature is the hardest of all teachers.

Nature taught us to read ourselves, other people and things in the environment, the future and so on right through to our various forms of media and technology today.

Politicians, parents and educationalists constantly stress the state of the 3Rs for those in, leaving school and the general populace who whether willingly or not find themselves as lifelong learners. Now we are told times and the world are far more more complex. In addition to ability in Reading, wRiting, and aRithmatic - literacy comes in other forms that are increasingly essential to our individual connection with the world, and our collective capacity to solve major local and global issues.

The efforts of Gutenberg shame us when in the 21st century basic literacy evade so many:

Today one in five adults is still not literate and two-thirds of them are women while 75 million children are out of school.

Since its foundation in 1946, UNESCO has been at the forefront of global literacy efforts and is dedicated to keeping literacy high on national, regional and international agendas. However, with some 776 million adults lacking minimum literacy skills, literacy for all remains an elusive target.

UNESCO?s literacy programmes aim to create a literate world and promote literacy for all.

On the other hand Gutenberg reminds us of the need for stability if a people, a government is to provide the capacity and resources to support education and literacy for its peoples.

As mentioned above reading, writing and basic numeracy skills are now joined by other essential literacies. In the figure below I have (hurriedly) combined them with Hodges' model:


Here in the 3Rs we need to appreciate the child developmental factors that influence the acquisition, learning and refinement of basic literacy skills. The early detection of visual, hearing, and cognitive problems is crucial in ensuring everyone realises their full potential. The 3Rs span several of the care (knowledge) domains of Hodges' model. Children must be allowed to be children, hence the importance of play in emotional development and literacy.

As our societies become ever more visual to the extent of being described as visually polluted with excessive amounts of signage; spatial and visual forms of literacy come to fore. If the digital divide does not intervene then information, media literacy, and fluency in the use of computers, software, virtual interfaces and other digital devices represent the 21st century literacy?

Economic literacy extends beyond numeracy, not just a person being able to manage their own financial affairs and that of their family. This may also encompass - as the world has witnessed over the past two years - the economic management of whole communities, countries and the need for governance and accountability.

What then of political literacy in the figure above? In medicine and surgery great store is placed on informed consent before an operation or procedure is performed. Do people just 'vote' or should the electorate be informed as they grant permission to a political party to operate on their behalf?

When speaking to clients, carers and families a judgement must be made about the language used. Get this wrong either way - too jargonistic, technical or too simplistic and positive outcomes may be reduced.

In the future as populations continue to grow, cities are forced to flee rising tides and governments seek to relocate, spiritual literacy will assume an importance never seen before. That is why spiritual literacy surrounds Hodges' model.

Of course in health and social care encounters, of the many factors that are weighed the emphasis in professional caring and essential humanism is on acceptance and being non-judgemental.

Literacy must to be judged.

It has to be judged if 'global health' is to have any meaning.

Literacy and Health
- two vital pearls on the fragile thread called -
quality of life.



Read The Full Article:
http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2009/09/international-literacy-day-literacy-and.
html

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How to get abs

More than nearly any other subject I get questions on is the subject of how to get abs. There is a lot to be said for abdominal muscles and I think that although a great set of abs may be great to parade along a beach there are many more important reasons to get abs.In [...]

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How to get abs

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Superfoods Part 2: Royal Jelly, Bee Propolis and
Bee Pollen

Superfoods Part II is going to discuss the importance of beehive Superfoods such as Royal Jelly, Bee Propolis and Bee Pollen.  These three superfoods help support your energy and vitality and may have certain healing properties.  Products on the market[...]

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Evidence Hodges' model #1: Research in Nursing

When as a nurse (OT, physio, medic....) you are on a course, especially one about research you may be required to complete a study or more significant piece of research. Courses at graduate and post graduate level invariably include such demands and stress the hope that this course will spur you to continue the research effort in the work place. The ideal is of course to routinise research in clinical settings. Whatever the debate regarding the merits of evidence-based nursing, medicine and so on, this still needs to happen in part to help bridge the theory - practice gap.


In the same way all nurses have a professional responsibility to educate their student peers, (patients and carers...) there is an expectation that nurses are like embedded media commentators in a war zone. Part of your time in practice will be devoted to research, audit and governance.

While there are audit and governance teams there willing to help, many people multi-task in their work and nurses are seasoned practitioners. Many just want to do what they were trained for and nurse. They recognize this as they hear the expectations of the course leaders, lecturers and yet they are aware of the constraints. The scope for research is weighed against other commitments, notably:

• direct(ing) patient care and safety
• management and supervision
• audit duties for management information

There are of course a host of psychosocial influences that come into play. What is my personal interest in research? Where do I prefer to be at work: office, ward, or home or retired? Cynical? No! Just being realistic. The information systems frequently in place can assist as a research tool, but their chief role is to provide management information through the collation of aggregated data. This is done by-and-large transparently in the background ('back-end'), and that is the problem. Nurses need to get their feet wet. The option must be there, and not just when on courses. Nurses need to immerse themselves in the data and information streams they help to create and source.

As the list above suggests nurses and not just senior nurses need direct access to the icon labelled 'reports'. There should be ways for nursing work to be captured in-situ, but how? Many clinical information system vendors have their solutions to this, but as regular readers know for a long time I've been wondering about -

1. How can the balance between management data and intelligence needs and clinical needs be supported and bridged?*
   
2. What is the evidence base to support Hodges' model in theory, practice, management and policy?
3. What is the state, characteristics, access and usability of nursing terminology, taxonomy, classification systems in informatics - information and communication systems?
4. If I am individually compelled (nuts!) to create a new website could I ally this aim with a course?

More to follow - including some of the sessions at Drupalcon Paris.....

*To this list we also need to add other stakeholders - members of the public.

Additional links:
http://www.icn.ch/icnp.htm

Image sources:
Mind the gap: http://ci.coe.uni.edu/facstaff/zeitz/web/itag/mindthegap/
Report icon: http://artistsvalley.deviantart.com/art/Free-Task-Icons-Reports-Icons-89509953


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http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/2009/09/evidence-hodges-model-1-research-in.html

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For Sale: S8 AutoSet Vantage with 3i Heated
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I have the following an S8 AutoSet Vantage with the 3I Humidifier. This has never been used and I just simply cannot get used to it. It is the...

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