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Theory - Practice Transfer. Much lip-service and not enough action? This in relation to Healthcare
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Thoughts on bringing quality Healthcare to the people who need it, wherever they are.

During the past 34 years circumstances have led me to accompanying my wife to four of the five continents and to visiting hospitals and universities in all of them. In the case of P.R.China this has been very frequent since 2007.

As the "permanent observer", I have formed a view of that profession and the people who work in it, with all their achievement and pride, hard work and ambition. Leaving aside the politics (not my “cup-of-tea”), I have been both greatly impressed and sometimes a little disappointed.

I have personally met a large number of this relatively small group of practitioners and academics who roam the world holding lectures and taking part in seminars and work-shops as well as discussing the future of their profession.

In reflection, however, I had a growing impression that across the physical, linguistic and cultural boundaries that separate people, there is neither a wide nor deep transfer of ideas and practices taking place across borders – of course there is some. Talking to the grass roots, I discover that they have little or no idea of how their profession is practised in other countries, even those with whom they have a common language.

About fourteen years ago, I started to develop an idea on how to approach this problem and to identify in what way my wife and I could play some part to improve the situation. By 2007, with the technical and economic changes which were taking place in the world of communication of information, a plan started to crystallise. We made it our aim to achieve high value, low cost research and to make this available for interested parties, without charge, worldwide.

In 2009 Florence e.V. was registered in Hannover, Germany (www.florence-research.org) and has been engaged in various scientific projects in the field of Nursing and Nursing Management with three projects recently presented at international venues during the year 2013. In 2014, Florence sponsored a photographic exhibition at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover in Germany, depicting Nursing and its role in healthcare in a hospital. Most projects of Florence involve more than one country and hospitals/universities of varying sizes and ownership, both public and private.

Florence attends various conferences and congresses both presenting completed projects and discussing future cooperation.

Only time, and as much help as we can muster, will tell if we are to be successful. The countries involved so far have included Germany, Austria, Ghana, Cambodia, Israel, Egypt, Switzerland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Iceland, India, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Thailand, Turkey, Poland, Ukraine, Mexico, Ghana, P.R.China, Taiwan, Canada and the U.S.A.

A.Altwarg, Hannover, Germany - (2005-the present) - latest update: December 2018

Florence e.V.