How do I do this ethically?

So here's the thing....

I have to undertake a Community Profile for my Community Development module. The lectures so far have been on the history of Community Development (the theory and thoughts that have shaped what we do today), who has the power and how is that power used (It's scary how many organisations use their power to keep people oppressed), how communities are represented (Who is 'the voice' of that community and do they actually represent those they claim to or are they just voicing their own views), how to involve communities in the decision making process (in most instances the people that use the services are the best people to make decisions on how to improve those services) and what the best practices are for engaging and empowering the community. Last weeks lecture was cancelled because we were to spend the whole day on Saturday learning how to go about doing a Community Profile.

Now, before I go any further a Community Profile is defined as

'A comprehensive description of the needs of a community, and the resources that exist within that community, carried out with the active involvement of the community itself, for the purpose of developing an action plan or other means of improving the quality of life of the community' (Hawtin et al, 1994:5) (Ooohhh get me with my referencing!!)

Oh, and I should probably say that a community can be either a group of people living in a specific area, a group of people that share a common interest, a group of people from a particular ethnic group or a mixture of all of the above.

The community I am going to focus on is what is known as a 'hidden community'. I am going to be looking at people who are housebound due to illness in an area of Tower Hamlets (Tower Hamlets is too big to cover so I will have to chose a specific, smaller, location within it....I'm not sure where that will be yet but I have a few organisations to speak to who should be able to help me narrow it down).

I already know that the statistical part of the profile will not be easy to do but I am planning to get statistics from a number of organisations and then compare them in order to try and build up an overall view (I'm thinking Age Concern, GP Register, Social Services, NHS Trusts and the benefits agency...I will use the 2001 census as a starting point but the information contained in it will be very out of date so I don't think it will be very reliable.....if anyone has any other thoughts they would be most welcome) but there are two things that are worrying me. The first is the time scale, I only have three weeks in which to do everything, and the second is the reasons for doing the profile in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I think Community Profiles are a wonderful tool that can be used for all sorts of brilliant things (to show where there are gaps in services, to highlight the fact that a service needs to be improved or expanded, to be used as part of a funding proposal....the list goes on). My problem is that I will be doing it because I need to submit a Community Profile for Uni....so what do the people I am profiling get out of it? Do you see what my problem is? If I just do it in order to pass my course then I'm just as bad as all those organisations who use people for their own gain and that goes against everything I stand for!!

My solution, sorry I'm using this post as a way of structuring my thoughts, is to identify three (I don't think I can do any more in the time I have) housebound patients to visit with the purpose of undertaking a 'Discovery Interview'. (This is an interview technique used to enable a patient to tell their 'health story' in their own words. It gives them an opportunity to talk to someone about the problems they have encountered, what experiences have been positive, how they feel emotionally as well as physically and how they feel things could be improved upon). If I did this then I could make the information anonymous and, via THINk, feed it directly back to those providing the services in that area. That way the people I was speaking to would benefit from the process and I could use the information to cover the community aspect of my profile and to form the action plan. I can't see any other way of doing the profile without exploiting those I want to help and I just can't do that!!

What do you think?

Bloody Brilliant News!!

As the title of this post suggests, I have some bloody brilliant news *Huge cheesy grin*

Mini Me has shrunk........and.......not just a wee bit!!

(In case you've not been reading for long and are now wondering what the hell I'm on about....I have a benign tumour in my liver that Chris named Mini Me. Hehehe, yes the picture is my MRI scan and you can see her, the light fuzzy bit, on the left hand side...although she's much smaller now :-D. If your interested you can read about my diagnosis here)

She's gone from 3.5cm to 1.5cm which means that the medical people are no longer concerned about her.....which means I don't need to be either *does happy wiggle on sofa whilst trying not to drop laptop on the floor or disturb the cats*

Uni update

I know you have all been wondering how I'm getting on at Uni so I thought I had better update you.

The course itself is going well so far...it's not easy but it's going well. At the moment the focus on the 'Management for Working in Communities' module is all about using various methods to examine your behaviour and, if I'm honest, I'm finding that a bit intense. Some things have come as no surprise, some have taken me aback slightly and answering some of the why questions has been a rather painful process (still, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger eh!!). Once the 'Self Audit' assessment is out the way, it's due on the 6th of November, the focus of the module will shift and it will be about changing the negative behaviours and building on the positive ones and I think that process is going to be quite empowering so I'm looking forward to it!!

The Community Development module is proving absolutely fascinating!! We're learning about the history of Community Development (not just in this country but across the world), looking at the different ways of defining a 'community' and at conflict within communities. We have people from all walks of life on the course.....I am learning a hell of a lot about the flaws (gaping chasms) in our countries current policies, racism in all it's shapes and forms and about what brings people together and blows them apart!! The first assignment for this class is due on the 10th of December and is to take the form of a community profile (I'll come back to what my options are on this later) which I think will be a very useful tool for identifying needs and finding solutions to some current issues within the community being focused on.

I've also started work (unpaid sadly, but hopefully that will change in the future) at an organisation called THINk. (THINk is Tower Hamlets version of LINk (Local Involvement Networks)....the LINk's took over from where the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Forums left off and there is one in every Local Authority area in England). The people are lovely and I think it's going to work out well!! We have agreed a scope of work and, happily, the areas that they would like me to focus on fit perfectly with what I'm being asked to do for Uni. So I will be undertaking a number of community profiles.....probably one involving young people, another one looking at a specific group within the Bangladeshi community and one focusing on patients that are currently housebound. I will also be conducting discovery interviews, coming up with a way of capturing 'patient experience' for those with long term illnesses and producing a report based on a piece of work I did in Salford which we are going to try and adapt to fit with what's going on in Tower Hamlets.

So, as I said, the course is going well....what's not going quite so well is how I'm feeling. I'm finding the travelling and being away from home aspect really tough!! I knew I was going to miss Chris but didn't expect to feel like I'm living two lives and both of them out of a suitcase. It's only my fourth week and already I am shattered......I leave home at about 10.30am on the day I leave for London and I don't get to Tom's till about 10.30pm. (It's a long day and that's the day I do the tough personality stuff!!). I work the next day (which will involve evening meetings and did last week) and the following day....then when works finished I head over to Uni for another three hour lecture, get the tube to Paddington and then get the train home. (Chris picks me up from the station but I don't actually walk in the door till about 11.30pm). I know that this will probably get easier as I get used to it and it becomes routine but at the moment I feel like I'm just get settled at home when I'm off to London again and vice versa.

I shouldn't complain, a good friend of mine is having to cope with a lot worse, but I just know that I'm going to look like a mad old hag by the end of this semester (and if any of you say anything about already looking like a mad old hag I will be forced to bash you!!) so god alone knows how bad it's going to be by the end of the year!! Still, I guess it will help with the scaring of young children so it's not all bad!! *grins*

Chris's Photo Book

Here are some photo's of the book I put together for Chris using My Publisher.

Quick update on Chris's Birthday

We had a lovely weekend!!

On Saturday night I took him to a local restaurant called 'The Vine Tree' which had been recommended by a friend!! We were not disappointed....the food was fantastic!!

I bought him a limited edition Dr Who Master's Fob Watch

a limited edition copy of 'The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun' by J.R.R. Tolkien. It's leather bound and beautiful to look at!!

and his last present arrived today (I'm safe to post about it now....he's on his way home from the office). I used MyPublisher and created a book of his best photo's (I was inspired by the Fall Colours idea). I used songs with colours in their titles that were released in 1969.....I opened the package earlier and the book looks great!! (I've wrapped it up so can't post any photo's yet but I will once he's opened it!!)

On Sunday, we had a lovely relaxing day....went to the pub in the afternoon and then I cooked a three course Moroccan meal and we spent the evening eating and drinking.

We're looking forward to seeing everyone in Scotland in a few weeks where we will be having another celebration!!

Happy 40th Birthday Honey

Just because your 40,
don't despair, oh no
overnight you won't discover
you've lost your get up and go.

Nor will you become all wrinkled
nor ache from head to toe
so even though your ripening
don't regard it as a blow,
you won't suddenly look decrepit

...Cos that happened long ago!!!

Happy 40th Birthday Honey

Blog Action Day - Climate Change - Green Gadgets

Today over 6000 bloggers from 135 different countries will blog about Climate Change as part of blog action day. I am one of them.

'Oi, where do you think your going? I promise I'm not going to preach at you! Come back!'

I decided that I would do a post about some of the 'Green Gadgets' that are available, or are about to become available, on the market. (Oooh I do love gadgets don't you....and some of these are really clever!!)

Did you know that researchers at Leeds University have come up with a washing machine design that only uses one cup of water to wash a complete load of washing? The machine heats the water and converts it into vapour, the beads in the vapour remove the stains and, once the cycle is finished, they fall through a mesh in the machines drum and the same water can be used over a hundred times!! (How cool is that!!). It uses much less water and much less electricity and is going to be available to buy next year.

You could get yourself a Powerbrella!! ('A what?' I hear you say 'What on earth is a Powerbrella?'). Powerbrella's are large umbrella's made of flexible solar film.....you put them up to shade you from the sun when your sitting out having your barbecue, reading your book in the garden or are down by the beach and the suns energy is used to power what ever you have with you....mobile phone, laptop, i-pod...anything that needs power basically!! From what I understand, these are available on the market now and the company that produces the solar film are looking into using it to make solar powered clothing and bags. (I would love a bag that charged my mobile!!)

How about a Battery Wizard? This nifty little gadget not only re-charges your rechargable batteries but it can bring your dead non-rechargable batteries back to life!! (I want you to know that I'm resisting making references to Dr Frankenstein) ('It's alive!!' *snigger*) (sorry!!). Apparently it can recharge standard alkaline, NiCad and NiMH disposable batteries up to 10 times so you get 10 times more use out of them before having to throw them away!!

On your bike!! No, I'm not telling you to bugger off!! I'm suggesting that you could treat yourself to a BioLogic FreeCharge (Bargain at only £50). It's a gadget that attaches to your bike’s dynamo, granting you the opportunity to charge your mobile, I-pod etc just by pedaling your bike. It works by using the energy produced by your pedaling to charge an internal battery and then it transfers the current to your gizmo. (By first charging the internal battery it means whatever you are charging will not be affected by the velocity of your pedaling). Some people just come up with brilliant idea's don't they!!

Motorolla have launched, what they are calling, the world first carbon neutral mobile phone. It is made of recycled water bottles and, through an alliance with carbonfund.org, they have offset the carbon dioxide required to manufacture, distribute and operate the phone through investments in renewable energy sources and reforestation. In addition, the phone comes in packaging made from recycled paper and it contains a stamped envelope for you to send your old mobile back to Motorola for recycling.

Last but not least....you can now buy laptops that are encased using Bamboo instead of plastic!! Bamboo is the most sustainable raw material there is because it grows so fast! Not only are the results achingly beautiful (seriously, I so want one!!) but it has been tested to ensure it can withstand continuous use and has the added advantage of not being instantly recognisable as a laptop. Dell, Assus, and Fujitsu are among the companies now producing them.

Every little helps!!