A Universal Conceptual Framework for Health and Social Care

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A universal conceptual framework for health & social care

Oct 18 2010, 2:00 PM EDT | Post edited: Oct 18 2010, 2:00 PM EDT

Hello everyone,
The health career – care domains - model is a free open access resource which may be of interest? A conceptual framework, its prime application is across ALL health and social care, although the model's potential scope extends far beyond care disciplines. This arises from the model's structure which is constructed from two axes:

individual - group
humanistic - mechanistic

These give rise to four care or knowledge domains:

1. Sciences
2. Interpersonal
3. Sociology
4. Political

There is a website and blog -

http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/

Blog - “Welcome to the QUAD”

http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/

The blog includes a bibliography and archive. Each of the care domains includes a knowledge resource, with the interpersonal covering mental health, therapies, psychology ….

http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/links.htm


A new website using Drupal is planned.

Kind regards,

Peter Jones
Community Mental Health Nurse NHS plus Independent Scholar & Informatics Specialist
Lancashire
UK
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http://hodges-model.blogspot.com/
Hodges Health Career - Care Domains - Model
http://www.p-jones.demon.co.uk/
h2cm: help 2C more - help 2 listen - help 2 care

How can you save yourself from being quacked?

Some useful pointers by Dr. Stephen

1. Forget about 'secret cures'. True scientists share their knowledge as part of the process of scientific development. Quacks often keep their methods secret to prevent others from decisively demonstrating that they don't work. No one who actually discovered a cure would have reason to keep it secret. If a method works - specially for a serious disease - the discoverer would gain enormous fame, fortune and personal satisfaction by sharing the discovery with others.
2. Remember that quackery often garbs itself in a cloak of pseudo-scientific respectability and its promoters often use scientific terms and quote (or misquote) from scientific references. Be equally wary of pseudo-medical jargon. Instead of offering to treat your disease, some quacks will promise to 'detoxify' your body, 'balance' its chemistry, release its 'nerve energy' or 'bring it in harmony with nature'. The use of concepts that are impossible to measure or quantify enables success to be claimed even though nothing has actually been accomplished.
3. Ignore any practitioner who says that most diseases are caused by faulty nutrition or can be remedied by taking supplements. Although some diseases are related to diet, most are not. Moreover, in most cases where diet actually is a factor in a person's health problem, the solution is not to take vitamins but to alter the diet.
4. Be wary of catchy anecdotes and testimonials. If someone claims to have been helped by an unorthodox remedy there is often a rational explanation. Most single episodes of disease which affect patients lead to recovery with the passage of time, and most chronic ailments (such as arthritis and psoriasis) are marked by symptom-free periods. Many people who give testimonials about recovery from cancer have undergone effective treatment as well as unorthodox treatment, but give credit to the latter. Some testimonials, of course, are complete fabrications!
5. Be skeptical of any product which claims to be effective against a wide range of unrelated diseases, particularly serious diseases. There is no such thing as a panacea or 'cure-all'.
6. Ignore appeals to your vanity. One of quackery's most powerful appeals is the suggestion to 'think for yourself' instead of following the collective wisdom of the scientific community. A similar appeal is the idea that although a remedy has not been proven to work for other people, it still might work for you. Remember that all humans have the same anatomy and physiology, and scientific rules apply to all of us.
7. Don't let desperation cloud your judgment! If you feel that your doctor isn't doing enough to help you, or if you have been told that your condition is incurable and don't wish to accept this fate without a struggle, don't stray from scientific health care in a desperate attempt to find a solution. Instead, discuss your feelings with your doctor and consider a consultation with a recognized expert.

The best way you can protect yourself from being taken for a ride, is to make sure you are well informed about your own body. The 'take-home message' is simple: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't!

Putting Patients First Conference - 20th October'10

Making sure every patient is treated as a VIP!

Putting Patients First Conference

20th October'10-
Nehru Center 9.30-1.30pm

Dr. Aniruddha Malpani Medical Director, Founder HELP Library

web: http://www.drmalpani.com email: info@drmalpani.com

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Dr.Aniruddha Malpani, M.D., a leading IVF specialist runs a state-of-the art IVF clinic in Mumbai, India.

Dr.Malpani has been invited to appear on a number of leading national and international TV channels , including BBC, CNN, CBS and ABC as an IVF expert.

Dr Malpani writes for a number of newspapers and magazines, including the Times of India, as well as a number of websites. He is a Net enthusiast, who believes every doctor should have their own website! You can read his blog about improving the doctor-patient relationship at

Website: www.drmalpani.com
Blog: http://doctorandpatient.blogspot.com

Books Authored

• How to Have a Baby - A Guide for the Infertile Couple.
  UBS Publishers, India.
• How to Have a Baby - A Guide for the Infertile Couple.
  Marathi edition, Popular Prakashan, India.
• How to Have a Baby - A Guide for the Infertile Couple.
  Gujarati edition. India.
• How to Have a Baby - A Guide for the Infertile Couple.
  Hindi edition, Bharati Vidya Bhavan, India.
• How to Get the Best Medical Care - A Guide for the Intelligent Patient.
  UBS Publishers, India.
• How to Find the Best Doctor.
  UBS Publishers, India.

Other Speakers

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• Mr. Mark Duman
• Dr. Abeezar I. Sarela
• Dr. Nikhil Datar
• Dr. Zinobia Madan

• Mr. Parag Vora
• Dr. Rajendra P. Gupta
• Dr. K. S. Shankar
• Mr.Madhu Agarwal

• Dr. Vandana Gupta
• Dr. Urmila Thatte
• Dr. Shalini Ratan
• Mr. Nrip Nihalani

Unproven methods are not necessarily quackery

Those consistent with scientific concepts may be considered to be experimental, but legitimate practitioners do not go around promoting unproven procedures in the marketplace. Instead, they engage in responsible, properly designed research studies to prove or disprove their claims. Methods not compatible with established scientific concepts should be classified as nonsensical or disproven rather than experimental: for example, 'fish cure' for asthma which draws huge crowds to Hyderabad.

How Not to Get "Quacked

All of us would like to become younger, sexier and thinner, and to live longer! Given these universal needs, it is hardly surprising that quackery flourishes all over the world. 'Quackery' is derived from the word quacksalver (a throwback to the days when travelling salesmen would boast about the healing powers of their salves). Since quacks quack, quackery's paramount characteristic is hype and promotion rather than simply fraud, greed, or misinformation - though these qualities often go hand in hand!

Much quackery is involved in informing people that something is bad for them (such as food additives) and selling a substitute (such as 'organic' or 'natural' food). Quackery is also involved in misleading advertising of dietary supplements, homoeopathic products, ayurvedic medicines and some non-prescription drugs. In many such instances no individual 'quack' is involved - just deception by manufacturers and their advertising agencies.

Remember that quackery is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon. Some products can be useful for some purposes, but worthless for others. For example, vitamin BÙ12 shots can be life-saving in cases of pernicious anemia, but giving them to 'pep you up' is a form of medical fraud. Similarly, while certain ayurvedic herbs can be very useful, often the mass-manufactured ayurvedic medicines available in chemists' shops are completely useless, because they do not contain what they are supposed to! While there is no doubt that homoeopathic medicines can be helpful, the concept of a standard homoeopathic remedy for common illnesses such as headaches and colds flouts a basic homoeopathic principle, which states that remedies need to be tailor made for a particular person and only a skilled homoeopathic physician can identify the required medicines properly.

PUTTING PATIENTS FIRST CONFERENCE

While You’re Travelling-Precautions

• The first precaution: Eat carefully! Traveler's diarrhea can easily ruin a holiday! Steaming-hot, well-cooked food is usually the safest. Avoid eating foods from street vendors, unpasteurized dairy products, and raw or uncooked seafood. Peel the fruits yourself.
• Drink water only from commercially sealed bottles or else go in for carbonated beverages. Avoid using ice. Brush your teeth with bottled water.
• If you're going to a place where you could face an increased risk of mosquito-borne diseases, protect yourself well. Insect repellents that contain DEET(N, N-diethyl-metatoluamide) work the best. If possible, wear permethrin-coated clothing and use nets while you sleep.
• Sunburn can be hazard if you plan to spend a lot of time in the hot sun. Use a sun block with a sun protection factor (SPF) greater than 15 and reapply this lotion after swimming or sweating.
• If you are going trekking in the mountains, you should be aware of the risk of developing acute mountain sickness, which is caused by a lack of oxygen when travelling to higher elevations. This form of sickness usually occurs at an altitude: headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, poor appetite and inability to sleep. It can be prevented by gradually ascending over several days to give your body a chance to acclimatize to the higher altitudes.

Putting Patients First Conference - 20th October, 2010

Putting Patients First Conference - 20th October, 2010
Nehru Center, Worli, Mumbai