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

Health care

Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...

 and social care systems. Nosokinetics brings together the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 words for noso: disease and kinetics: movement.

Black box

Black box

A black box is a device, object, or system whose inner workings are unknown; only the input, transfer, and output are known characteristics.The term black box can also refer to:-In science and technology:*Black box theory, a philosophical theory...

 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

Pharmacokinetics, sometimes abbreviated as PK, is a branch of pharmacology dedicated to the determination of the fate of substances administered externally to a living organism...

), seeks to develop dynamic methods which measure and model the process of inpatient care. The aim is to develop a science 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

Peter H Millard

Peter Millard FRCP is Emeritus Professor of Geriatrics, St George's, University of London and President of the UK Nosokinetics Group.Visiting Professor, University of Westminster. Editor of Nosokinetics News. President of the UK Nosokinetics Group...

 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

Iceberg

An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...

), how much better could mankind

Human

Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...

 do if a new science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

 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

Ageing or aging is the accumulation of changes in a person over time. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change. Some dimensions of ageing grow and expand over time, while others decline...

 population are introduced, service delivery will stumble on from crisis

Crisis

A crisis is any event that is, or expected to lead to, an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community or whole society...

 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

Researcher

A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...

s. The group collaborates to organize conferences

Academic conference

An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.-Overview:Conferences are usually composed of various...

 and disseminates news

News

News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...

 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

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, UK & Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. 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 which helps to communicate papers, conferences and events of interest to the Nosokinetics network.