What was the HealthwatchLeeds meeting all about?

This meeting was arranged to give the existing volunteers who have given so much time and dedication to our local LINk the opportunity to hear first about our plans for Healthwatch, what we hope to build on from the local LINk, and what we want to do differently.

How to involve LINk members in delivery of Healthwatch Leeds?

Although I was a member of LINk, I didn’t receive any notice of this meeting through that network, so I’m making an assumption that the people who did were all very active volunteers. There were some people who attended the meeting who had very strong feelings about awarding the tender to deliver Healthwatch Leeds to the consortia partners, over a bid submitted by Leeds LINk. There’s a risk that there may be existing negativity about awarding the bid to the consortia over the LINk bid, and we as an organisation are going to have to work hard to make sure existing and very active LINk members feel able to sign-up to our mission and values, and help us implement what we plan to achieve.

What is my plan for acting to keep existing LINk members on board?

It’s going to be really important to look at any hurt feelings, and provide a safe and supportive space to enable them to be expressed in an appropriate and respectful manner, in order that we can all move forward in good faith. I’m going to actively seek out people who can help me understand these feelings better, and if you feel this way, I’m very happy to engage with you and work out how to ensure you’re included in this process.

Communication with volunteers from LINk and other networks

Healthwatch Leeds has been delaying the development of some of the programme it will be delivering, because the organisation is still in the process of initial recruitment, including recruiting for the Board. It must be very frustrating for people used to actively volunteering that we are still working on our “Volunteer Offer”.

Recruitment processes will cause delay, and I actually think it’s best to ensure we get things like the Director in post before we make too many fixed plans. But, I think that modelling our stated values of transparency and openness includes keeping people updated of where we are, even if there isn’t much to report.

The consortia partners have worked really hard on lots of very exciting stuff about values and mission, which will drive all recruitment, ultimately influencing all decisions made. But, I think it’s unsustainable for it to ignore the valid frustration of people that feel they’re not listened to. There hasn’t been enough effort made by HWL to keep in touch with existing volunteer networks since the consortia took over the delivery of Healthwatch in April. I think this has been an oversight by the organisation, who might not be aware of how this may be perceived as dismissing or devaluing the valuable work that so many people have done over the preceding period. I’ve offered this feedback to the organisation, and I feel sure there will be action on this.

What I plan to do to improve engagement strategy at HWL

I met with our new Chair today and we suggest that I provide some non-executive support to the task-group concerned with developing an engagement strategy. I expect this to be the first area of work that I will get directly involved with in Healthwatch. We also need to clearly re-iterate our values and mission, including giving clear information about how to get in touch, and with whom, and what accountability is in place for receiving and integrating any feedback. We must ensure we do this in every communication, from phone calls through email newsletters and in person. I’ll be acting on this next week and I will update you as and when there is further news.

How do we do better with less?

There was a very distinct difference in the bid that won the contract to deliver Healthwatch Leeds compared to the way LINk has worked in the past, partiularly in the area of volunteer expenses. However, another element of the bid was the increased staff support and training budget available to volunteers.

One of the positive results of this is the consideration that now must be made of the many routes to involvement that don’t involve public meetings. Can our volunteers FaceTime or Skype us instead of attending in person? Can we do more work collaboratively and virtually reducing the number or length of meetings?

What will I do to ensure full participation of disabled people in HWL?

As a disabled person, I’m worried that there may be some implicit disablism if these budget constraints limit the volunteering opportunities available to people with higher support needs, such as personal assistants. I need to know more about how HWL intends to ensure the widest participation in HWL is maintained, using the stated budgets.

I need to be satisfied that there has been due consideration of the risk of reducing involvement of the very people I would expect us to be listening to. I want to know how we will be ensuring the appropriate resources are available to facilitate disabled people who want to be involved. I will update you on this as the situation develops. Please be aware that this is likely to develop over the next months rater than days or weeks.

Task: contrasting ways of meeting training, opportunities, and accessibility needs

The group used some time at the meeting to offer feedback and ideas about how to address issues of training, volunteering opportunities and access. I wasn’t present for this work, but I have got some photographs of the results of the work that I want to share, in a spirit of openness and transparency. The feedback is being integrated by the team at HWL and will help them to define our “Volunteer Offer” much more clearly, a big thank-you to everyone who engaged with this and offered such a lot of ideas and experience.

Young people and Healthwatch Leeds

I was delighted to meet three very impressive young adults who came along to the meeting and who sat through a lot of (boring?) discussion about things that didn’t seem relevant to the questions they wanted answers to. We had a sub-meeting in a separate room, to look in detail about what they needed from us. I was amazed by the assets these three people represent, and I hope they’re going to help us hear more from communities in Leeds that our statutory services and some voluntary organisations find harder to hear, such as young people.

What am I going to do to act on the young peoples’ feedback?

I got a good sense that we aren’t going to be able to engage young people through traditional “town hall” meetings and public events through this small meeting. I’m communicating directly with the three young people, and I’m going to blog about our conversation in more detail in my next post.

Boundaries

Please note I’ve updated my page about my work at Healthwatch Leeds to include some information on my boundaries regarding communications with me about this work.

Opportunities coming up Soon at @HWLeeds

Volunteer for us! We are looking for 15 people to attend a workshop run by NEF in Leeds on 19^th June.

Work for us! We’re currently recruiting for an administrator and we’ve got several roles for community involvement facilitators.

References:

Healthwatch Leeds: About Us (including info about Mission and Values) http://healthwatchleeds.org.uk/content/about

Healthwatch Leeds: ClaireOT’s page http://claireot.wordpress.com/healthwatch-leeds/

Heathwatch Leeds: Our Chair: Linn Phipps http://healthwatchleeds.org.uk/news/article/our-new-chair-linn-phipps

Heathwatch Leeds: Our Director: Janet Somers http://healthwatchleeds.org.uk/news/article/healthwatch-leeds-appoints-new-director

Heathwatch Leeds: Our Vice-Chair: Claire Jones http://healthwatchleeds.org.uk/news/article/healthwatch-leeds-appoints-claire-jones-vice-chair

Volunteer for us! http://healthwatchleeds.org.uk/news/article/volunteering-opportunity

Work for us! Administrator role http://healthwatchleeds.org.uk/news/article/vacancy-healthwatch-administrator

Work for us! Community and Information Facilitator roles: http://healthwatchleeds.org.uk/news/article/vacancy-community-and-information-facilitator

Continuing the conversation about how to ensure proper representation of the views of people in Leeds on the new Healthwatch Leeds Board, I thought I would blog about why I think sortition is the best method, and why we won’t be a membership organisation.

Sortition: what is it?

Lots of people aren’t aware of what sortition means. It’s more usually called “drawing lots”, and it’s familiar to lots of us as the way we might make a decision in a small group “drawing the short straw”. In effect, we’re all used to sortition, as all the people who “play the lottery” are actually participating in sortition!

Sortition first  emerged in Athens, the birthplace of democracy, although we wouldn’t want to copy their model entirely, as they excluded all women and many men from their political process.

Power to the people

[The image above shows three men in ancient Greek dress who are holding placards that read "Power to the People!"]

Is sortition the fairest way to select for the Healthwatch Board?

The reason why I think sortition is a fair way to select people to represent views is accurately summarised by Oliver Dowlen in his article that is referenced in the Wikipedia definition of sortition:

Compared to a voting system – even one that is open to all citizens – a citizen-wide lottery scheme for public office lowers the threshold to office. This is because ordinary citizens do not have to compete against more powerful or influential adversaries in order to take office, and because the selection procedure does not favour those who have pre-existing advantages or connections – as invariably happens with election by preference. From an organisational point of view a citizen-wide lottery system gives all citizens an equal stake in the office in question and so defines the size of the active (or potentially active) citizen body

What this means is that by selecting our Board membership by sortition, everyone who puts themselves forward as a volunteer and potential Board member has an equal chance of selection. We don’t think that previous management experience, the number of non-executive directorships held, or our political affiliations are the most important qualities for our Board. What is necessary is that we are all engaged citizens who believe they have something to contribute about health and social care services.

Criticisms of sortition

One of the criticisms of sortition is that there may be some qualities that are necessary pre-conditions for people charged with making decisions, and sortition doesn’t favour anyones experiences over anyone elses. We disagree with this. We will be a fully inclusive organisation, and we will provide all the training and support to our Board to enable their participation: we believe that their lived experiences of using services, or caring for people who use services is far more important to or organisation than any previous Board level experience.

Is Healthwatch Leeds going to be a membership organisation?

Healthwatch Leeds believes that in order to represent the views of all the people of Leeds, we have to ensure there as few barriers to participation as possible. We think that by introducing membership, we would be putting an unnecessary barrier in the way of people who want to participate.

We regard all the people in Leeds to be “members” of Healthwatch Leeds, simply because we all use the services of Leeds: we will represent all of them, not just people who sign up as “members”.

All of our consultation events and engagement efforts must include all the people of Leeds, and we’re going to think hard about how to include everyone in this process. We think that the best  way of ensuring that is to continue to ask people to get in touch and let the whole team know how best to go about meeting their needs.

What do you think about this? Are we demonstrating our values through this approach, or do you have a better idea?

Volunteering with @HWLeeds

A very exciting opportunity to volunteer with @HWLeeds is coming up in June: I’ll be blogging more about this nearer the time.

References

BBC History: Athenian Democracy http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml

Dowlen, O. (2009), Sorting Out Sortition: A Perspective on the Random Selection of Political Officers. Political Studies, 57: 298–315. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9248.2008.00746.x [Available online, Accessed 12/05/2013.] See: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.14679248.2008.00746.x/abstract;jsessionid=51BF09AE268C11E0E88D1C88E7951DBD.d03t01

Healthwatch Leeds: Our new Chair http://www.healthwatchleeds.co.uk/news/article/our-new-chair-linn-phipps

Healthwatch Leeds: Our new Vice-Chair http://www.healthwatchleeds.co.uk/news/article/healthwatch-leeds-appoints-claire-jones-vice-chair

Healthwatch Leeds: Our Values http://www.healthwatchleeds.co.uk/content/about

Volunteer with Healthwatch Leeds http://www.healthwatchleeds.co.uk/news/article/volunteering-opportunity

Wikipedia: Sortition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sortition

I’m passionate about involving people, and so I was delighted to see that other Healthwatch organisations around the country have already started asking what involvement will mean for local Healthwatch organisations. The people of Dudley had an event this week where they asked that question, and they produced a fantastic graphic that sums up what involvement means:

Produced by @JennyD_ER at #hwDudley event

Thinking about what inclusion will mean for Healthwatch Leeds will be something I’m thinking about a lot over the next few weeks.

We will be appointing the rest of the Board of Healthwatch over the next few months, from the pool of people who come forward and offer their services as volunteers with the organisation. We aim to make volunteering with us a great learning experience, an opportunity to have real input into decisions in Leeds and it will be great fun, too!

If you feel this is something you’d like to do, please do get in touch with Healthwatch Leeds by emailing them at office@healthwatchleeds.co.uk, phone 0113 898 0035, or Tweet @HWLeeds for an initial chat.

Reblogged from OTalk_Occhat:

Reblogged from womeninthelabourmovement:

As regular readers will know, my main practice interest is in mental health, however, all OTs are trained in both mental and physical health. Providing holistic care to the people I’m working with is enhanced by this training. For instance, in mental health services for older people, falls are as relevant as in orthapaedic OT, so it’s always useful to revisit other practice area specialities and share knowledge within the profession. 

Professional Development

With this in mind, it is always a pleasure to get drawn in to chats on Twitter about areas of practice that use knowledge that would otherwise become rusty due to lack of use: and it’s an exciting challenge for me to revisit my knowledge of falls prevention and to participate in #fallschat recently, on Twitter. 

I was excited to be asked by Dr Clare Gerada (who had attended a workshop on falls prevention) to contribute to her weekly RCGP Blog about falls prevention. I sent her my “Ten Top Tips for Falls Prevention”, repeated below. 

My 10 Top Tips for Falls Prevention:

1. Make sure the hallway and stairs have working lights- if possible, replace with low-energy light bulbs and keep lights on overnight. 
2. Wear slippers with an appropriate heel, so that they stay firmly on the feet.
3. Regular, gentle exercise can help reduce risk of falling and also fear of falling. Exercise such as Tai Chi is particularly helpful at improving balance. 
4. Check out signs that a person is unsure on their feet such as “furniture walking”, or clear dirty marks where walls are used for support. Having grab rails installed at key sites around the home or at the entrance to the home can be arranged by local community OT services.
5. Fasten any torn bits of carpet or lino down- gaffer tape is ideal for this, if an older person can’t afford to replace floor coverings.
6. Tripping over the edges of rugs is really common- either remove rugs, or fasten down the edges to reduce this risk.
7. Medication management- GPs are well placed to review medications and watch for interactions, non-compliance etc.
8. Check for use of alcohol- which increases falls risk and may  interact  with medications, or even be used to self-medicate undiagnosed depression.
9. Poor foot care can be a reason for not wearing slippers, and can contribute to falls. GPs can check if a person would like a Chiropody referral, if foot care is difficult for an individual.
10. Multi-disciplinary teamworking can solve many issues- so don’t be shy about asking for help! Occupational therapists, physiotherapists and chiropodists can be really useful contacts for falls prevention.

A Few Falls Facts: 

1. A fall at home that leads to a hip fracture costs the state £28,665 on average (726 million a year in total). This is 4.5 times the average cost of a major housing adaptation and over 100 times the cost of fitting hand and grab rails to prevent falls (Heywood et al 2007).
2. The provision of a home safety programme and exercise programme delivered by occupational therapists was found to reduce falls significantly (Campbell AJ et a, 2005).
3. A community based occupational therapy based falls prevention service cut the number of falls among older people by half according to evidence published in the BMJ“

(from COT website available at http://www.cot.co.uk/ot-helps-your-client/falls-prevention)

Can I use the “Top 10 Tips” as a resource for my work/ care setting?

The “10 Top Tips and a Few Falls Facts” post is available as a free-to-use PDF that you may print off and use in your care setting (or as a reminder when visiting an older relative?) please see the following link:

http://binscombe.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/10-Top-Tips-for-Falls-Prevention.pdf

Further learning

I was delighted that the post was so warmly received by many health professionals and carers, who said they would be interested in using it. I was also pleased to hear further information from professionals with expertise that I don’t possess- from Optometrists, Pharmacists, Telecare consultants and Cardiac Doctors- who all had further info to share. I bookmarked Tweets that contained further links, so that I could share them with you, here.

8th Feb from @Vision2020UK: Really good stuff from the @CollegeOptomUK re vision and falls well worth talking to them http://bit.ly/m2ZCyx  Top 20!

8th Feb from @helen_whiteside: NECESSARY drugs increase falls risk too- need reg. review/monitor. ref selection 4 ur doc Google scholar search for medications and falls

8th Feb from @ClarkMike: Falls tip -make sure any daily living equipment is well-maintained and meets your needs – secondhand could be poor quality/unsafe

8th Feb from @ClarkMike: Falls tip - #telecare can turn on lights when you get out of bed or raise the alarm if you fall or don’t return to bed

8th Feb from @ClarkMike: “Falls tip- telecare and falls- Exploring the use of Telecare  

10th Feb from @cardiacdoc1: “Don’t forget this… The overlap between syncope and falls in the elderly“ Shaw and Kenny (1997) The overlap between syncope and falls in the elderly. Postgrad Med J. 1997 October; 73(864): 635–639.

Lessons learned

Obviously, no quick “Top 10 Tips” guide can ever be a substitute for good multi-disciplinary assessment and intervention to prevent and manage falls. I thought our experiment in crowd-sourcing tips from the was a big success. It stimulated discussion among healthcare professionals who self-select to collaborate on Twitter, and was widely spread through their networks. It was critiqued as being quite basic, but the point of it was to show how small actions can help to keep someone safer at home- it was never meant to be a piece of post-graduate medical education.

And yes, next time, I’ll be sure to add in tips about how regular sight checks, telecare solutions, and underlying medical explanations can all add to our understanding of falls prevention! Perhaps we could see similar guides produced by others with more education about these areas than I?

We’ve recently been faced with our failings, as medical professionals, in the care of people who are LGBT*I. If you do a Twitter search under the #transdocfail, you’ll see how privilege and prejudice are colouring our interactions with people who need our help- and who are more at risk of mental illness and suicide than the general population.

As mental health professionals, its important to take action, but we sometimes feel confused about what that looks like, particularly if we feel we haven’t got anywhere or anyway of discussing it frankly. We often fear doing anything, in case we “get it wrong”, even though we recognise how important the issues are.

In the media, there are frequently blazing rows as some of the oppressive attitudes that people face are brought into the light- it’s been particularly clear of late in respect of trans* people.

Feminisms

There is a lot of current feminist discourse as the second wave feminists are giving way to the newer generation of feminists who approach issues with a mindset focused around intersectional analysis. This produces a tension between feminisms, where some people see their ideas threatened as people “call them out” on their privilege. Western, white, middle-class feminism has been traditionally seen as offering less for minority groups such as Women of Colour, or trans* women, so challenging ideas that hold us back from being a more inclusive movement can only be a good thing. Can’t it?

Privilege

A good definition is found on the geek feminism wiki: http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Privilege

Privilege is a concept used in anti-racist, anti-sexist, and similar anti-oppression movements.

Anti-oppressionists use “privilege” to describe a set of perceived advantages (or lack of disadvantages) enjoyed by a majority group, who are usually unaware of the privilege they possess. It is a term of art that may not align particularly well with the general-use word “privilege” or the programming term “privilege”.

A privileged person is not necessarily prejudiced (sexist, racist, etc) as an individual, but may be part of a broader pattern of *-ism even though unaware of it.

…Many people, when asked to check their privilege, respond with “So? Am I meant to feel guilty? I didn’t choose to be white/male/whatever.”

…

Possessing “privilege” in the anti-oppression meaning is not intended to imply that life is objectively easy, just that on that particular axis of experience it is likelier to have been easier than a person similarly situated but without that particular privilege.

A person who experiences lack of privilege on more than one axis is said to experience intersectionality.

I really haven’t got any more to add to that definition I think it explains it all very well.

My recent privilege

One of my privileges is that I’m a cis-woman. This means that I’m happy to identify as the gender that I was assigned at birth: I had genitals that strongly indicated I was a girl: my parents raised me as a girl: I grew up into a woman without ever sensing that perhaps I was a boy and the rest of the world had got my gender identity wrong. This is a privilege, when compared to people who identify outside the gender binary, or strongly with a gender that they have not been assigned. These people are called trans*

Feminists have found it hard to understand the trans* experience, and whilst I am appalled at some of the actions of people describing themselves as feminists, I have always considered myself to be more inclusive in my feminism. As the famous Tiger Beatdown post says,

My feminism is intersectional or it is bulls*it

Recently, I was called out on my privilege and unconscious cis-sexism. I’ve Storified it as an example, so that I remember in future how words that I use (and hashtags!) can hurt, and to be more mindful of my privilege.

The Storify can be found here: http://storify.com/claireOT2/checking-my-privilege-a-recent-example

During a recent #nhssm chat, @MarkOneInFour started to explore what our presence in social media represented about our selves. We didn’t have time during the chat, but we did decide to explore the concept through the evening that followed. People very generously offered their feedback on how they viewed us, which was really helpful, because one can never really know how one comes across to others without specifically exploring it!

Personal reflection: if you ask for feedback, what if you get it?

It felt quite exposed to do this experiment- I wasn’t sure if anyone would respond, and if they did, what they would say about me! I was prepared to deal with any feedback that I got on the basis that it represented how I came across in social media- it didn’t reflect how people felt about me, personally, as many of the people responding don’t know me personally. I am a confident person, and I knew I had personal resources to keep myself safe during the experiment, including having friends and followers to call on for support if I felt hurt by any comments made.

Mental health warning: do you feel safe to hear feedback?

If anyone is interested in doing this experiment for themselves- just take a moment to check out that you’re okay with receiving feedback before you start.

My Johari’s Window:

Unknown

adaptable, calm, cheerful, ingenious, introverted, mature, patient, quiet, relaxed, religious, sensible, shy, silly, spontaneous, tense

All Percentages

able (13%) accepting (9%) adaptable (0%) bold (9%) brave (4%) calm (0%) caring (27%) cheerful (0%) clever (9%) complex (9%) confident (18%) dependable (13%) dignified (9%) energetic (4%) extroverted (9%) friendly (27%) giving (4%) happy (4%) helpful (50%) idealistic (9%) independent (22%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (40%) introverted (0%) kind (4%) knowledgeable (45%) logical (9%) loving (4%) mature (0%) modest (9%) nervous (4%) observant (13%) organised (9%) patient (0%) powerful (9%) proud (4%) quiet (0%) reflective (18%) relaxed (0%) religious (0%) responsive (18%) searching (9%) self-assertive (36%) self-conscious (9%) sensible (0%) sentimental (4%) shy (0%) silly (0%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (4%) tense (0%) trustworthy (13%) warm (27%) wise (9%) witty (9%)

Personal reflections

As more and more people added feedback, Johari’s Window showed increasing congruence between my internal idea of how I come across, and the views expressed by the people who kindly offered feedback. This is an example of the “Wisdom of Crowds”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds

It is also interesting to note how this could contribute to personal resilience in the face of criticism. It can be important to remember that the views of a single person don’t reflect the general way one is seen by everyone one encounters: sometimes, we’ve all experienced a personality clash. Perhaps this is of interest to people seeking 360 degree feedback- which may be more accurate with an increasing number of contributors?

Storify

I storified the conversation, see this link:

http://storify.com/claireOT2/johari-s-window-real-time-virtual-cpd-experiment

Grabchat

Some of the interesting comments wee made before we settled on a hashtag to help collate the Tweets. However, once they were collated under the #JoharisWindow tag, it was easy to grab the chat:

Involved

Top resources

http://kevan.org/johari?name=shirleydsc
http://kevan.org/johari?name=uk_james
http://socialinnovation.typepad.com/silk/silk-method-deck.html
http://kevan.org/johari?name=jonbolton
http://kevan.org/johari?name=fi
http://kevan.org/johari?name=amcunningham
http://kevan.org/johari?name=fionaarttwitter
http://kevan.org/johari?name=@ajax_63
http://kevan.org/johari?view=MeOT
http://kevan.org/johari?name=MeOT

Related tags

#socialmedia #some #hubmsi

See Twitter for more tweets, people, videos and photos for #johariswindow

@claireOT	@shirleyayres @MarkOneinFour fancy giving me some feedback? Go to http://t.co/WEzLelUO #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:29:11 +0000)
@uk_james	@shirleyayres @claireot #johariswindow good tool – one of many in Social Innovation Lab Kent’s Method Deck http://t.co/Zo4PKzO3 (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:32:46 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@claireOT done I like this tool! #johariswindow @MarkOneinFour (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:33:35 +0000)
@MarkOneinFour	@claireOT @shirleyayres Done it! Also, now get what it is and how it works #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:37:14 +0000)
@shirleyayres	Fascinating! Social Innovation Lab Kent’s Method Deck includes #johariswindow http://t.co/ewrdKbqt HT @uk_james @claireOT (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:38:53 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@uk_james @claireOT @MarkOneinFour starting to feel my age now realise I first used #johariswindow in 1975!(Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:40:49 +0000)
@claireOT	@MarkOneinFour you and Shirley agreed on one word “knowledgable”- isn’t it funny? I didn’t pick it! #johariswindow @shirleyayres (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:41:20 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@claireOT @MarkOneinFour I’m such a simple soul this is now my new most favourite tool – thanks Claire! #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:43:45 +0000)
@claireOT	@MarkOneinFour done it! What do you think? #johariswindow @shirleyayres (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:44:41 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@MarkOneinFour done – interesting the areas @claireOT & I agree on! #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:46:45 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@MarkOneinFour @claireOT this ihas to be the *must do* activity of the evening! Love your feedback http://t.co/KKGlwgdJ #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:50:56 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@Ermintrude2 I’d love your feedback! http://t.co/toQXSl0a #johariswindow HT @claireOT for discovering this tool! @MarkOneinFour (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:56:57 +0000)
@claireOT	@MarkOneinFour it’s so interesting, isn’t it? @shirleyayres @Ermintrude2 #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:09:05 +0000)
@claireOT	@RobWebster_LCH @PlanetPavs @AgencyNurse @JoWren1 thanks for your feedback, guys, really helpful #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:11:54 +0000)
@Ermintrude2	@MarkOneinFour I added my thoughts to your #johariswindow @claireot @shirleyayres (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:12:17 +0000)
@claireOT	@shirleyayres i agree @markoneinfour perhaps “conflicted” or “confused” is what “complex” feels like, inside? #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:12:58 +0000)
@claireOT	@JoWren1 yes, I’ve never used it publicly before today… go on…. Get involved! #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:15:17 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@PaulBromford a great tool we’re experimenting w/ I’d love your feedback! http://t.co/toQXSl0a HT @claireOT for finding #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:17:22 +0000)
@Ermintrude2	How do you perceive me? (well, it’s limited to nice things!) http://t.co/iT5sE5ex #johariswindow @shirleyayres @markoneinfour @claireot (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:22:36 +0000)
@shirleyayres	I’d love feedback – how do I come across to you via #socialmedia ? http://t.co/toQXSl0a #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:22:53 +0000)
@uk_james	@claireOT @shirleyayres @markoneinfour @ermintrude2 done! It’s quite smart isn’t it?! Shirley… You’re next…. #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:24:46 +0000)
@claireOT	@Ermintrude2 done it! What do you think? #johariswindow @shirleyayres @markoneinfour (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:27:02 +0000)
@uk_james	@shirleyayres done! It’s a picture that keeps building… Right, time to make me one…. #johariswindow @claireOT (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:29:15 +0000)
@ajax_63	@shirleyayres how could I resist Found it hard to separate out social media and IRL though! #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:32:31 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@uk_james @claireOT @MarkOneinFour @Ermintrude2 @PaulBromford #johariswindow the latest tool to sweep across Twitter!(Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:33:11 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@ajax_63 thanks I hope you are going to do one too Andrew #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:34:00 +0000)
@PaulBromford	@shirleyayres @claireOT certainly! here you go http://t.co/hhN0zekb @ paulbromford #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:34:21 +0000)
@FionaArt	@claireot @shirleyayres @MarkOneinFour I added my thoughts to your #johariswindow Will you fill in mine please .(Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:34:38 +0000)
@uk_james	. @shirleyayres @claireot @markoneinfour @ermintrude2 here’s the link http://t.co/9OgxDIpy how do you perceive me on Twitter? #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:36:41 +0000)
@ajax_63	@Ermintrude2 a pleasure, but six was not enough #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:37:19 +0000)
@claireOT	Thanks for the valued feedback, @_jonb @FionaArt @anniecoops #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:40:48 +0000)
@amcunningham	My #johariswindow http://t.co/ETqqOdk9 … thinks @shirleyayres !!(Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:40:52 +0000)
@uk_james	Hello Twitter followers! How do I come across on #socialmedia ? Please let me know at http://t.co/9OgxDIpy #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:42:23 +0000)
@claireOT	@Darrenruddick thank you- I value the feedback- it’s so interesting to learn how I come over vs how I think I come over! #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:42:31 +0000)
@claireOT	@jaxrafferty thank you- it’s really valuable to get feedback, don’t know why I didn’t think of doing this before! #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:46:38 +0000)
@claireOT	Lol! No suprise for me that no-one has identified me as “introverted” or “mature”! #johariswindow @shirleyayres @MarkOneinFour @Ermintrude2 (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:48:33 +0000)
@uk_james	RT @shirleyayres : @uk_james @claireOT @MarkOneinFour @Ermintrude2 @PaulBromford #johariswindow the latest tool to sweep across Twitter!(Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:48:39 +0000)
@FionaArt	http://t.co/9G6upeQm How do u think I come across? #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:51:03 +0000)
@ajax_63	TY @shirleyayres and so, I’d love to know, how do you see me via social media? http://t.co/qFTAy5Op < experiments with #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:51:14 +0000)
@claireOT	@Ermintrude2 lol! You may be “silly” in real life, but your blog and feed belie the reality!! @shirleyayres @markoneinfour #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:52:42 +0000)
@claireOT	@jaxrafferty I think that congruence in #some is really important. I am fortunate to feel safe enough to be honest. #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:53:42 +0000)
@claireOT	@Darrenruddick really? I was surprised people identified me as “brave”, it certainly doesn’t feel like that from inside! #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:54:50 +0000)
@shirleyayres	+1 RT @claireOT @Ermintrude2 lol! You may be “silly” in real life, but your blog and feed belie the reality!! @markoneinfour #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:55:01 +0000)
@FionaArt	Thanks @claireOT @shirleyayres @MarkOneinFour for completing my #johariswindow , definitely food for thought .(Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:56:02 +0000)
@claireOT	Anybody want to offer me some feedback on how I come over on #SoMe ? Follow the link- it is very quick! #johariswindow http://t.co/aPZNfdXp (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:57:49 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@Ermintrude2 @claireOT @MarkOneinFour @PaulBromford I now have about 12 #johariswindow open. I agree fascinating how others perceive us!(Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:01:43 +0000)
@Chris_Goulden	RT @uk_james : @shirleyayres @claireot #johariswindow good tool – one of many in Social Innovation Lab Kent’s Method Deck http://t.co/Zo4PKzO3 (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:11:48 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@HelReynolds a great tool we’re experimenting w/ I’d love your feedback! http://t.co/toQXSl0a HT @claireOT for finding #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:14:27 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@whatsthepont a great tool we’re experimenting w/ I’d love your feedback! http://t.co/toQXSl0a HT @claireOT for finding #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:14:50 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@MindingsStu a great tool we’re experimenting w/ I’d love your feedback! http://t.co/toQXSl0a HT @claireOT for finding #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:18:43 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@PaulBromford starting to feel my age now realise I first used #johariswindow in 1975!(Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:23:50 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@DCCTayside a great tool we’re experimenting w/ I’d love your feedback! http://t.co/toQXSl0a #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:25:25 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@clarkmike a great tool we’re experimenting w/ I’d love your feedback! http://t.co/toQXSl0a #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:28:03 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@TomSprints a great tool we’re experimenting with I’d love your feedback! http://t.co/toQXSl0a #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:28:42 +0000)
@claireOT	I’m really interested to know what you think of me, do you have a couple of minutes to describe me? #johariswindow http://t.co/E1wxNOF0 (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:32:00 +0000)
@ajax_63	@shirleyayres @amcunningham @ermintrude2 @claireOT TY all! do you know how hard this is for an INFJ #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:32:28 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@ajax_63 showing my ignorance here what is an INFJ? #johariswindow @amcunningham @Ermintrude2 @claireOT (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:37:20 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@jonbolton a great tool we’re experimenting with I’d love your feedback http://t.co/toQXSl0a #johariswindow (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:50:22 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@Action4Ageing thanks Chris for completing my #johariswindow – are you tempted? Looking forward to catching up at #hubmsi (Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:53:22 +0000)
@shirleyayres	A big thank you to @kevan a lot of us have had great fun with your interactive #johariswindow this evening!(Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:22:54 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@jonbolton @Accaber_Red starting to feel my age now realise I first used #johariswindow in 1975!(Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:24:21 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@jonbolton thanks for the #johariswindow feedback a fascinating picture emerging! Are you tempted?(Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:41:43 +0000)
@jonbolton	So a few of us were experimenting with #johariswindow last night. Can you describe me in 5-6 words? http://t.co/EKki3jzM (Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:21:55 +0000)
@AMLTaylor66	RT @jonbolton : So a few of us were experimenting with #johariswindow last night. Can you describe me in 5-6 words? http://t.co/EKki3jzM (Thu, 24 Jan 2013 08:38:55 +0000)
@shirleyayres	I’d love feedback – how do I come across to you via #socialmedia ? http://t.co/toQXSl0a #johariswindow (Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:45:25 +0000)
@FionaArt	http://t.co/6DYEl0KX? How do u think I come across on twitter as @FionaArt ? #johariswindow (Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:29:24 +0000)
@shirleyayres	@whatsthepont I would have liked to be able to add analytical to your #johariswindow ! @claireOT @ena_lloyd (Thu, 24 Jan 2013 23:42:31 +0000)
@akosiabiegalet	Wag masyadong malinis ang tingin sa sarili. Ayan tuloy hirap tumanggap kapag sinisita ng iba. #johariswindow (Sun, 27 Jan 2013 05:03:49 +0000)

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Reblogged from Clinical Psychology and People:

As a health professional, I was aware of the inspirational story of Mary Seacole, and I am delighted that my daughter (age 6) was tasked with writing a project about her life over the Christmas holidays.

I’m including the work she produced in this blog, as I think it demonstrates clearly the value of including a rich heritage of narratives within our history curriculum in schools, and because she was an important figure in healthcare history who was sadly overlooked during our own recent past.

Mary travelled from Jamaica to provide care for soldiers during the Crimean war. She was not allowed to join Florence Nightingale’s band of nurses due to being Black, so she set up her own frontline “British Hostel” in Balaclava, Turkey, to provide care. Contemporary records show she often travelled onto the battlefield to provide first aid.

There is currently a drive to memorialise Mary with a statue, you can donate to this cause, see http://www.maryseacole.com/maryseacole/pages/mary_statue.html

For more information about the life of Mary Seacole, visit maryseacole.com

I commented about this issue, on The Green Benches, where I said

I am proud to have spent the afternoon helping my daughter complete her school project about Mary Seacole. What a great example of triumph over adversity, and illustration of why racism is unhelpful and wrong in society. And of course, we used the resources produced by Horrible Histories (on YouTube) to bring her story to life. I’m proud that my daughter has learned at 6 what many people seem to be unable to comprehend as grown adults.

Edit: There is a petition to request the Minister reconsider the decision to remove Mary from the curriculum. Please consider signing at: https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/michael-gove-secretary-of-state-for-education-keep-mary-seacole-on-the-national-curriculum   Thank you