ICT’s Effect on Parents’ Feelings of Presence, Awareness, and Connectedness during a Child’s Hospitalization

This study evaluates how off-the-shelf commercial ICTs can contribute to creating a feeling of Presence, Connectedness, and Awareness between parents and their hospitalized child. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics are used to analyse qualitative and quantitative data collected through a survey of thirty eight parents whose children were admitted to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Through analysis of data, Presence is found to be less facilitated through ICT than are Awareness and Connectedness. Although participants reported that voice call on mobile phones was the most common way of communication, their ideal was a video-chat application such as Skype, or a combination of Skype and TV to facilitate feeling of Presence. We discovered a strong desire by parents to use rich media such as video and audio to achieve a greater feeling of the Presence of their absent child

Inovação para o aprimoramento do bem-estar subjetivo de pacientes oncológicos pediátricos

A presente tese apresenta diretrizes projetuais para inovação de serviços oncológicos pediátricos hospitalares, voltadas para o aprimoramento do bem-estar dos pacientes internados. A tese possui os seguintes objetivos: a) investigar a experiência vivenciada pelos pacientes pediátricos internados para tratamento de câncer quando submetidos a exames laboratoriais e de imagem, buscando delinear intervenções lúdicas para aprimorar o seu bem-estar subjetivo; b) levantar dados e criar diretrizes para o uso da ludicidade como estratégia de inovação hospitalar para aprimorar o bem-estar subjetivo das crianças internadas para tratamento de câncer; c) desenvolver diretrizes com auxílio dos profissionais a respeito do serviço em que estão inseridos, buscando novas diretrizes projetuais para hospitais, as quais depois devem ser analisadas por especialistas em arquitetura e saúde mental, para entender o potencial das diretrizes para aprimorar o bem-estar das crianças internadas. A tese apresentada é empírica, com caráter qualitativo através de observação participante, workshops de design thinking e entrevistas em profundidade. Como resultados, os três artigos apresentados propõem diretrizes de projeto que poderiam ser aplicadas no contexto oncológico hospitalar pediátrico. O primeiro artigo apresenta diretrizes lúdicas divididas em quatro categorias: o uso de tecnologia, design para personalização, gamificar experiências e design para redirecionamento de foco. No segundo, são apresentadas estratégias para aplicação no SUS, desde o diagnóstico até receberem a alta para ir para casa, como o desenvolvimento de artefatos, projetos customizados de acordo com a avaliação de necessidades do paciente e o auxílio de profissionais não contratados pelo hospital como prestadores de serviço. Já no terceiro, são propostas 36 ideias lúdicas de projeto, de acordo com o ambiente hospitalar ao qual se propõem e suas categorias de projeto.The present thesis presents design guidelines for the innovation of pediatric oncology services in hospitals, aimed at improving the subjective wellbeing of hospitalized patients. The thesis has the following objectives: (a) investigate the experience lived by pediatric inpatients for cancer treatment when subjected to laboratory and imaging exams, with the goal of designing playful interventions to improve their subjective well-being; (b) collect data and create guidelines on how playfulness can be used as a hospital innovation strategy to improve the subjective well-being of children hospitalized for cancer treatment; (c) develop guidelines with help from the professionals about the service in which they are inserted, seeking new design strategies for hospitals, which later must be analyzed by specialists in architecture and mental health, to understand the potential of the guidelines to improve the well-being of hospitalized children. The thesis presented is empirical, qualitative in nature, through participant observation, design thinking workshops and in-depth interviews. For results, the three articles presented propose design guidelines that could be applied in the pediatric hospital oncology context. The first article presents playful guidelines divided into four categories: use of technology to allow immersive experiences in learning about treatment and medical condition, design for personalization, gamifying experiences to allow positive reinforcement, and design for focus redirection. In the second, strategies for application in the SUS are presented, from the diagnosis to when they are discharged to go home, such as the development of artifacts, customized projects according to the assessment of the patients' needs and the assistance of professionals not hired by the hospital as service providers. In the third, 36 playful design ideas are proposed, according to the hospital environment to which they are proposed and their project categories

School connection for seriously sick kids: who are they, how do we know what works, and whose job is it?

Investigates the challenges facing kids who miss school due to significant injury or illness, and aims to improve outcomes for an estimated 60,000 seriously ill Australian students. Executive summary This series of three reports is intended as a starting point in a national conversation. The reports were developed as part of a program of work undertaken by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth and Missing School Inc. The program has sought to examine current evidence, policies and approaches for supporting the education of students who experience non-negligible school absences because of significant illness or injury. Students who miss school because of significant illness or injury face a variety of challenges in their education and may experience a range of adverse short-term and long-term consequences. Academic achievement may be affected, school relationships can be disrupted, motivation and engagement diminished, and isolation from the school community and peer group can have a profound effect on the student\u27s social and emotional wellbeing. The aim of this research is to understand the situation in which these students find themselves and whether it is adequately addressed. Each report addresses a separate question around how – and whether – these students are supported in their education

Designing technology to promote mental health and wellbeing

PhD ThesisMental health and wellbeing are fundamental to our quality of life, enabling us to be resilient against everyday stresses, work productively, to have fulfilling relationships, and experience life as meaningful. While HCI research has recently begun to address important challenges in the treatment of mental illness, approaches to promote and protect mental wellbeing, as positive emotional, psychological and social health, have received far less attention. Besides, the design space for technology innovation for people with severe mental health problems and as hospital inpatients is largely under-explored. The research presented in this thesis investigates how technology can promote the mental health and wellbeing of a group of women, living in the medium secure services of a forensic hospital in the UK. These women present a difficult to treat group due to the complexity of their mental health problems, extremely challenging behaviours, and a mild-tomoderate Learning Disability. Following an Experience-centred Design (ECD) approach in this context, the thesis describes how I worked collaboratively with hospital staff to gain a rich understanding of the women, their treatment regime, and constraints of their secure care; my approach to sensitively engaging this vulnerable group of women into a co-creative process to personalise their technology, and to carefully build up a relationship with them; and how the design of the technology builds upon qualities of creativity, physicality and personal significance for promoting engagement in mental health and wellbeing enhancing activities. In response to the design context I introduce the concept of the Spheres of Wellbeing, a set of three artefacts designed to collectively offer opportunities for engagements that are stimulating, enjoyable and personally meaningful; contribute to the formation of a positive sense of self; assist in tolerating emotional distress; and help familiarise the women with therapeutic concepts of mindfulness. Furthermore, in presenting the findings of a real-world deployment and evaluative study of the Spheres, this thesis contributes to current discourse in HCI on how empathy can be enabled with vulnerable populations, and provides rich insights into the complexities and challenges of conducting design-led research within hospital settings.Microsoft Research through its PhD Scholarship Programme and was partly been funded by the RCUK Digital Economy Hub on Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy (SiDE)

Well-being Technologies: Meditation Using Virtual Worlds

In a technologically overloaded world, is it possible to use technology to support well-being activities and enhance human flourishing? Proponents of positive technology and positive computing are striving to answer yes to that question. However, the impact of technology on well-being remains unresolved. Positive technology combines technology and positive psychology. Positive psychology focuses on well-being and the science of human flourishing. Positive computing includes an emphasis on designing with well-being in mind as a way to support human potential. User experience (UX) is critical to positive technology and positive computing. UX researchers and practitioners are advocating for experience-driven design and third wave human-computer interaction (HCI) that focuses on multi-dimensional, interpretive, situated, and phenomenological aspects. Third-wave HCI goes beyond cognition to include emotions, values, culture, and experience. This research investigated technology-supported meditation in a three-dimensional (3D) virtual world from a positive technology perspective to examine how technology can support engagement, self-empowerment, and well-being. Designing and evaluating technology for well-being support is complex and challenging. Further, although virtual worlds have been used in positive technology applications, little research exists that illuminates the experience of user engagement in virtual worlds. In this formative exploratory study, experienced meditators (N = 12) interacted with a virtual meditation world titled Sanctuarium that was developed for this research. Using a third wave HCI approach, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to understand the nature of engagement with a virtual world and the experiential aspects of technology-supported meditation. Results supported using virtual worlds to produce restorative natural environments. Participants overwhelmingly reacted positively to the islandscape including both visual and sound elements. Findings indicated that Sanctuarium facilitated the meditation experience, similar to guided meditation – although participants remarked on the uniqueness of the experience. Aspects of facilitation centered on the concepts of non-distraction, focus, and simplicity of design and instructions. Participants also identified Sanctuarium as a good tool for helping those new to meditation. Meditators described positive effects of their meditation experience during interviews and also rated their experience as positive using the scale titled Effects of Meditation During Meditation. Phenomenological analysis provided a rich description of the nature of engagement while meditating with Sanctuarium. Meditators also rated engagement as high via an adapted User Engagement Scale. This interdisciplinary work drew from multiple fields and contributes to the HCI domain, virtual worlds’ literature, information systems research, and the nascent areas of positive technology and positive computing

Examining university student satisfaction and barriers to taking online remote exams

Recent years have seen a surge in the popularity of online exams at universities, due to the greater convenience and flexibility they offer both students and institutions. Driven by the dearth of empirical data on distance learning students' satisfaction levels and the difficulties they face when taking online exams, a survey with 562 students at The Open University (UK) was conducted to gain insights into their experiences with this type of exam. Satisfaction was reported with the environment and exams, while work commitments and technical difficulties presented the greatest barriers. Gender, race and disability were also associated with different levels of satisfaction and barriers. This study adds to the increasing number of studies into online exams, demonstrating how this type of exam can still have a substantial effect on students experienced in online learning systems and technologies