Nosokinetics is the science/subject of measuring and modelling the process of care in

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and

social care Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

systems.'' Nosokinetics'' brings together the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words for ''noso'': disease and ''kinetics'': movement.

Black box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

models are currently used to plan changes in health and social care systems. These input-output models overlook the process of inpatient care, as a result suboptimal decisions are made. Nosokinetics, (analogous to

Pharmacokinetics Pharmacokinetics (from Ancient Greek ''pharmakon'' "drug" and ''kinetikos'' "moving, putting in motion"; see chemical kinetics), sometimes abbreviated as PK, is a branch of pharmacology dedicated to describing how the body affects a specific su ...

), seeks to develop dynamic methods which measure and model the process of inpatient care. The aim is to develop a scientific base to underpin the planning of sustainable health and social care systems.

Establishment

Nosokinetics is a new ''science'' that was established in the UK in the early 1990s by Prof Peter H Millard after publishing his PhD thesis. In 2004 Nosokinetics group newsletter was established.

Origin

Prof Peter H Millard writes about Nosokinetics : "If the random forces of wind and tide can make such a beautiful statue (referring to an

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...

), how much better could mankind do if a new

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

was developed which explains the complex processes of health and social care. Until new methods of planning health and social care services to meet the needs of an

ageing Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biol ...

population are introduced, service delivery will stumble on from

crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

to crisis. The world population is ageing and sustainable systems of health care need to be developed." He has established the nosokinetics group of interested

researcher Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

s. The group collaborates to organize

conferences A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

and disseminates

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...

of nosokinetics and other researchers' research and practical use of modelling to enhance decision making in health and social care systems.

Network

The Nosokinetics Group has succeeded in attracting a lot of researchers. Nosokinetics interested people are present in many countries including

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, UK &

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. They are from different disciplines ranging from health care providers to management scientists. The news related to nosokinetics is shared to the network through the bimonthly newsletter ''Nosokinetics News''Nosokinetics newsletter archive
/ref> which helps to communicate papers, conferences and events of interest to the Nosokinetics network.

References

{{reflist Medical terminology Policy Health care Health economics

Establishment

Origin

Network

See also

References