Future bathroom: A study of user-centred design principles affecting usability, safety and satisfaction in bathrooms for people living with disabilities

Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2010-11 (Department of Health) Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 197

Bioengineered Textiles and Nonwovens – the convergence of bio-miniaturisation and electroactive conductive polymers for assistive healthcare, portable power and design-led wearable technology

Today, there is an opportunity to bring together creative design activities to exploit the responsive and adaptive ‘smart’ materials that are a result of rapid development in electro, photo active polymers or OFEDs (organic thin film electronic devices), bio-responsive hydrogels, integrated into MEMS/NEMS devices and systems respectively. Some of these integrated systems are summarised in this paper, highlighting their use to create enhanced functionality in textiles, fabrics and non-woven large area thin films. By understanding the characteristics and properties of OFEDs and bio polymers and how they can be transformed into implementable physical forms, innovative products and services can be developed, with wide implications. The paper outlines some of these opportunities and applications, in particular, an ambient living platform, dealing with human centred needs, of people at work, people at home and people at play. The innovative design affords the accelerated development of intelligent materials (interactive, responsive and adaptive) for a new product & service design landscape, encompassing assistive healthcare (smart bandages and digital theranostics), ambient living, renewable energy (organic PV and solar textiles), interactive consumer products, interactive personal & beauty care (e-Scent) and a more intelligent built environment

Technologie en innovatie in Vlaanderen: Prioriteiten.

Vlaanderen;

Evaluation of the current knowledge limitations in breast cancer research: a gap analysis

BACKGROUND A gap analysis was conducted to determine which areas of breast cancer research, if targeted by researchers and funding bodies, could produce the greatest impact on patients. METHODS Fifty-six Breast Cancer Campaign grant holders and prominent UK breast cancer researchers participated in a gap analysis of current breast cancer research. Before, during and following the meeting, groups in seven key research areas participated in cycles of presentation, literature review and discussion. Summary papers were prepared by each group and collated into this position paper highlighting the research gaps, with recommendations for action. RESULTS Gaps were identified in all seven themes. General barriers to progress were lack of financial and practical resources, and poor collaboration between disciplines. Critical gaps in each theme included: (1) genetics (knowledge of genetic changes, their effects and interactions); (2) initiation of breast cancer (how developmental signalling pathways cause ductal elongation and branching at the cellular level and influence stem cell dynamics, and how their disruption initiates tumour formation); (3) progression of breast cancer (deciphering the intracellular and extracellular regulators of early progression, tumour growth, angiogenesis and metastasis); (4) therapies and targets (understanding who develops advanced disease); (5) disease markers (incorporating intelligent trial design into all studies to ensure new treatments are tested in patient groups stratified using biomarkers); (6) prevention (strategies to prevent oestrogen-receptor negative tumours and the long-term effects of chemoprevention for oestrogen-receptor positive tumours); (7) psychosocial aspects of cancer (the use of appropriate psychosocial interventions, and the personal impact of all stages of the disease among patients from a range of ethnic and demographic backgrounds). CONCLUSION Through recommendations to address these gaps with future research, the long-term benefits to patients will include: better estimation of risk in families with breast cancer and strategies to reduce risk; better prediction of drug response and patient prognosis; improved tailoring of treatments to patient subgroups and development of new therapeutic approaches; earlier initiation of treatment; more effective use of resources for screening populations; and an enhanced experience for people with or at risk of breast cancer and their families. The challenge to funding bodies and researchers in all disciplines is to focus on these gaps and to drive advances in knowledge into improvements in patient care

Addressing the Health Needs of an Aging America: New Opportunities for Evidence-Based Policy Solutions

This report systematically maps research findings to policy proposals intended to improve the health of the elderly. The study identified promising evidence-based policies, like those supporting prevention and care coordination, as well as areas where the research evidence is strong but policy activity is low, such as patient self-management and palliative care. Future work of the Stern Center will focus on these topics as well as long-term care financing, the health care workforce, and the role of family caregivers

Healthcare Robotics

Robots have the potential to be a game changer in healthcare: improving health and well-being, filling care gaps, supporting care givers, and aiding health care workers. However, before robots are able to be widely deployed, it is crucial that both the research and industrial communities work together to establish a strong evidence-base for healthcare robotics, and surmount likely adoption barriers. This article presents a broad contextualization of robots in healthcare by identifying key stakeholders, care settings, and tasks; reviewing recent advances in healthcare robotics; and outlining major challenges and opportunities to their adoption.Comment: 8 pages, Communications of the ACM, 201

Design and Prototype Evaluation of a Mini Program for Diet Management Focusing on Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global public health problem and has become a common chronic non-communicable disease threatening human well-being. There is no effective cure for CKD, and once it progresses to end-stage renal disease, only renal replacement therapy can be performed, which brings a heavy medical burden to families and the country. Dietetic-nutritional management is closely related to delaying the progression of CKD and improving health outcomes and is essential in the treatment of CKD. However, dietary compliance of patients is currently a major challenge in clinical work. With the integration of mobile Internet and healthcare, mobile health, represented by smartphones, has become an important tool for healthcare services. Previous studies have shown that information tools can motivate users to make positive eating behavior changes and improve their confidence in achieving their dietary goals. In recent years, diet management tools for CKD patients have gradually increased in China, but most patients still face difficulties in self-managing their diet at home. Aims Given that the advantages of WeChat Mini Program in China and the cost limitation of the study, the purpose of this study is to follow the concept of human-centred design to design an open accessible WeChat Mini Program for home diet management, and with CKD patients and caregivers as the target users, to ultimately improve the patient's experience of diet management and improve their dietary compliance to obtain the optimal benefits of medical nutrition therapy. To understand the usability and design flaws of this Mini Program through the prototype development and evaluation, to further improve the design and provide a reference for future development. Methods This study was divided into three stages. The first stage was the requirements analysis of diet management Mini Program: stakeholders, i.e., CKD patients and caregivers, renal dietitians, nephrologists, and specialist nurses, were interviewed through a qualitative study to explore their functional needs and suggestions for the Mini Program. The second stage was the design and expert evaluation of the Mini Program for CKD patients: based on literature review and stakeholders' requirements analysis and drawing on the features of the existing applications on the market, the first draft of the written design of this Mini Program was completed and then the written design and technical feasibility of the Mini Program were evaluated by multidisciplinary experts, including renal dietitians, nephrologists and specialist nurses, as well as WeChat Mini Program development technicians, to further revise and finalize the written design of this Mini Program. The third stage was prototype development and evaluation of the Mini Program: using Mocking Bot to develop the prototype and then was a mixed study, 15 testers were recruited to evaluate the prototype by convenience sampling. mHealth App Usability Questionnaire (MAUQ) (patient version) was used to collect quantitative usability scores, and qualitative interviews were conducted to explore their experience and suggestions for improvement of the Mini Program. Results 1. Requirements analysis of diet management Mini Program: 22 stakeholders were interviewed, including 9 CKD patients, 4 caregivers, and 9 clinical professionals. Three themes are extracted, which are attitudes towards the Mini Program (overall, highly expected the Mini Program for diet management), functional requirements of the Mini Program (including provide comprehensive diet management information, diet decision support, professional diet self-management skills, and emotional support channels), and performance requirements of the Mini Program (easy to use and learn, with simple interface). There are 12 specific functional requirements, which is expected to provide reliable dietary knowledge, food nutrient query, individualized dietary advice, dietary nutrition monitoring, customize individual recipes, recommend disease-specific foods, diet record and analysis, nutrition consultation, promote family participation, communication among patients, user feedback, and intelligent reminder. 2. Design and expert evaluation of the Mini Program: After two rounds of evaluation and feedback from multidisciplinary experts, the final version of the written design of the Mini Program was formed, including 4 modules, namely, Home Page, Interactive Community, Health Record, Personal Centre; and 19 functions, including Site Search, Diet Management, Popular Science Articles, and News (Home Page), Circle of Patients, My Doctors, Doctor's Lectures, My Family (Interactive Community), BP Record, BG Record, Wt. Record, Exercise Record (Health Record), and Basic Information Setting, Health Report, My equipment, My favourites, My Posts, Product Introduction, Feedback and Help (Personal Centre). 3. Prototype development and evaluation of the Mini Program: the prototype developed in this study was high-fidelity and interactive. Quantitative result: the mean value of the overall scoring of MAUQ was 1.39, with a standard deviation of 0.29, indicating that patients and caregivers recognize the Mini Program as usable. Qualitative result: clinical professionals, CKD patients, and caregivers who participated in the testing have a high acceptance of the Mini Program. Clinical professionals consider the Mini Program to be comprehensive, helpful for patients' diet management, and to reduce the burden of clinical diet education; patients and caregivers consider the Mini Program to be a comprehensive, easy-to-use, and practical tool that facilitates access to professional knowledge, improves their confidence in diet management and social support, and they have a positive attitude towards using it and express their great expectations. The main shortcomings of the Mini Program are the need to adjust the colour scheme and optimize the layout of the user interface and to highlight the main functions of diet management, and to realize the function of voice use if the development technology is feasible. Conclusion The Mini Program designed in this study meet the needs and demands of home diet management for CKD patients and may positively affect their diet self-management. In the future, we consider further collaboration with information technology companies and clinical usability assessment and effectiveness evaluation would be necessary, to determine the clinical effect and economic cost-effectiveness of interventions for CKD patients based on such a WeChat Mini Program, and to promote the close integration of mHealth and clinical practice

Diabetes Management System for a New Type 2 Diabetes Geriatric Cohort: Improve the Interaction of Self-management

abstract: According to the ADA (American Diabetes Association), diabetes mellitus is one of the chronic diseases with the highest mortality rate. In the US, 25 million are known diabetics, which may double in the next decade, and another seven million are undiagnosed. Among these patients, older adults are a very special group with varying physical capabilities, cognitive functions and life expectancies. Because they run an increased risk for geriatric conditions, Type 2 diabetes treatments for them must be both realistic and systematic. In fact, some researchers have explored older adults’ experiences of diabetes, and how they manage their diabetes with new technological devices. However, little research has focused on their emotional experiences of medical treatment technology, such as mobile applications, tablets, and websites for geriatric diabetes. This study will address both elderly people's experiences and reactions to devices and their children's awareness of diabetes. It aims to find out how to improve the diabetes treatment and create a systematic diabetes mobile application that combines self-initiated and assisted care together.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Design 201

Proceeding: 3rd Java International Nursing Conference 2015 “Harmony of Caring and Healing Inquiry for Holistic Nursing Practice; Enhancing Quality of Care”, Semarang, 20-21 August 2015

This is the proceeding of the 3rd Java International Nursing Conference 2015 organized by School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Diponegoro University, in collaboration with STIKES Kendal. The conference was held on 20-21 August 2015 in Semarang, Indonesia. The conference aims to enable educators, students, practitioners and researchers from nursing, medicine, midwifery and other health sciences to disseminate and discuss evidence of nursing education, research, and practices to improve the quality of care. This conference also provides participants opportunities to develop their professional networks, learn from other colleagues and meet leading personalities in nursing and health sciences. The 3rd JINC 2015 was comprised of keynote lectures and concurrent submitted oral presentations and poster sessions. The following themes have been chosen to be the focus of the conference: (a) Multicenter Science: Physiology, Biology, Chemistry, etc. in Holistic Nursing Practice, (b) Complementary Therapy in Nursing and Complementary, Alternative Medicine: Alternative Medicine (Herbal Medicine), Complementary Therapy (Cupping, Acupuncture, Yoga, Aromatherapy, Music Therapy, etc.), (c) Application of Inter-professional Collaboration and Education: Education Development in Holistic Nursing, Competencies of Holistic Nursing, Learning Methods and Assessments, and (d) Application of Holistic Nursing: Leadership & Management, Entrepreneurship in Holistic Nursing, Application of Holistic Nursing in Clinical and Community Settings