Beam me up, Scotty… I’ve seen it all now!

By Pam McDonald and Emma DeRock How do you think your caregiving staff would respond if, when helping Mrs. Smith dress, all they had to do was slip her arms into a blouse, drape it over her shoulders and then let the blouse take over — straightening any wrinkles, pulling down the sleeves, and fastening itself? It’s not magic and it’s not fantasy or science fiction. It is wearable technology being developed by Dr. Helen Koo, who revealed the self-dressing blouse at Health 2.0, a symposium held last month at the Hacker Lab in midtown Sacramento. As Dr. Koo explained, the fabric utilizes corrugated origami patterns and small electrodes to accomplish the movement.

Health 2.0

Health 2.0 started as a conference series in California’s Silicon Valley with a mission to cultivate and propel health technology – especially mobile, wireless and Internet. It has expanded across the globe along with local grassroots chapters, including Health 2.0 Sacramento. Through the conference and at local meet-ups, innovators, entrepreneurs and technology enthusiasts gather to share their latest projects and discuss specific technologies. At these conferences, products are demonstrated live, company launches are announced, and speakers discuss cutting-edge developments while participants provide, often expert, feedback. The annual conference uses the latest communications technologies to increase participation through remote attendance webcasts as well as post-event video coverage made available through an online portal or flash drives. Dr. Koo is an assistant professor of Design at the University of California, Davis, and a TEDx speaker. She received her Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in clothing and textiles from Yonsei University, one of South Korea’s three SKY universities, considered the country’s best. She earned her doctorate in Design-Apparel Studies at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Her academic and professional focus is on wearable technology that provides personalized services to the user. She exhibits her designs nationally and internationally and her health care smart clothing has won “the best exhibition in the wearable computing design” award at the IEEE-International Symposium of Wearable Computers. Her recent work focuses on adding sensors to clothing to detect the wearer’s exhalation and monitor glucose levels to provide constant feedback to diabetes sufferers. She noted that her goals include “developing sustainable clothing design techniques and connecting fashion designs with new technologies for advanced aesthetic and functional values.”

Well-Rounded Wearable Technology

In March of this year Dr. Koo outlined in Comstock’s magazine six areas she considers key for well-rounded wearable technology products:

1. Durability: Electronics designed to last and components that are easily fixed

2. Ease of Care: fabrics that consumers can wash, dry and iron; non-washable electronic devices should be removable

3. Safety: Any potential safety hazards should be promoted and well explained

4. Ease of Use: functions that are simple with basic interfaces

5. Comfort: lightweight and flexible

6. Sustainability: reduce harmful social, economic and environmental overconsumption impacts (which may also grant a market edge)

Warren Smith, Ph.D., joined Dr. Koo as a presenter at the Sacramento symposium. He is a biomedical engineer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at California State University Sacramento, where he’s been developing wearable health care technologies for over 15 years. Among his current work are applications to assess physical and mental stress of surgeons and nurses while they work, activity and fall monitoring of children, and mobility and memory aids. The final presenter was Arshya Vahabzadeh, M.D., the Innovation Officer at Harvard Medical School, Massachusets General Hospital Psychiatry Adademy, who discussed how wearable technology is being applied in the field of mental health. In addition to his work at Harvard, Dr. Vahabzadeh is the Vice President of Health Strategy and Communication for Brain Power, a company that builds neuroscience-based software and hardware. The firm is currently working to transform wearable computers into neuro-assistive and educational devices for autism. His work has received over 20 national and international awards. To learn about leading market intelligence, developer competitions, upcoming conferences, and other national and international events, visit the Health 2.0 website at www.health2con.com. Once there you can also subscribe to its digital newsletter. If you are interested in senior living technology the Aging2.0 AgeTechExpo is the place to be November 19, 20 in San Francisco. Also we are conducting a very brief technology survey and would appreciate your participation. It is just three questions and does not ask for any personal information.

THE SURVEY

The results of your search have been divided into the following tabbed sections. To see search results from any of these areas of The Chicago Manual of Style Online, click on the appropriate tab. [Forum] color hyphenation I’m second-guessing myself regarding the comma and/or hyphen in the following sentence:
[u]He glanced down at her short, pale-blue gingham mini dress with shoestring straps.[/u]
Anyone’s input would be super appreciated! [Forum] track changes i was reviewing a document and after closing and reopening, my edits were no longer red; they switched to blue. in the same document i have two colors from one editor. how can i change this/make it uniform? [Forum] RE: Anybody work in Google Docs? RG, to track changes in Docs, change your mode from «Edit» to «Suggest» using the little pencil icon at the top right of the document (below the blue Share button). [Forum] RE: He is a friend of Amy or Amy’s? You’re welcome. I’m really just blue-skying here, so don’t take my answer as an answer. [Forum] RE: Something is not sitting well here. A. I agree with RG.
B. What isn’t sitting right with you regarding the sentence in blue? [Forum] RE: Capitalizing «et al.» in a title Oh, Jerry…you were [i]almost[/i] on my side and then you had to go and switch to Pixna’s. Have I no friends here? ;^)
It’ll be too late for this book (which I’m not even editing, by the way…just doing the layout on this one, but I can’t just turn of the blue pencil of my soul), but I’ve submi [Forum] RE: Commas with compound predicates? OK, RG, objections noted. Thank you.
There are some parentheticals in the above, indeed. Let me get other examples, perhaps more clear:
—
[url=https://www.google.ca/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22When+you%E2%80%99re+down+is+when+they%E2%80%99ll+try+to+get+at+you%22&gws_rd=ssl]Too Much Happines [Forum] RE: Confusion in Wording All of the above comments ring true for me as well. I wasn’t looking at the remainder of the paragraph — just the part in blue. Sometimes telling is essential in fiction, so I don’t have an issue with that. But I agree with Jerry that if this is the bulk of the book’s style, it might be problematic [Forum] RE: First person dialogue [quote=’Pixna’ pid=’15129′ dateline=’1381925377′]
I think what might be confusing you is the tense.
[/quote]
Yes, of course.
The [b]narrative present [/b]is out there for more than 40 years. Updike was one of the first users:
—
BOYS [b]are playing[/b] basketball around a telephone po [Forum] Something is not sitting well here. This is fiction. Something is bothering me about the blue sentence.
“If you don’t bring them tomorrow, you are going to get some more of this.” She gets next to him in his seat and slaps him across the face. [color=#0000CD]Todd puts his hands up to block the next volley of her blows. [/color] Introducing our third model from Runway to Every Day – the delightful Arona. Arona is 43 years old and wears a size 16 to 18. After losing ten kilos, Arona attended a Style With Cindy workshop feeling challenged by what to wear following her weight loss. She felt “frumpy” and was seeking a way to dress her new body and rediscover her personal style. Body Shape: Similar to Julie, Arona is a strong inverted triangle where most of the weight is carried through the top half of the body and through the tummy. For many women, the shoulder and bust area can be up to five per cent larger than their hips and in Arona’s case she has a very strong shoulder structure which contrasts with her great legs. Aim: To balance Arona’s body by softening her shoulder and bust area and bring the attention to her lower half. Outfit One: Casual Arona looked super chic in this layered look where the scarlet coloured cardigan and black tones worked to her features. Note that we’ve kept the bright colour atop and we’ve used a waterfall cardigan for Arona and kept her silhouette dark and all the one color to slim her down . These waterfall cardigans are great for fuller body shapes thanks to their shorter front and longer length and in thin fabrics they work well as a layering tool without adding bulk. Additionally, they’re a great alternative to classic button up cardigans that generally bring attention to the upper body (not our aim in Arona’s case). Underneath we’ve used a tone-on-tone black ensemble that can actually lengthen the body. You’ll see here that Arona looks taller and thinner. To add to this, the V-neck black blouse we’ve chosen is also a cut that works to lengthen Arona’s look. Now since Arona’s legs were worth showcasing, we’ve placed here in leather pants – yes you can wear them over 40! Remember that leather pants don’t need to be worn in a rock star fashion. In Arona’s case, the overall outfit looks quite polished yet still warm thanks to the complementing fabrics of the other clothing. Accessories were kept black and classic with ankle boots, a classic handbag and a necklace to help draw attention up to Arona’s décolletage. Waterfall Cardigan: Trenery Top: Trenery Pants: Trenery Shoes: Nine West Accessories: Lovisa, bag from Trenery With the cardigan off Outfit Two: Smart Casual Frumpy? Doubt it! Arona looks smart and sophisticated in this on-trend look. We’ve taken a leaf from this season’s trends to place Arona in a sleek check coat from Trenery made from a wool-rich fabric that is perfect for winter. The thin lapel allows for easy layering and draws attention away from Arona’s upper body. The line in the coat also creates a straight vertical line that further elongates Arona’s body. Keeping with a cool colour palette for winter, we’ve opted for a black straight shift dress, tights and knee-high boots. The cut of the dress skims over the stomach and upper areas flattering Arona’s overall shape. The only detail is around the neckline to bring the eye up to Arona’s décolletage and to further break up the outfit you’ll see Arona’s legs peeking through with tights. We’ve brought in a contrast colour through the bag with the plum colour complementing the grey and black tones of Arona’s look. Coat: Trenery Top: Trenery Pants: Trenery Shoes: Trenery Accessories: Mocha Outfit Three: Evening This was our favorite look for Arona. It is so elegant, has brought our Arona’s beautiful curves but still has her looking slim and sleek. Now, you might be thinking why we placed a pattern on Arona when we’re trying to “distract” from her upper body. However, note that we’ve used a muted pattern that is very flattering for fuller body shapes and we have it running right through the body not highlighting any particular part. In Arona’s case, it actually works to define her shape and is slimming since the foundation colour of the print is black. ( This print may not appeal to everyone, however it worked beautifully on Arona, which is the aim of this runway/ workshop ) In this look, we’ve actually utilised Arona’s shoulder structure and made use of her neckline with a bold necklace. The small waistband and elbow length sleeves in the dress help draw attention to Arona’s waist, bringing in some definition and the dress sits fittingly (not too snug) over her lower body really capturing that feminine silhouette. Again, the outfit is doing all the work so accessories were kept black and classic: low heeled shoes and a clutch. Dress: Veronika Maine Shoes: Nine West Accessories: Mocha If like Arona, you too have lost weight, it can be very challenging to begin shopping smaller. Your old clothes may be loose and unflattering or you may naturally reach for very voluminous, too-large sizes. A reminder these will always make you larger. You’ll see from our style makeover with Arona, she in no way looks large or bulky and all the clothes work beautifully to streamline and showcase her body shape. What did you think of Arona’s looks? Anything you think you might like to try? Arona and the Style With Cindy team would love to hear from you as we love to give our models as much positive feedback as possible! Love Cindy x

What to Do When You’re One Qualification Away From Your Dream Job

Jobs, like people, can possess a certain je ne sais quoi — an intangible but very real quality that sets them apart from others. For many people, that something can be the difference between a dream job and… well, just a job. The right role will challenge you, give you opportunities to grow, allow you to make a good living and help you achieve balance in life. Unfortunately, there might be something standing between you and your dream job, whether that’s three to five years of experience or just a basic knowledge of Photoshop. Although some job qualifications are non-negotiable, most employers are willing to let one or two slide for the right person. When I evaluate job candidates, I’m looking for people who are passionate team players, a good culture fit and willing to learn. In fact, I’ve hired salespeople without a smidgen of sales experience because those skills are teachable. If you’ve found your dream job, don’t let one bullet point in the job requirements stop you from going for it. If you can land an interview and impress the hiring manager, you might be able to get the job, whether you’re 100 percent qualified or not. Here’s how: 1. Do Your Homework Before you go into the interview, do some research on the company and its leaders. Study the business’s products and sales channels, read press releases and learn as much as you can about the industry. Knowledge is power because it shows the hiring manager that you’re a self-starter who’s eager to learn. 2. Dress Like the Job Is Yours Even if you don’t meet every single qualification, it’s important to carry yourself with confidence and show the hiring manager that you’re comfortable in your own skin. The old saying is true: “Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.” Wearing nice clothes and looking polished will make you seem confident — even if you aren’t — and make the hiring manager take you seriously. 3. Show How You Would Excel In addition to a killer cover letter highlighting the value you’d bring to the position, write a memo that outlines the major challenges of the role and how you’d tackle them. You can also create a slide deck with ideas on ways you could help grow the business. This shows a hiring manager exactly why and how you’d excel in the position. 4. Be Confident, Passionate and Honest Try to strike a balance between being confident in your strengths and emphasizing that you’re eager to learn to make up for any shortcomings. If you truly don’t have experience in something, own up to it. Highlight comparable areas where you do have expertise, and reiterate that you’re thrilled to have the opportunity to learn more about the industry you’re passionate about. 5. Ask Smart Questions Your interview isn’t an interrogation, so feel free to ask questions. Instead of leading with, “How much does this job pay?” or “How’s the 401(k) plan?” ask questions that show you understand the role and the company’s needs. Listen to the hiring manager’s comments, and ask relevant follow-up questions. She will appreciate your initiative and curiosity. It can be daunting to apply for your dream job if you’re missing one or two qualifications, but by demonstrating confidence in your strengths and showing how you’d excel in the role, you can often get further than you think. You just have make a strong case for yourself and show the hiring manager that you have that unbridled passion she’s looking for. Originally from Turkey, Zeynep Ilgaz and her husband co-founded Confirm Biosciences and TestCountry, where Ilgaz serves as president. Confirm Biosciences is committed to being on the cutting edge of offering new, service-oriented drug-testing technologies and was recognized as one of San Diego’s Best Places to Work in both 2013 and 2014. Professional Social Work — 11 December, 2020 Black History Month has passed but we must not stop ringing the alarm on racism in social work. The level of inaction from many within the profession’s establishment is both deafening and revealing. To quote US novelist and activist James Baldwin: «I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you [don’t] do.» Being ‘let in’ I write this article from both personal and professional perspectives. I do not speak on behalf of all Black and ethnic minority people or social workers as we are not a homogenous group. Also, I refuse to be the tokenistic ‘Black voice’ of BASW. I’m one of many Black voices in the profession. I realise that I’ve been ‘let in’ (to some extent) to express my views because, to quote Black historian and TV presenter David Olusoga, I “won’t scare the horses”: I am supposedly well-spoken and middle-class or so I’ve been told. For the record, I’m not aspiring to be a ‘nice guy’ when it comes to combating oppressive regimes and systems. ‘Niceness’ is often weaponised against people of colour. My motivation is not for career ambition or financial gain. It’s for the cause, not applause – and the cause is Black Lives Matter. My narrative is based on my lived experiences and those of other people who are routinely judged on the basis of their skin colour. Minimisation Street The prevalence of anti-black racism and the stealthy manoeuvres to gloss over our contributions and downplay our legacies is discombobulating. Some of us learn to live with the burden of our exposure in white spaces, even though it punctuates the rhythm of our everyday lives, and some do not. Most Black and ethnic minority people recognise early on that we are forced to try harder and tolerate multi-layered oppression for our endeavours and to be recognised. This is evidenced by the tiny number of Black people honoured with a statue or trophy name; the groundswell of racism aimed at Marcus Rashford for campaigning to provide meals for disadvantaged children and the avalanche of complaints and relentless racism targeted at Ashley Banjo for leading a BLM-themed dance. Interestingly, some people have likened Black actor John Boyega being cut out of the Chinese launch of a perfume advert to a photo tweeted from a Guardian Social Care Lives 2020 event in which I was cut out as a panelist. People must make their own minds up about any similarities. The reality is the list of minimisations and omissions (accidental or otherwise) for me and other Black people is endless and normalised. Critics argue that politics is for politicians and Rashford should ‘stick to football’ and Banjo should ‘stick to dancing’. These modern-day revolutionaries are accused of ‘playing the race card’ by some. Reducing our life experiences to a game of cards serves only to undermine the importance of what we say. This minimisation strategy disturbingly correlates with attempts to de-politicise social work policy, practice and education. Have social workers been ‘dumbed-down’ to simply become agents of the state? This debate has continued for decades to a point where social workers are now regarded by some as agents of social control. Being politically and socially aware is essential to promote social work values and ethics – otherwise, surely, we are just automated robots. To quote Black activist Guilaine Kinouani: “Any attempt at portraying [social work] (or any scholarly discipline) as an apolitical, decontexualisable and ‘neutral’ field of knowledge production which can operate outside of the realm of politics and ideology is not only ill-informed, it is naïve.” Does the automation of tasks that social work has become in some places stifle this type of critical and free thinking? I’d argue it does and that there has been a silent (but deliberate) shift to devoid social workers of their political nous and social activism. I’m not talking party politics here, but all the local and national activities through which people make, preserve and amend the written and unwritten rules under which we all live. The activities associated with making decisions for groups, power relations between individuals and the distribution of resources or elevated status by central government. From this perspective, politics is inextricably linked to the phenomena of conflict, cooperation, fairness, social justice and human rights. It’s a bad state of affairs when those in power use the media to corrupt our societal world view, so that to be ‘woke’ or to ‘do-good’ is considered something to sneer at. Accusations of ‘virtue signalling’ and ‘victimhood’ do not evoke compassion or humanity, but provide an insightful measure of their sensibilities. For those politicians of colour who deny ‘white privilege’ and denounce critical race theory, ‘Skin folk ain’t always kinfolk’ is an apt mantra from my upbringing. Nowadays, I take the view that some white wolves exist in Black sheep’s clothing. Let’s be clear, these people are cleverly disguised gatekeepers and handlers. White supremacy is often more palatable when it is communicated by people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds. Of course, the incentives of money and power are enough to seduce most human beings regardless of their ethnic background. I’m Black all year round not just for one month Black History Month (BHM) is not really a celebration of Black history. It’s more a filtered window of remembrance to pacify us. If those in power were serious about Black history, they would integrate it into all aspects of mainstream education. There is a very real danger of BHM, the BLM movement and anti-racism all being caricatured and side-tracked by the insidious multi-dimensional forces that exist to suffocate them. Namely, different manifestations of white supremacy and institutional ‘whiteness’. This is why we have ‘bigger fish to fry’ than Rule Britannia or whether Adele should have her hair in Bantu knots! Examples of this suffocation in social work include: racial harassment, gaslighting, and marginalisation. When white people attempt to police the dialogue and language of Black and ethnic minority people (based on what they view as palatable), this is how the ‘psychosis of whiteness’ is socialised and teaches perceived entitlement and superiority over Black people. An example of this can be seen in the responses to rap music and Black culture. Also, there are attempts to derail, discredit and devalue Black lives through social media, including through auto-generated ‘bots’ which is deeply sinister. The mission to educate, equip and empower hearts and minds on anti-racism has never felt more urgent in my lifetime. The mainstream media and politicians think BLM is old news. However, since the resurgence of the BLM movement, BASW has been at the forefront of anti-racist social work activism. BASW England has championed anti-racism in social work on a scale unrivalled by any other organisation in the profession. As an organisation, we also realise that we are not immune to the perils of white supremacy and institutional ‘whiteness’. However, BASW has shown a willingness to address and tackle these issues internally and in the profession more broadly. Cringe position statements, feeble blogs and noteworthy silences Since my last article in Community Care on promoting anti-racism in social work, there have been some decent position statements from some organisations and prominent social workers. However, there have also been some cringe statements, some nauseatingly feeble blogs and some noteworthy silences. Unfortunately, there remains a scarcity of cast-iron and explicit actions and/or commitments to anti-racism. Lightweight placatory comments like: “we are against racism and oppression in all its forms” is just not good enough anymore. Also, shamelessly flogging a blog from the only non-white staff member is a glaring attempt to tokenise the issues at hand. This is semi-skilful subterfuge to avoid addressing the real-life cause and effects of racism in social work. What message does this really convey? Far from transformative, this approach is performative allyship or lacklustre window dressing at best. You know it, I know it – we all know it. To quote Kinouani again: “When organisations perform anti-racism, it does not take long for the mask to fall… When performative committees are formed, they soon give themselves away. Justice is actually hard to fool.” Less fakery and more authenticity please. Here is a reminder of the three typical organisational responses to racism that you might want to cross-reference with the white identities table by social work academic Gurnam Singh. How does your organisation match up?

• Keep silent, keep things the same and hope all this Black Lives Matter (BLM) ‘stuff’ just blows over. This kind of inaction and paralysis of fear correlates with and reinforces perceptions of ‘white fragility’, ‘white privilege’ and white supremacy for some Black people. Such an organisational response usually commends staff for being resilient and deflects attention away from the essential redesign of systems that routinely make people suffer.
• Publish lukewarm organisational statements that recycle and regurgitate previous rhetoric on workforce unity with predictable (and borderline offensive) platitudes – often proposing only superficial changes. For example, publishing a sympathetic, but non-committal brief statement; possibly delegating responsibilities to an already overworked equalities officer or proposing minor changes to already vague policies and procedures on ‘valuing diversity’ with little or no accountability. Approaches at this level are usually well-intended, but tokenistic and overlook the nuanced obstacles and pitfalls Black people face every day. Unfortunately, this response is common.
• Publish an authentic anti-racism action plan, outlining significant reforms that commit to specific, measurable, achievable and realistic targets (suggestions below). Examples include publishing a strong mission or position statement condemning George Floyd’s murder and racism in all its forms and committing to the British Association of Social Workers’ code of ethics, anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice. This approach interlinks with the Anti-racist Commitment Framework. It sees white allies fully involved in challenging, deconstructing and dismantling racist systems in solidarity with Black people.

It is fantastic that Brighton & Hove Council are recruiting a lead practitioner for anti-racist practice on a permanent contract. My hope is that other social work employers will follow suit. At BASW England, we hope to work with employers to promote these types of innovations. Equally fabulous news is that De Montfort University have developed a fully-funded PhD Studentship on BLM, which seems like a pioneering opportunity. Also, the progress being made on Frontline’s Racial Diversity & Inclusion Action Plan is encouraging. Social work organisations must build on this impetus and swiftly (and proactively) embed anti-racist strategies into how they operate. BASW England are pleased to be working in partnership with the chief social workers for adults and various cross-sector stakeholders in developing the Workforce Racial Equality Standards for Social Care (WRES). The aspirations for the standards and interest from local authorities is promising. At this juncture, I’m unaware of any national provisions in the pipeline specifically for children’s services. Dr Muna Abdi, a leading anti-racism educator, says: “The work of anti-racism is to fight racism wherever you see it… even in yourself. The struggle cannot be found in the pages of a book. You can’t read yourself into activism. Sooner or later, you’ll have to make a choice… Do what is safe or do what is right.” I will continue with my own activism. If my contributions remain that of a muzzled, side-lined agitator, on the fringes, throwing rocks at the throne — then I’ll just continue to be authentic and stay true to myself. I do not want to appear ungrateful, but I can live without the acclaim, the ‘likes’, ‘retweets’, plaudits etc. I want revolution! So, brothers, sisters and allies – if you know your herstory, if the ancestral spirits live within you, if you know right from wrong — then now is the time to show and prove yourself. What have you done to enforce anti-racism and promote Black liberation lately? Let’s not forget the saying, “when you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression”. The only real enemy of progress is ignorance and ‘wilful blindness’. ‘One world, one race… the human race!’

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