Health literacy practices in social virtual worlds and the influence on health behaviour

This study explored how health information accessed via a 3D social virtual world and the representation of ‘self’ through the use of an avatar impact physical world health behaviour. In-depth interviews were conducted in a sample of 25 people, across 10 countries, who accessed health information in a virtual world (VW): 12 females and 13 males. Interviews were audio-recorded via private in-world voice chat or via private instant message. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The social skills and practices evidenced demonstrate how the collective knowledge and skills of communities in VWs can influence improvements in individual and community health literacy through a distributed model. The findings offer support for moving away from the idea of health literacy as a set of skills which reside within an individual to a sociocultural model of health literacy. Social VWs can offer a place where people can access health information in multiple formats through the use of an avatar, which can influence changes in behaviour in the physical world and the VW. This can lead to an improvement in social skills and health literacy practices and represents a social model of health literacy

Art therapy with meditation for children diagnosed with ADHD and their caretakers

The focus of this theoretical, bibliographic research is the review and synthesis of literature to develop a new understanding of the feasibility of multi-modal approaches, specifically art therapy and meditation, for children up to age 17 (adolescents included) diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) together with their adult primary caretakers. The three subject areas (i.e. both modalities and ADHD) were researched separately in order to define and most extensively where they intersect. While there is new and promising research available for each modality, no published, peer-reviewed research was available within the specified search parameters about how the two could work together for children with ADHD and their caretakers. Important components and benefits of related studies where some intersection occurred are conveyed in a review and synthesis of findings. Core symptoms of ADHD in the children (i.e. hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention) often saw improvement while other positive outcomes were noted in various interventions. When directly involved, caretakers experienced benefits too. These sometimes included increased calm, increased self-care, reduced parenting stress, reduced parental overreactivity or relational improvements. However, it is only possible to theorize about the viability and outcomes of a complete intersection of such modalities when used together for this population. In order to respond to the gap in the literature, future research is necessary

Exploring Play Attention

The present study examined the Play Attention neurofeedback computer program to determine its efficacy in the classroom. A program that would increase students\u27 ability to pay better attention in the classroom would vastly improve our entire educational system. The two areas that were used to determine the effectiveness of the program were improved task performance and the ability to follow directions the first time they are given. Daily progress reports of twenty different students were compared to each other over a six month period. There were ten students in the experimental group and ten students in the control group. There were no statistically significant differences between the group that used the Play Attention program and those in the control group. There were too many confounding factors in this study. A better set of dependent variables may help to indicate the true effectiveness and benefits of this program

The Intersection of Internet Gaming Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Among Children and Adolescents: A Review of Literature

The literature review aims to explore the relationship between Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents. The paper is based on a literature search using PubMed, ResearchGate, MDPI, and Google Scholar. This review included examinations of IGD and ADHD among children and adolescents separately and bi-directionally. Considering current trends and data indicate a consistent increase in correlations between IGD and ADHD among children and adolescents, particularly in impulsivity and behavioral disturbance symptoms. While these results have implications for all professionals working with children and adolescents, special attention is given to clinical mental health professionals. The review concludes by highlighting the need for continued research into developing a universally accepted, valid, and reliable measure for diagnosing IGD and further studies to ascertain potential bi-directionality with ADHD among children and adolescents

The Impact of Teacher Training on ADHD: Assessing Classroom Interventions and Teacher\u27s Self-Efficacy

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been a topic that has gained widespread attention, especially in the last decade. Researchers have attempted to study the growing epidemic in numerous ways, from understanding the cause to helping children and adults learn how to deal with the lifelong diagnosis. More recently, the mainstream topic has leaned towards institutional factors that continuously a lack of support for teachers within the classroom. Teachers and educators around the world have been placed at the forefront to manage something that may appear foreign. Consequently, school districts are left with the daunting task of following federal regulations that they may not be prepared to understand. Assessments have been utilized to determine how this growing epidemic has reshaped the outcomes of students within the classroom. It should come as no surprise that studies show a link between negative teacher\u27s beliefs and student academics. After reviewing past and present research, there appears to be a significant research deficit in the area of teacher’s knowledge, training, and teacher self-efficacy. Research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of providing training that will aim to enhance teacher’s understanding of ADHD, develop classroom strategies, and strengthen teacher self-efficacy

Towards Multi-Device Ecosystems for Personal and Family Health Tracking

The increasing ubiquity of personal devices and technologies, such as home displays, smart-speakers, and wearables, has created new opportunities for individuals and families to monitor and manage their health and wellbeing. However, personal and family informatics systems have not kept up with such increased ubiquity, leading to a missed opportunity in making health informatics more convenient, connected, and meaningful. Many continue to struggle to effectively incorporate tracking into their daily lives and leverage the multiple technologies they have contact with. In my dissertation, I investigate how the design of multi-device health informatics systems can better support individuals in their self-tracking practices and facilitate collaboration within families for collective wellbeing. By leveraging the diverse capabilities of smartphones, smartwatches, smart-speakers, and more, I demonstrate how informatics tools can be designed to accommodate the varied needs and contexts of everyday life, both for individual use and for family collaboration.Towards self-tracking, I demonstrate how multi-device, multimodal systems can provide flexibility and redundancy of options for rich data capture and help individuals overcome situational barriers to tracking. Through the design and evaluation of the ModEat system, I show how supporting food journaling across smartphones, computers, and voice assistants with various input modalities can accommodate people's goals, preferences, and contexts.Examining how to help families collaborate towards health and wellbeing management, I explore the design of multi-device systems to facilitate family co-regulation practices. My evaluation of the CoolTaco deployment demonstrates that a smartwatch-based system can mediate shared awareness and remote collaboration between parents and children with ADHD around behavioral regulation. Through a co-design study, I reveal opportunities for in-home displays to integrate family data and guide productive discussions around each member's regulation needs relating to moods, exercise, and goals. Building on these insights, my design and evaluation of FamilyBloom showcases how integrating personal and shared devices can support diverse co-regulation practices, enabling reflection and mutual care in the face of varied routines and individual preferences within families.Through these studies, my dissertation demonstrates that multi-device, multimodal health informatics can support the needs of individuals and families in their everyday practices surrounding tracking, reflecting, and acting for self and co-regulation of health and wellbeing needs. I suggest that leveraging device ecosystems and designing for varied levels of engagement and collaboration can result in more available and useful tools. Through empirical findings and novel systems, my dissertation contributes to understanding of how to create effective tools for personal and family health tracking in everyday life

The relation between knowledge of ADHD and treatment acceptability in a multi-disciplinary pediatric clinic

Behavior modification and medication have been proven to be the most effective interventions for children with ADHD. For these treatments to be effective, utilization of mental health care services as well as compliance with treatment recommendations is necessary. There has been shown lower care utilization among minorities for the treatment of behavioral disorders. In addition, lack of adherence among these populations to ADHD treatment is not explained by SES, parenting stress, or family coping. An alternative explanation may be parental knowledge of ADHD and opinions of commonly used treatments. The present investigation examined the effect of a brief knowledge intervention aimed at increasing knowledge of ADHD on treatment acceptability of commonly utilized treatments for ADHD in a low SES, minority population seeking initial services at a multidisciplinary behavior clinic for ADHD. Participants included 48 female guardians. They completed a demographic questionnaire, the Conners\u27 Parent Rating Scale-Revised: Long Form (CPRS-R:L), six Treatment Evaluation Inventory - Short Forms (TEI-SF), and an Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Knowledge Survey (AKOS-R). Upon their next visit to the clinic, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group received an educational video intervention while the other group watched a control video. Following the videos, all participants again completed six TEI-SF\u27s and the AKOS-R. Results revealed that parent ratings of their child\u27s behavior did not correlate with treatment acceptability ratings. Baseline knowledge was low and increased significantly for the experimental group when compared to the control group demonstrating good treatment integrity, F (1, 45) = 29.37, p = .01. A significant negative correlation was identified between changes in knowledge as assessed by the AKOS-R and the changes in the TEI-SF diet intervention (r = -.43, p = .01, r2 = .19). Change in knowledge accounted for 18% of the change in treatment acceptability of the diet intervention (R2 = .18). Changes in knowledge scores did not otherwise relate to changes in treatment acceptability ratings. Overall, it appears that adding a parental educational component to the treatment of children with ADHD will not lead to increased acceptability of empirically supported treatments with this population