tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56644517390804610762024-03-14T00:10:46.034-04:00Multi-Directional GiraffeAdvocacy, technology, theology, and adventure!<br>Thoughts on mental health, learning differences, and life …from a giraffe in human disguise.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-88876506216989067102014-06-30T20:48:00.000-04:002014-06-30T20:48:19.072-04:00What inspired you to join the technology industry?<p>In theological circles, and especially in theological schools, there's a lot of talk around “call” and a sense of “calling.” But, ask a programmer about “call” or “calling” and you'll probably hear about using a functions or object-methods.</p>
<p>When I <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-free-coding-lessons-to-women-2014-6">read about</a> Google's <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hVfdHMoIphbL3x2fMTjW532zS_B2aojA5ifefZlG8YQ/viewform">Code School Learning Opportunity</a> I knew I wanted to apply. Code School issues <a href="http://openbadges.org/">Open Badges</a>!</p>
<p>The open-ended, final question on the application took me by surprise: <q>What inspired you to join the technology industry?</q> Wait a sec! Did a tech giant just ask about my “call story”? Yeah, I think so.</p>
<p>I have my doubts about whether a human at Google will actually read my application. If the filtering algorithm looks for compound and/or complex sentences, there might be a chance. However, I know there are humans that will read this post. So, I'll also share my technology “call story” with the handful of folks curious enough to click the link in an email or a Tweet.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A year and a half ago, I encountered an electronic health record system for the first time. After only a couple minutes in the consulting room, tense silence interrupted the usual, easy conversation. I watched, appalled, as my psychiatrist fought his way through the clunky, poorly sequenced fields of the e-prescribing interface. An engaged healthcare consumer, I quickly voiced my concern, mitigating the effect on our treatment relationship. This relieved the immediate anxiety I felt as a patient, but my concern as an advocate held fast. What impact would this technology have on those who already feel disempowered by the healthcare system? How would it affect the health of people at the margins of society?</p>
<p>A half-dozen years earlier, I'd left web application development to pursue a graduate degree in theology, focusing on social justice. The two fields scarcely touched, and in social justice theology, I found the kind of passion I'd seen—but, despite my aptitude, never experienced—as a programmer. Likewise, I scarcely looked back, even after leaving theological school without a degree.</p>
<p>That afternoon, as I watched technology that should have facilitated the provision of healthcare impede my doctor's work, these seemingly disparate and disjoint fields collided. During my theological study, I lacked a clear sense of “call” or vocation, but in that collision it began to crystallize. My “call” is neither in technology nor in social justice; my call is in both technology AND social justice.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That's it. …the short-version, at least.</p>
<p>Finally, share the link to <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hVfdHMoIphbL3x2fMTjW532zS_B2aojA5ifefZlG8YQ/viewform">the application form</a> with others who might want to apply. And if you know a girl who's crafty, creative, or thinks technology is kind of cool, tell her to check out <a href="https://www.madewithcode.com/">Made with Code</a>, it's a pretty neat site (even if does have lots of pink).</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-65214119094225987392013-08-24T18:47:00.000-04:002013-08-24T18:59:45.412-04:00Bad Retail UX!! I may take my business elsewhere.<p>The process of ordering a prescription via Walgreens website this afternoon was unusually frustrating. Why? Poor interface design! I wouldn't be quite so irked if this were even remotely close to being an edge-case, but it's not. It happens thousands of times every weekday:</p>
<ul>
<li>A patient makes a follow-up visit to a doctor.</li>
<li>The doctor sends a new electronic prescription for medication(s) <strong>the patient is already taking</strong> with <strong>no change in dosage</strong>.</li>
<li>The pharmacy receives the <abbr title="electronic prescription">eRx</abbr>, fills it, and notifies the patient, but…</li>
<li>The patient recently picked up a refill of the medication and doesn't need more for a while.</li>
<li>The filled prescription sits on a shelf at the pharmacy for about a week; then it's restocked.</li>
</ul>
<p>Also, because I'm offended by Walgreens' assertion that <q cite="http://www.walgreens.com/mktg/contactus/contact-us-landing.jsp">…any message or other communication sent to Walgreen Co. becomes the exclusive intellectual property of Walgreen Co.…</q>, I'm claiming the copyright on the content of my email message to <a href="http://www.walgreens.com/mktg/contactus/contact-us-landing.jsp" rel="nofollow">Customer Service for Walgreens website</a> before I hit the send-button by sharing it here.</p>
<blockquote style="line-height:1.2em;font-size:95%;">
<h4>Online Pharmacy: “On file” Prescriptions Missing from Prescription History</h4>
<p>Dear Walgreens Customer Service,</p>
<p>Prescriptions that are ”On file“ do not show up in a customer's prescription history, even when the “Show Hidden Prescriptions?” radio button is set to “Yes.”</p>
<p>In my case, this is particularly problematic as an earlier prescription, from the same doctor for the same medication and dosage—these details are <strong>identical</strong>—appears with the messages “Refill Due” and “0 refills remaining. If you'd like to refill, we'll call your doctor for you.”</p>
<p>Such poor interface design provides a dreadful user experience for customers. I expect retail websites to make it <i>easier</i> for me to purchase products, not more difficult. Although I have been Walgreens customer for over eight years, I may now considering transferring my prescriptions to CVS or Rite-Aid—both of which have stores closer to my home.</p>
<p>Furthermore, as the line between web-applications and software applications has become increasingly blurred, retail websites have come to set the bar for user experience in their respective sectors. When the retail website for a major national pharmacy chain like Walgreens has set such a low bar for user experience, is it any wonder that so much software in the healthcare sector is difficult to use?</p>
<p>With frustration and great disappointment,<br/>Shelley V. Adams</p>
<p>—<br />Message subject line and content © Shelley V. Adams; licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/deed.en_US" rel="license">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License</a>. The subject line and content of this message, including this footer, has already been published as part of a <a href="http://adhdgiraffe.blogspot.com/2013/08/bad-retail-ux-pharmacy.html">post on the author's blog</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-79787405349463367722013-07-20T16:34:00.000-04:002013-07-20T16:34:12.042-04:00Politicians Defying Stigma around the World (and an ecumenical surprise)<p>While listening <a href="http://wfdd.org/" title="88.5 WFDD: NPR News and Triad Arts from Wake Forest University">public radio</a> Thursday morning, I heard a fairly interesting segment on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01bz3tv" title="Newshour, 18/07/2013 (1300 GMT)">BBC Newshour</a>. The segment began by describing <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23352757" title="Chile presidential candidate resigns">an announcement</a> from the campaign of Chilean presidential candidate Pablo Longueira that he would withdraw from the upcoming national election due to a depressive episode that began shortly after his primary election victory.</p>
<p>From personal experience, I know <a href="http://store.samhsa.gov/product/Self-Disclosure-and-Its-Impact-on-Individuals-Who-Receive-Mental-Health-Services/SMA08-4337" title="SAMHSA Monograph: “Self-Disclosure and Its Impact on Individuals Who Receive Mental Health Services”">the decision to openly disclose a psychiatric diagnosis</a> can be extremely difficult, and I've never lived in the political spotlight. I've read about candidates deciding to disclose their diagnosis in <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/doug-duncans-vocal-dealings-with-depression-serve-as-inspiration/2012/11/29/219a4a7e-3a76-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_story.html" title="Doug Duncan's vocal dealings with depression serve as inspiration">state</a> and <a href="http://www.journalnow.com/news/columnists/scott_sexton/article_71e4fe40-4164-5a1e-9e4d-c2b438cf5ae9.html" title="‘I finally knew what the problem was,’ prosecutor says">local</a> political races, often to preempt the scandel of being “outed” by an opponent. Even so, national elections bring much greater attention. While I know nothing of Mr. Longueira's background or political platform—beyond the BBC's description of him him as a “conservative” candidate—I admire his willingness to be open about his condition.</p>
<p>I was also quite impressed by the BBC's sensitive coverage of this story. However, the segment didn't end with the news story. Instead, the piece went on to further explore the issue of depression in politics through a phone interview with former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, explaining that he made international news in 1998—during his first of two terms as prime minister—when he took a leave of absence to recover from an episode of depression.</p>
<p>That took a couple minutes to sink in. A politician… not just a politician, but a head of state(!) openly announced that he was suffering from depression, took time off to recover, and it didn't end his political career. I was definitely curious to know more about this man.</p>
<p>Long frustrated with spelling in my native language, I know better than to guess at spelling anything in others. Instead, I grabbed the audio for the program from the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/newshour" title="BBC - Podcasts and Downloads - Newshour">Newshour podcast</a> to get his dates in office and headed to Wikipedia's “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heads_of_government_of_Norway">List of heads of government of Norway</a>.”</p>
<p>I've developed a non-linear approach to reading Wikipedia in order to get a feel for the quality of the article before jumping in. I skim the introduction to be sure I've found what I was looking for, then jump to the references section to evaluate the sources If the sources are few in number and/or poorly documented, I proceed with caution. Time permitting, I'll mark unsourced statements and related problems. Sometimes, with a topic I'm particularly interested in, I'll locate information sources and fix broken links.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjell_Magne_Bondevik">about the former Norwegian prime minister</a> turns out to be one of these. My curiosity only increased when I read the first line of the introduction.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Kjell Magne Bondevik ([çɛlː mɑŋnə bunːəviːk]; born 3 September 1947) is a Norwegian Lutheran minister and politician…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A Norwegian <u>what</u> and politician??!</p>
<p>But <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kjell_Magne_Bondevik&oldid=551818777#References" title="Wikipedia article ”Kjell Magne Bondevik” as edited by Saddhiyama at 12:29, 23 April 2013.">the reference section</a> was in sad shape. However, with the correct spelling of ‘Bondevik’ I could find other sources—both to satisfy my own interests and add references to the world's most popular wiki.</p>
<p>Back to my “ecumenical surprise”: sure enough, the bio-blurb at the beginning of <a href="http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/12/11-041211/en/index.html" title="Fighting stigma with openness">a December 2011 interview</a> in the <cite>Bulletin of the World Health Organization</cite> confirms it. Because of my interest in the connections between faith and mental health, it's always a treat to discover a clergy-person who is open about living with a psychiatric diagnosis, but to find one who is <em>such</em> a public figure… wow!</p>
<h4>Linked references</h4>
<p style="margin:auto;padding-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"><small><cite>BBC News</cite>. <q><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-23352757">Chile Presidential Candidate Resigns.</a></q> <abbr class="date" title="2013-07-17">July 17, 2013</abbr>.</small></p>
<p style="margin:auto;padding-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"><small>BBC World Service. <q><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01bz3tv">Newshour, 18/07/2013 (1300 GMT).</a></q> <cite>Newshour</cite>. London, UK, <abbr class="date" title="2013-07-18">July 18, 2013</abbr>.</small></p>
<p style="margin:auto;padding-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"><small>Dvorak, Petula. <q><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/doug-duncans-vocal-dealings-with-depression-serve-as-inspiration/2012/11/29/219a4a7e-3a76-11e2-b01f-5f55b193f58f_story.html">Doug Duncan’s Vocal Dealings with Depression Serve as Inspiration.</a></q> <cite>The Washington Post</cite>, <abbr class="date" title="2012-11-29">November 29, 2012</abbr>.</small></p>
<p style="margin:auto;padding-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"><small>Jones, Ben, and Kjell Magne Bondevik. <q><a href="http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/12/11-041211/en/index.html">Fighting Stigma with Openness.</a></q> <cite>Bulletin of the World Health Organization</cite> 89, no. 12 (<abbr class="date" title="2011-12">December 2011</abbr>): 862–863. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.11.041211">doi:10.2471/BLT.11.041211</a>.</small></p>
<p style="margin:auto;padding-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"><small><cite><a href="http://store.samhsa.gov/product/Self-Disclosure-and-Its-Impact-on-Individuals-Who-Receive-Mental-Health-Services/SMA08-4337">Self-Disclosure and Its Impact on Individuals Who Receive Mental Health Services</a>.</cite> Monograph. Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, <abbr class="date" title="2008-09">September 2008</abbr>.</small></p>
<p style="margin:auto;padding-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"><small>Sexton, Scott. <q><a href="http://www.journalnow.com/news/columnists/scott_sexton/article_71e4fe40-4164-5a1e-9e4d-c2b438cf5ae9.html">‘I Finally Knew What the Problem Was,’ Prosecutor Says.</a></q> <cite>Winston-Salem Journal</cite>, <abbr class="date" title="2012-03-06">March 6, 2012</abbr>.</small></p>
<p style="margin:auto;padding-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"><small><cite>Wikipedia</cite>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kjell_Magne_Bondevik">Kjell Magne Bondevik</a>.</small></p>
<p style="margin:auto;padding-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"><small><cite>Wikipedia</cite>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heads_of_government_of_Norway">List of heads of government of Norway</a>.</small></p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-18956223210602152112013-07-18T16:59:00.000-04:002013-07-18T17:02:18.494-04:00I Should Learn to Use a Calendar: On Smartphones, AD/HD & Quality of Life<p>I hustled into Green Street Church aware that, if I was running late, it was only by a minute or two. The building seemed unusually quiet as I walked inside. A few seconds later, when I reached the room where the <a href="http://idrnc.org/">Institute for Dismantling Racism</a>'s monthly community caucuses begin, I understood why. There was no one there.</p>
<p>My next thought, “This is Thursday, right?” I pulled out my phone and hit its “wake up” button:</p>
<blockquote style="background-color:MidnightBlue;color:White;padding:0.5em;width:20em;margin:auto;"><div style="font-size:150%;">11:58</div> <div>Thursday, July 18</div> <div>Battery 96%</div></blockquote>
<p>Yes, it was Thursday, and I was actually a couple minutes early. My next question: “Why am I the only one here?”</p>
<p>…and at <strong>this point</strong> having a smartphone begins to influence the sequence of events.</p>
<p>Maybe I was in the wrong place. I swiped my finger across the phone's screen to unlock it and tapped the email icon. I scrolled down through a week's worth of subject lines until I saw what I was looking for—<q>Evite Invitation: IDR Community Caucusing</q>—and opened the message.</p>
<blockquote style="background-color:WhiteSmoke;color:Black;padding:0.5em;width:20em;margin:auto;"><div style="font-variant:small-caps;">where:</div> <div>Green Street Church</div></blockquote>
<p>The train of thought that followed went something like this:<p>
<blockquote style="border-left:thin solid currentColor;padding-left:0.5em;">
<div>Okay, I'm in the right place.</div>
<div>…and, yeah, I got the time right so, what the…</div>
<div><em>[Looking more closely at the phone's screen.]</em></div>
<div style="background-color:WhiteSmoke;color:Black;padding:0.5em;width:20em;margin:auto;">Thursday, July 25, 2013</div>
<div>…and today is?</div>
<div><em>[Another finger-swipe—downward from the top edge of the screen—to reveal the phone's “notification area.” with current date]</em></div>
<div style="background-color:MidnightBlue;color:White;font-size:80%;padding:0.625em;width:25em;margin:auto;">Thu, Jul 18, 2013</div>
<div>Dangit!!</div>
<div>Hmmm… Maybe I should learn to use a calendar.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Consider what it would've taken to figure this out before I had a smart phone. Forget about looking at the email, and calling wouldn't have been an option. Since I hadn't phoned <abbr title="Institute for Dismantling Racism">IDR</abbr>'s office before, the number wouldn't have been in my contact list. I would've needed to go upstairs to the office and—assuming anyone was there at <em>lunchtime</em>—ask if I was mistaken about the day/time/location.</p>
<p>Today, it took less than two minutes to figure out that I'd gotten the date wrong—I was a week early! Furthermore, had I chosen not to write a blog post, no one else need have known about it. For many, this might mean avoiding a minor inconvenience. However, given the frustration and embarrassment that accompanies such mishaps and their frequency for those of us living with AD/HD, this represents a noticeable improvement in quality of life.</p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-59074004623858156872013-03-26T16:39:00.001-04:002013-03-26T16:41:19.541-04:00Abuse of AD/HD Medication: Sensational News vs. Important Information<p><small>The following post began as an email message about an article published in the <cite>New York Times</cite> the first weekend of February. Apparently, I saved the message draft, but forgot to finish and send it. Upon finding it this afternoon, I thought the content more appropriate as a blog post, and I have edited it accordingly.</small></p>
<p style="padding-left:2em;text-indent:-2em;"><small>Schwarz, Alan. “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/us/concerns-about-adhd-practices-and-amphetamine-addiction.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">Drown in a Stream of Prescriptions.</a>” <cite>New York Times</cite>. February 3, 2013.</small></p>
<hr/>
<p>As someone who takes stimulant medication for AD/HD, I am ambivalent about this kind of media attention. Each person reads such an article with preexistent bias. For some it reinforces the belief that these medications are dangerous. For others it serves as evidence of fear-mongering and the stigmatization of mental ill-health by news media.</p>
<p>Here the subject is the abuse of stimulant medications prescribed for AD/HD, or perhaps, more broadly, the responsibility of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals for the health and safety of those in their care. However, regardless of the topic, so long as it is contentious, the same pattern ensues.</p>
<p>Each side selects a few facts to justify its position and to defend against the opposition. These selections have little to do with the information's relevance to the wider population. The driving question is “Will people react to this information with emotion?” As a result, the information chosen tends to concern only a few specific individuals. Information lacking sufficient emotional “punch,” even if relevant to far more people, goes unmentioned.</p>
<p>The rift between sides grows larger. Meaningful conversations about the issue become less common. The information that is useful and relevant to the most people gets the least circulation.</p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-38083701301716093132012-11-09T12:32:00.001-05:002012-11-09T12:34:37.072-05:00Web Feeds for Mental Health Advocates<p>Note: All feeds listed provide fee-free content, feeds with open-licensed content are indicated.</p>
<style type="text/css"><!--
a.feed,a.feed:link,a.feed:visited,a.feed:active,a.feed:hover,a.feed:focus,span.feed {
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vertical-align:middle;
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font-size:90%;
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<h4>
New to web feeds?</h4>
<p>Web feeds—sometimes called <q>newsfeeds</q> or just <q>feeds</q>, often prefixed with the feed format (e.g. RSS, Atom), and usually (but not always) indicated with this <span class="feed"><span>[orange news feed icon]</span></span> feed icon—are a great way to get information from several sources all in one place. To use them, you'll need a feed reader. A couple of my favorites are <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/">Google Reader</a> (web) and <a href="http://www.pulse.me/">Pulse</a> (Android, iPhone/iPad, or web).</p>
<h4>Blogs</h4>
<dl>
<dt class="blog"><a href="http://www.ldonline.org/ldnews/">LD News</a> <a class="feed" href="http://www.ldonline.org/ldnews/?theme=rss"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="description">Learning disability and childhood mental health news headlines with descriptions from <a href="http://www.ldonline.org/">LD Online</a> (a service of Washington, DC PBS affiliate, WETA-TV).</dd>
<dt class="blog"><a href="http://mentalhealthcarereform.org">Mental Healthcare Reform</a> <a class="feed" href="http://mentalhealthcarereform.org/feed/"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="site"><a href="http://www.thenationalcouncil.org/">National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare</a></dd>
<dt class="blog"><a href="http://blog.nami.org/">NAMI Blog</a> <a class="feed" href="http://blog.nami.org/feeds/posts/default"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="site">National Alliance for Mental Illness</dd>
<dt class="blog"><a href="http://alert.psychiatricnews.org/">Psychiatric News Alert</a> <a class="feed" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/PsychiatricNewsAlert?format=xml"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="site"><em>Psychiatric News</em>; American Psychiatric Publishing.</dd>
<dd class="description">The blog from the <em>Psychiatric News</em> sees new content most weekdays, and the feed contains full posts. Despite some redundancy, both the blog and the newsletter (below) are worth keeping an eye on. The newsletter contains information never posted to the blog, and blog posts sometimes contain information that doesn't appear in the newsletter until two or more issues in the future.</dd>
<dt class="blog"><a href="http://blog.samhsa.gov/">SAMHSA Dialogue Blog</a> <a class="feed" href="http://blog.samhsa.gov/feed/"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="site">Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services.</dd>
<dd class="description">Contains <q cite="http://blog.samhsa.gov/about/">…up-to-date information including articles from SAMHSA staff, announcements of new programs, links to reports, grant opportunities, and ways to connect to other resources…</q> (<a href="http://blog.samhsa.gov/about/">“About”</a>, SAMHSA Blog.).</dd>
<dt class="blog"><a href="http://www.twloha.com/blog/">TWLoHA Blog</a> <a class="feed" href="http://www.twloha.com/blog/rss.php"><span>feed</span></a> & <a href="http://www.twloha.com/news.php">TWLoHA News</a> <a class="feed" href="http://www.twloha.com/news_rss.php"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="site">To Write Love on Her Arms</dd>
</dl>
<h4>Journals and other Publications</h4>
<dl>
<dt><a href="http://www.samhsa.gov/data/">Data, Outcomes, and Quality</a> <a class="feed" href="http://www.samhsa.gov/data/DOQRSS.aspx"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="site">Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services.</dd>
<dd class="description">Reports and data sets related to behavioral health, mental illness, and substance abuse.</dd>
<dt class="journal"><em><a href="http://www.hindawi.com/journals/drt/contents/">Depression Research and Treatment</a></em> <a class="feed" href="http://www.hindawi.com/journals/drt/rss.xml"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="site">Open-access (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0); Hindawi Publishing.</dd>
<dt class="journal"><em><a href="http://www.plosone.org/">PLoS ONE</a></em> Alerts: <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/browse.action?field=subject&selectedSubjects=Mental+Health">Mental Health</a> <a class="feed" href="http://feeds.plos.org/plosone/MentalHealth"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="site">Open-access (Creative Commons Attribution 2.5); Public Library of Science.</dd>
<dt class="journal"><i><a href="http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/">Psychiatric News</a></i> <a class="feed" href="http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/rss/site_4/61.xml"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="site">Bi-weekly newsletter from the American Psychiatric Association.</dd>
<dd class="description">This feed is updated when a new issue is published (alternate Fridays) and contains headlines (with links) for the latest issue.</dd>
<dt class="journal oa"><em><a href="http://www.nature.com/tp/">Translational Psychiatry</a></em> <a class="feed" href="http://feeds.nature.com/tp/rss/current?format=xml"><span>feed</span></a></dt>
<dd class="site">Open-access (Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 or Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0); Nature Publishing Group.</dd>
<dd class="description">Contents for the current issue with link, author(s), and full citation.</dd>
</dl>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-43527484849389599402012-05-03T21:08:00.000-04:002012-05-03T21:19:12.150-04:00Thoughts on Software (lacking) Usability: Electronic Medical Records<p>This post is written in response to the <time datetime="2012-04-30">April 30</time> post <a href="http://e-patients.net/archives/2012/04/globe-article-on-emrs-status-and-the-safety-issue.html" target="_blank">Globe article on <abbr title="Electronic Medical Record">EMR</abbr>s: status and the safety issue</a> on the <a href="http://e-patients.net/" target="_blank">e-patients.net</a> blog.</p>
<p>The abundance of hard-to-use software is the only issue that repeatedly gives me reason to reconsider my decision to leave the programming field.</p>
<p>Here's my take on the origin of the problem:</p>
<p>In order to develop software with good (much less excellent) usability, the design process must include collecting data about day-to-day operations in the context where the software will be used. That rarely happens. Instead, the standard process is to meet with a ‘customer’ and discuss their requirements. Often, the ‘customer’ in that meeting is a management-level company representative with little personal experience with the nitty-gritty of those day-to-day operations and who will seldom (if ever) use the software that's being developed.</p>
<p>It's a poor substitute, at best, and leads to a functional but hard to use end-product. At best, the result is <q>cream of the crap.</q></p>
<p>An better approach would borrow an number of methods, including participant observation, from cultural anthropology to gather data about how information is obtained, used, and communicated in day-to-day operations.</p>
<p>For <abbr title="Electronic Medical Record">EMR</abbr> software, this would mean data collection in in various healthcare facilities. It would require following staff to observe information flow; perhaps even hands-on experience working in an information-saturated non-clinical role.</p>
<p>The executive rumored to have scoffed at the idea of usability as a criterion probably understood this—specifically, he probably understood the kind of time and resources (i.e. money) necessary to develop software specifications the right way. That is, he understood that it would cut into his bottom line more than he was willing to accept.</p>
<p>After all, the only thing with such amazing ability to trump common sense is concern for one's own wallet.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-56383882628891274702012-01-26T21:16:00.002-05:002012-02-02T21:55:03.135-05:00Great Website! …with a not-so-great RSS Feed<p>In the last year, I've become a bit of an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS" target="_blank"><abbr title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</abbr></a> junkie. I've also developed some rather strong opinions on the nature of feed content.</p>
<p>It isn't that I didn't use RSS feeds before, but — aside from <a href="http://www.google.com/ig" target="_blank">iGoogle</a> page widgets for <a href="http://lifehacker.com/" target="_blank">Lifehacker</a>'s headlines and the <a href="http://calibre-ebook.com/whats-new" target="_blank">release notes</a> for the latest version of <a href="http://calibre-ebook.com/" target="_blank">Calibre</a> — I couldn't find a natural place in my life to use a newsreader application.What changed? I got a smart phone. (My phone and newsreader app of choice are topics for another time.)</p>
<p>However, upon becoming a regular user of RSS feeds, I quickly acquired a sense for both good and not-so-good feeds. I also discovered that the quality of the content on a website can be surprisingly unhelpful for predicting the quality of newsfeed content.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ldonline.org/" target="_blank">LD OnLine</a> is a good illustration.</p>
<p>The website, <a href="http://ldonline.org/">ldonline.org</a> is excellent! It's hands down one of my favorites on the topic of learning differences, and I highly recommend it. The content is well organized and addresses a fairly wide variety of audiences. The design is clean and professional, yet still friendly and approachable. Are there points that I would take issue with? Of course, but most are ubiquitous interface issues I've learned to tolerate (or hide).</p>
<p>In concept, the primary RSS feed "<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ldonline/news?format=xml" target="_blank">LD OnLine Daily News</a>" is equally good — noteworthy headlines about learning differences and special education from a variety of Internet news sources. The problem is implementation. These were the three latest items in the feed when I started writing this post. I reformatted things to fit into a blog post and added the character counts in the left margin.</p>
<style type="text/css"><!--
dl.example {border:1px solid silver;padding:0.5em;margin:1em auto 1em 2em;}
a.RSS-title {font-weight:strong;margin:0px;}
span.RSS-pubDate {font-size:small;font-weight:normal;}
dl.example dd { margin-left:3em }
dl.example span.note { display:inline-block;clear:left;float:left;vertical-align:baseline;font-family:Yanone Kaffeesatz,sans-serif;font-size:80%;width:3.75em;color:#9E9E9E;}
dd.RSS-content p { text-indent:-3em; clear:right; }
dl.example dt.cite { font-size:x-small;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:1em;}
--></style>
<dl class="example">
<dt class="cite">Content within this box is from <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/ldonline/news?format=xml" target="_blank"><em>LD OnLine Daily News</em> http://feeds.feedburner.com/ldonline/news?format=xml</a> (Accessed 26 Jan 2012).</dt>
<dt>
<a class="RSS-title" href="http://www.ldonline.org/ldnews/Brain_Scans_Spot_Early_Signs_of_Dyslexia" target="_blank">Brain Scans Spot Early Signs of Dyslexia</a><br />
<span class="RSS-pubDate">January 26, 2012 09:00</span>
</dt>
<dd class="RSS-content"><p><span class="note">192 chars</span>Instead of waiting for a child to experience reading delays, scientists now say they can identify the reading problem even before children start school, long before they become labeled as poor…</p>
<p><span class="note">496 chars</span>Stay current on the latest LD and ADHD news by signing up today for our free LD NewsLine service. Each week, you'll receive an e-mail with approximately three to seven of the top news headlines on learning disabilities, ADHD, special education, and other issues. LD Newsline is also available as an RSS Feed. A weekly version of LD NewsLine is also available. Each LD NewsLine includes direct links to the publication in which the headlines appeared and short excerpts from the original articles.</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<a class="RSS-title" href="http://www.ldonline.org/ldnews/Special_Educators_Borrow_from_Brain_Studies" target="_blank">Special Educators Borrow from Brain Studies</a><br />
<span class="RSS-pubDate">January 26, 2012 09:00</span>
</dt>
<dd class="RSS-content">
<p><span class="note">195 chars</span>While some educators remain skeptical, brain research is slowly migrating from the lab into the classroom, both in predicting which students may have learning difficulties and intervening to help…</p>
<p><span class="note">496 chars</span>Stay current on the latest LD and ADHD news by signing up today for our free LD NewsLine service. Each week, you'll receive an e-mail with approximately three to seven of the top news headlines on learning disabilities, ADHD, special education, and other issues. LD Newsline is also available as an RSS Feed. A weekly version of LD NewsLine is also available. Each LD NewsLine includes direct links to the publication in which the headlines appeared and short excerpts from the original articles.</p>
</dd>
<dt>
<a class="RSS-title" href="http://www.ldonline.org/ldnews/Apps_for_Children_with_Dyslexia" target="_blank">Apps for Children with Dyslexia</a><br />
<span class="RSS-pubDate">January 26, 2012 09:00</span>
</dt>
<dd class="RSS-content">
<p><span class="note">193 chars</span>The parent of a second grader newly diagnosed with dyslexia wrote me asking if I knew of any apps that might help her son with reading and math. She'd searched and come up with nothing — and so…</p>
<p><span class="note">496 chars</span>Stay current on the latest LD and ADHD news by signing up today for our free LD NewsLine service. Each week, you'll receive an e-mail with approximately three to seven of the top news headlines on learning disabilities, ADHD, special education, and other issues. LD Newsline is also available as an RSS Feed. A weekly version of LD NewsLine is also available. Each LD NewsLine includes direct links to the publication in which the headlines appeared and short excerpts from the original articles.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p>Even without the character counts, two things are readily apparent about the second paragraph of each item: (1) it's considerably longer than the first, and (2) it's the same in all three items. The character counts show that the second paragraph isn't just longer, it's more than 2½ times longer!</p>
<p>On closer scrutiny, I noticed two more issues. While the longer second paragraph is promoting LD Online's <q>LD NewsLine service</q> and encouraging the reader to sign up for the service, it doesn't provide a link to the signup page. Additionally, the fourth sentence — the one beginning <q>A weekly version…</q> — is redundant. The reader already learned, in the second sentence, the service sends a weekly email.</p>
<p>I'm really disappointed that such a great website has so many problems in its RSS feed. If the feed content anywhere near the same quality as the website content, I'd have an RSS widget listing those headlines on this blog.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-12909564355548172232010-12-31T12:48:00.002-05:002010-12-31T12:51:53.126-05:00NPR's Confused Response<p>Earlier this week, NPR sent the following response to <a target="_blank" href="http://adhdgiraffe.blogspot.com/2010/12/real-health-conditions-skeptics-and.html">my comment</a> about <a target="_blank" href="http://www.npr.org/2010/12/23/132291795/This-Placebo-Could-Be-The-Drug-For-You">a segment from "All Things Considered" last Friday</a>:</p>
<div style="outline:1px solid #ccc;padding:0.25em;margin:1em">
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<table class="mail_data">
<tbody>
<tr><th>from</th><td>npr_response@npr.org <npr_response@npr.org></td></tr>
<tr><th>date</th><td>Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 12:17 PM</td></tr>
<tr><th>subject</th><td>Re: Real health conditions, skeptics, and satire... not funny. – Message ID:217142</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="npr_mail">
Response to Message #217142:<br />
Dear Shelley,<br />
<br />
Thank you for contacting NPR.<br />
<br />
We appreciate you sharing your concerns with us. We strive to offer the highest quality of news and information available. Listener feedback helps us to accomplish this goal.<br />
<br />
We welcome both criticism and praise, and your thoughts will be taken into consideration.<br />
<br />
Thank you for listening, and for your continued support of public broadcasting. For the latest news and information, visit NPR.org.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/12/23/132281484/fake-pills-can-work-even-if-patients-know-it" target="_blank">http://www.npr.org/blogs/<wbr></wbr>health/2010/12/23/132281484/<wbr></wbr>fake-pills-can-work-even-if-<wbr></wbr>patients-know-it</a><br />
Sincerely,<br />
Alan<br />
NPR Services<br />
202-513-3232<br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/" target="_blank">www.npr.org</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p>Nice form letter folks, but I think you missed the point. My comment was about a piece from "All Things Considered," not a health news segment.</p>
<p>I wrote 'em back yesterday, and this time I included the url for the subject of my comment.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-46179604709128957622010-12-24T11:57:00.000-05:002010-12-24T11:57:27.028-05:00Real health conditions, skeptics, and satire... not funny.<p>I just sent NPR's "All Things Considered" the following comment concerning the satirical commercial for 'Placebo' at the end of yesterday's segment "<a href="http://www.npr.org/2010/12/23/132291795/This-Placebo-Could-Be-The-Drug-For-You">This 'Placebo' Could Be The Drug For You</a>."</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As I listened to the brief intro to your satirical commercial for 'Placebo,' I thought, "This should be good."</p>
<p>My expectation quickly changed to sadness... Rickets? You realize this serious vitamin deficiency is still all too common in many parts of the world, right?</p>
<p>And then to offense... Attention deficit disorder? Both the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization recognize this condition. Still, parents of children with ADD and adults with the condition endure jokes and skepticism.</p>
<p>Would "All Things Considered" have aired a satirical commercial that suggested 'Placebo' for anemia and schizophrenia? I don't think so. I expect NPR to present facts about misunderstood medical conditions, not contribute to skepticism and stigma by mocking.</p></blockquote>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-42219365013671845392010-06-22T12:03:00.001-04:002010-06-28T08:10:16.077-04:00Renovation in ProgressI recently decided to have another go at blogging.<br />
<br />
Done:<br />
<ul><li>New page layout.</li>
<li>New headline. </li>
</ul>Started: <br />
<ul><li>New design. </li>
<li>New page content.</li>
<li>New news feeds.</li>
</ul><ul></ul>…more to come.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-76884897243217264542009-05-13T22:44:00.001-04:002009-05-13T22:47:11.929-04:00What a concept!?<a href="http://www.additudemag.com/adhd-web/article/4615.html">ADDitude: How to Start an ADHD Blog</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-4394112113880619672007-12-31T15:31:00.000-05:002013-07-20T16:35:30.071-04:00My AD/HD Library<span style="font-size:85%;">Books about AD/HD that I own:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Amen, Daniel G. <span style="font-style: italic;">Healing ADD: the breakthrough program that allows you to see and heal the six types of attention deficit disorder</span>. New York: Berkeley, 2001.<br /><br />Freed, Jeffrey and Laurie Parsons. <span style="font-style: italic;">Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World: unlocking the potential of your ADD child</span>. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.<br /><br />Hallowell, Edward M. and John J. Ratey. <span style="font-style: italic;">Answers to Distraction</span>. New York: Bantam, 1994.<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />---. Delivered from Distraction: getting the most out of life with attention deficit disorder</span>. New York: Ballantine, 2005.<br /><br />Kelly, Kate and Peggy Ramundo. <span style="font-style: italic;">You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy: the classic self-help book for adults with attention deficit disorder</span>. 2d ed. New York: Scribner, 2006.<br /><br />Kolberg, Judith and Kathleen Nadeau. <span style="font-style: italic;">ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life</span>. New York: Routledge, 2002.<br /><br />Maté, Gabor. <span style="font-style: italic;">Scattered: how attention deficit disorder originates and what you can do about it</span>. New York: Dutton, 1999.<br /><br />Solden, Sari. <span style="font-style: italic;">Journeys Through ADDulthood: discover a new sense of identity and meaning while living with attention deficit disorder</span>. New York: Walker & Company, 2002.<br /><br />Tenny-Brittian, William. <span style="font-style: italic;">Prayer for People who Can’t Sit Still</span>. St. Louis: Chalice, 2005.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-71796923555397683772007-05-07T20:47:00.000-04:002007-05-07T20:58:57.318-04:00Two books about clutterFrom the article "Saying Yes to Mess" in the April - May 2007 issue of <a href="http://www.additudemag.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">ADDitude</span></a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life </span>by Irwin Kula (Hyperion)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder</span> by David H. Freedman and Eric Abrahamson (Little Brown & Company)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-34316996847217999312007-04-26T19:13:00.000-04:002007-04-26T20:24:30.751-04:00So much noise!It was very, very noisy on my way to school this morning. Way too noisy!<br /><br />It reminded me of, when I was a little kid, covering my ears when my dad would use the circular saw or table saw--I referred to the former as the "screamer saw" because of it's loud high pitched sound. My parents have often told me how I cried (likely in pain) when, as a toddler, they took me along with them to see "Start Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." I allegedly fell asleep at some point during the movie, but there were many complaints that the sound volume in the theater was <span style="font-weight: bold;">very </span>loud that day.<br /><br />Today it was the lawnmowers, weed-eaters, and small tractors in use by university groundskeepers that had my "inner 5-year-old" desperately wanting to cover her ears and run--or scream. It's not that the sound was painful, but that there was so much of it and that it was so loud. The accompanying anxiety was a kind of sensory overload--like when too many people are talking at once.<br /><br />I've recently read that some people with ADHD are especially sensitive to light, sound, and touch<span style="font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super;">1,2</span>.<br /><br />Light and touch I'd already recognized in myself. I seldom go outside without sunglasses on sunny days in spring or summer . I vividly remember experiencing the "tags-in-my-clothes-drive-me-bonkers" syndrome as a small child. In fact, my mom once asked my grandmother to re-sew one of my nightshirts with cotton thread--it was originally made with stiff, plastic "invisible" thread, which itched in a way I absolutely could not stand.<br /><br />I'd never thought about the sound sensitivity until today--at least not in that negative way. In one book, the author describes the most sound sensitive person he'd worked with--a boy who could determine what word someone was writing by the sounds of the pencil on the paper<span style="font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super;">3</span>. When reading this, I noted that I too could hear fluorescent light bulbs (in very quiet rooms) and that I have an unusually good sense of directional hearing. I can often hear the high pitched sound of a CRT (cathode ray tube) computer monitor or muted TV from several feet away and behind a closed door.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super;">1</span> Jeffrey Freed and Laurie Parsons. <span style="font-style: italic;">Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World: unlocking the potential of your ADD child</span> (Simon & Schuster: New York, 1997), 56, 58-61.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super;">2</span>Daniel G. Amen. <span style="font-style: italic;">Healing ADD: the breakthrough program that allows you to see and heal the six types of attention deficit disorder</span> (Berkeley Publishing Group: New York, 2001), 14-6.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super;">3</span> Freed and Parsons, 56-7.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-63828542770024633972007-04-17T22:40:00.000-04:002007-04-17T22:48:09.113-04:00My days are packed, and that sucks.This week, my days are packed. I have stuff in the morning, stuff in the afternoon, stuff in the evening. Today was like that. Tomorrow will be like that. Thursday will be like that. Friday? Maybe not. Yesterday wasn't, but I napped most of the evening. Very tired, and I had a headache.<br /><br />Some of the "stuff" will be fun. Some is class. Class is usually fun once I get there. <br /><br />Getting places -- seldom fun. Getting places <span style="font-style: italic;">on time</span> -- often stressful. <br /><br />I've read that people with ADHD know two kinds of time: now, and not-now. I've read that we suffer from "time-blindness." I say, I always forget to remember how much time it takes to do things -- with very few exceptions. It takes 30 minutes to travel between the university and my parents' house. If I absolutely <span style="font-style: italic;">must </span>be on time for something, I should allow 45 minutes in case there's an accident on the highway or I get behind a farm tractor on the country roads.<br /><br />This week, my days are packed. And it sucks.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5664451739080461076.post-21433677449776131382007-04-17T21:28:00.000-04:002007-04-17T21:53:05.666-04:00Why I'm a giraffe.<span style="font-size:130%;">Ok... of course I'm not <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span> a giraffe.</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />But in another life or another universe...<br />I might have been, or I might like to be.<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">When I was little, I loved giraffes. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The family legend is that at the end of a visit to my grandparents' house when I was still very small, I refused to let go of a green giraffe from a Noah's Ark playset. I had named him "Raff Giraffe." It was time to go home. I wouldn't put down the giraffe. My grandparents eventually told my mom just to let me take it home. Over twenty years later, "Raff Giraffe" lives on top of a bookshelf in my room at my parents' house.<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Today, I still love giraffes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">They're oddly-shaped. Extra-long necks, long legs, spots, two or more small antlers, long black tounges -- giraffes are an odd assembly of features. Yet, they're beautiful! They're beautiful not in spite of their odd assembly of features, but because of it.<br /><br />I've always been a bit odd. Growing up, I never quite fit in -- not with classmates at school, not with the cousins near my age, not with any of the typical peer groups. My interests were different. I didn't like sports. I didn't care who had a crush on whom. I liked to read. I liked to watch science-fiction shows on television. I liked to draw and make things.<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">And sometimes it would be nice to have a giraffe around.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Giraffes have a different view of the surrounding territory. They can see trouble coming from much farther off than, at 5'2", I could ever imagine. In my life, it would be nice to have someone who can see trouble coming from far off. Here I mean "trouble" in a more metaphorical context. I'm not particularly worried about an attacking pride of lions showing up on the university campus. But troubles often arise in life; troubles can be sneaky. For me, troubles can grab me by the throat before I even realize they have teeth.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06038292178948444381noreply@blogger.com0