In the grand old tradition of “see one, do one, teach one”, here is a two-and-a-half minute video which hopes to spark some ideas on how we share information.
The video above tells the story. No need to read below unless you’re especially curious.
Background/Elaboration
Back in 2012 I picked-up a Health Roundtable Innovation Award in the “Improving Quality of Patient Care” stream for Deploying complex information via a QR Code. However, it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic kicked-in and, in keeping with public health advice, every cafe, bar, restaurant and retail outlet required customers to check-in that QR code use became as endemic as a virus.
In April 2021 I stumbled across linktree, and thought it was a cool way to collate all my social media stuff in one place (here: linktr.ee/meta4RN).
Soon afterwards, I thought it would be a cool way to collate a list of Cairns organisations that I refer to and/or recommend when at work. The first incarnation was intentionally short, but at the recommendation of Anton Saylor – an Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Hospital Liaison Officer – we added a lot of agencies to the list. Anton said something like, “Brother, some of my mob have complex lives. Let’s make sure they have access to the services they need.” That’s how linktr.ee/CairnsHelp got started.
I used QR Monkey to make the QR code because it’s free, and allows a logo/text box to be inserted into the code as a label. Tina Jenkins – an Executive Support Officer – kindly made 16 laminated swing tags featuring the QR code above. With our “home made” swing tags we conducted a small trial amongst colleagues, and surveyed them after a couple of weeks [results]. With the modest survey results in hand, the idea was pitched to the executive to print swing tags so other staff and the people they support would have easy access to the CairnsHelp list. These things take a while, of course, but it was approved that we print a couple of hundred swing tags (we used lotsa printing) for a broader trial of the QR Code.
We are not limited to using the QR code/CairnsHelp link on swing tags. Richard Oldham – a Clinical Nurse Consultant with Mental Health – has suggested a trial of wall posters in waiting rooms and the like. There have been other ideas too. For instance, it’s really handy to include the https://linktr.ee/CairnsHelp link when sending an SMS or email.
I’m planning to form a small representative committee to review the CairnsHelp content before Christmas, and every 6 months thereafter, to keep the content up to date.
That’s where we’re at in October 2021. I’m still in the process of distributing the swing cards and getting the idea out there. There’s been a fair bit of interest. As much as I’d love to chat about it with people all day, my paid job is to provide clinical support and education. It’s more time efficient and sensible if I just plonk the info here on the interwebs, and pass-on the link to let people find out about it when and if it suits them. See one. Do one. Teach one.
Share & Repurpose PRN
Maybe there will be people in other services who will find the idea handy to borrow and repurpose for their area. That’s cool with me. You are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and remix, transform, and build upon the material. I would appreciate attribution, and a similar approach to free sharing.
This info by Paul McNamara is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://meta4RN.com/brochures.
Kicking Myself/A Suggestion For You
I really wished I thought of this BEFORE printing the swing tags. Frustratingly, some older/cheaper phones still struggle with QR codes, so it would be sensible to print the URL below the QR Code to quickly and easily overcome that [example].
Of Course I’m Not Representing The Organisation That Employs Me
There is a brief glimpse of my work name tag on the video. Does that mean I am representing the organisation that employs me? No. Of course not. It’s a ridiculous question to ask. It’s like asking whether I represent the views of the Pope and the Catholic church just because I used to be an altar boy. (source: McNamara, 2012, Number 13)
I am not ashamed of where I work, and I am grateful that the organisation allowed me to progress the idea. That encouragement deserves a respectful nod, which is why I left the glimpse of my work ID tag in the video.
However, I am very careful not to conflate my amateur little Saturday-morning YouTube/TikTok videos and blog post as anything to do with “official business”. You should not conflate the two either.
End
That’s it.
If you have any suggestions or feedback, please add them to the comments section below.
Thanks for watching/reading.
Paul McNamara, 23 October 2021
Short URL: meta4RN.com/brochures
meta4RN 