Addendum to Informatics for Health 2017: Advancing both science and practice

This article presents presentation and poster abstracts that were mistakenly omitted from the original publication

The Promise of Health Information Technology: Ensuring that Florida's Children Benefit

Substantial policy interest in supporting the adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT) by the public and private sectors over the last 5 -- 7 years, was spurred in particular by the release of multiple Institute of Medicine reports documenting the widespread occurrence of medical errors and poor quality of care (Institute of Medicine, 1999 & 2001). However, efforts to focus on issues unique to children's health have been left out of many of initiatives. The purpose of this report is to identify strategies that can be taken by public and private entities to promote the use of HIT among providers who serve children in Florida

Technology for Good: Innovative Use of Technology by Charities

Technology for Good identifies ten technologies being used by charitable organizations in innovative ways. The report briefly introduces each technology and provides examples of how those technologies are being used.Examples are drawn from a broad spectrum of organizations working on widely varied issues around the globe. This makes Technology for Good a unique repository of inspiration for the public and private sectors, funders, and other change makers who support the creation and use of technology for social good

A data-driven agent based simulation platform for early health economics device evaluation

Health economics is a relatively new but growing field within the discipline of economics and is concerned with making the best use of scarce resources. Early health economic estimates of new medical devices, in particular, can assist producers of health technology in making appropriate product design and investment decisions. It allows companies to understand their likely market and possible reimbursement more thoroughly. Despite the many advantages of point-of-care testing the key problem facing decision makers at the moment is the poor understanding of the potential value gained from new or alternative product or service offerings. Understanding medical device features in the wider market place can be addressed used agent based modelling and simulation (ABMS). In this paper we examine the use of ABMS underpinned by a novel data-driven approach to model generation. A sepsis use case is presented where pathway and device characteristics are defined using the ‘headroom’ method and a semantic evidence capture application. Types and sub-types are automatically extracted into agent models and subsequently executed in our own data-driven agent based simulation platform (TEASIM). A highly typed data-driven approach is evaluated in a manner that clearly presents the technical aspects of TEASIM platform and its practical usage. Initial evaluation of a data-driven approach (and the TEASIM platform) is positive. The approach offers a viable guide to product development in a cost-effective manner, especially in the earlier stages when deciding between potential product configurations or features.Innovate UK provided the funding for the Tea-PoCT project

Emergency Button Application - Android Systems

The investigation of emergency situations is a complex field of study which involves different perspectives. Individual‘s and public‘s safety is a very important issue, the established emergency response system is the main core of resolving these emergency situations, we are already familiar with the normal emergency reporting system like calling 911 or using emergency phones, But this project aims to create an application that can assist users in emergency situations and provide users with instant details of their location to send to family, friends, or authorities in panic & emergency situations, another option other than public emergency phone systems and other forms of reporting in emergency situations for an easier and friendlier approach, thus improving public safety. The methodology used to complete this application is agile software development methodology which is based on iterative & incremental development that is rapid & flexible. The tools for this project include Eclipse Indigo which is a popular platform to develop Android Applications with the aid of a variety of software tools in design and user friendly software development such as Android ADT tools. In conclusion, the application‘s is successfully developed and met its main objective which is to help users broadcast their message in an emergency situation whenever they need help and can‘t easily get it or find it but with today‘s world mobile software development, public safety shall be more personalized

Integrating Volunteered Geographic Information into Pervasive Health Computing Applications

In this paper we describe the potential for using Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in pervasive health computing. We use the OpenStreetMap project as a case-study of a successful VGI project and investigate how it can be expanded and used as a source of spatial information for pervasive computing technologies particularly in the area of access to information on healthcare services

The Blended Learning Unit, University of Hertfordshire: A Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Evaluation Report for HEFCE

The University of Hertfordshire’s Blended Learning Unit (BLU) was one of the 74 Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs) funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) between 2005 and 2010. This evaluation report follows HEFCE’s template. The first section provides statistical information about the BLU’s activity. The second section is an evaluative reflection responding to 13 questions. As well as articulating some of our achievements and the challenges we have faced, it also sets out how the BLU’s activity will continue and make a significant contribution to delivery of the University of Hertfordshire’s 2010-2015 strategic plan and its aspirations for a more sustainable future. At the University of Hertfordshire, we view Blended Learning as the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance the learning and learning experience of campus-based students. The University has an excellent learning technology infrastructure that includes its VLE, StudyNet. StudyNet gives students access to a range of tools, resources and support 24/7 from anywhere in the world and its robustness, flexibility and ease of use have been fundamental to the success of the Blended Learning agenda at Hertfordshire. The BLU has comprised a management team, expert teachers seconded from around the University, professional support and a Student Consultant. The secondment staffing model was essential to the success of the BLU. As well as enabling the BLU to become fully staffed within the first five months of the CETL initiative, it has facilitated access to an invaluable spectrum of Blended Learning, research and Change Management expertise to inform pedagogically sound developments and enable change to be embedded across the institution. The BLU used much of its capital funding to reduce barriers to the use of technology by, for example, providing laptop computers for all academic staff in the institution, enhancing classroom technology provision and wirelessly enabling all teaching accommodation. Its recurrent funding has supported development opportunities for its own staff and staff around the institution; supported evaluation activities relating to individual projects and of the BLU’s own impact; and supported a wide range of communication and dissemination activities internally and externally. The BLU has led the embedding a cultural change in relation to Blended Learning at the University of Hertfordshire and its impact will be sustained. The BLU has produced a rich legacy of resources for our own staff and for others in the sector. The University’s increased capacity in Blended Learning benefits all our students and provides a learning experience that is expected by the new generation of learners in the 21st century. The BLU’s staffing model and partnership ways of working have directly informed the structure and modus operandi of the University’s Learning and Teaching Institute (LTI). Indeed a BLU team will continue to operate within the LTI and help drive and support the implementation of the University’s 2010-2015 Strategic plan. The plan includes ambitions in relation to Distance Learning and Flexible learning and BLU will be working to enable greater engagement with students with less or no need to travel to the university. As well as opening new markets within the UK and overseas, even greater flexibility for students will also enable the University to reduce its carbon footprint and provide a multifaceted contribution to our sustainability agenda. We conclude this executive summary with a short paragraph, written by Eeva Leinonen, our former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, which reflects our aspiration to transform Learning and Teaching at the University of Hertfordshire and more widely in the sector. ‘As Deputy Vice Chancellor at Hertfordshire I had the privilege to experience closely the excellent work of the Blended Learning Unit, and was very proud of the enormous impact the CETL had not only across the University but also nationally and internationally. However, perhaps true impact is hard to judge at such close range, but now as Vice Principal (Education) at King's College London, I can unequivocally say that Hertfordshire is indeed considered as the leading Blended Learning university in the sector. My new colleagues at King's and other Russell Group Universities frequently seek my views on the 'Hertfordshire Blended Learning' experience and are keen to emulate the successes achieved at an institutional wide scale. The Hertfordshire CETL undoubtedly achieved not only what it set out to achieve, but much more in terms of scale and impact. All those involved in this success can be justifiably proud of their achievements.’ Professor Eeva Leinonen, Vice Principal (Education), King's College, Londo

Interactive Android Application as an Assistant to care for Cat’s Health

Cats or domesticated cats have been one of the common pets among Malaysians. It is often called as housecats or simply the cats when there is no need to distinguish it from other felids and felines. Although cats had been ranked as one of the most popular pets among Malaysians besides other domesticated pets, not every individual especially the cat owners will be able to grow a healthy cat. Most of them will wait for their cats to become ill before they think about their health care. In other words, this is a wasteful and dangerous way to ensure a good health for the cats. According to the results of surveys that had been conducted, almost every of the respondents especially those who have and own cats did agreed that financial constraints would be one of the main factors that resist an individual from bringing the cats to the veterinary clinics or hospitals to have health examination and receive the necessary treatments. With the desire to fulfill the tight schedule in everyday’s life, it is impossible for an individual who have null knowledge on cats’ health to glance through the books or the internet in searching for information on how to grow a healthy cat. As a result, with the objective to provide a portable assistant with information and guidance on cats’ health, an interactive Android application will be developed to assist every individual especially cat owners to grow up a healthy cat. This application will eventually cover up every aspects of cats’ health like cats’ diseases diagnosis, information on diseases that will affect the cats, list and steps of first-aids that should be given based on different cases, and basic procedures to give medicine to the cats. Together with this application, since it will be linked to Global Positioning System (GPS), every cat owners can easily identify the locations of veterinary clinics. Interactive Android Application as an Assistant to care for Cat’s Health will be developed based on System Development Life Cycle (SDLC). All of the requirements will be gathered through different methods like distribution of questionnaires to the individuals especially cat owners as well as experts’ interviews