5,471 research outputs found

    Wearable device to assist independent living.

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    Older people increasingly want to remain living independently in their own homes. The aim of the ENABLE project is to develop a wearable device that can be used both within and outside of the home to support older people in their daily lives and which can monitor their health status, detect potential problems, provide activity reminders and offer communication and alarm services. In order to determine the specifications and functionality required for development of the device user surveys and focus groups were undertaken and use case analysis and scenario modeling carried out. The project has resulted in the development of a wrist worn device and mobile phone combination that can support and assist older and vulnerable wearers with a range of activities and services both inside and outside of their homes. The device is currently undergoing pilot trials in five European countries. The aim of this paper is to describe the ENABLE device, its features and services, and the infrastructure within which it operates

    GPS Based medi –safe application using android devices

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    The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of creating an android application which provides its users with a more efficient way of managing their medical needs than existing application. The project looks at existing applications and sees what they are lacking on and how this project could improve on their mistakes. The project tries to provide a more efficient platform for doctors to communicate with patients and also implement other features which are not very common to give the application an edge over existing applications. The application developed in this project was developed in Eclipse. The application uses a Sub Query Language database to store user information such as their personal information, medications and appointments. It allows users to find doctors and add them as contacts or make an appointment and allows the user to search for doctors by their name or by location. Finding doctors by location is a very efficient way of finding doctors as the user can find doctors in their area. Unlike most medical applications this application allows patients to book appointment without having to talk to the doctor. The doctors can fill out appointment slots they want to be available and then the user can come along and book one of those appointment slots. This application also provides the users with scheduling tools which allow the users to plan out their week relatively easy, they can enter in their medications and when they want to take them and application will be send them a notification.The result of this thesis is a fully functioning Android application which provides users with an efficient way to find and communicate with doctors, book medical events, and be reminded of medical events

    Design of Integral Reminder for Collaborative Appointment Management

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    Reminder systems have great potential to enhance healthcare outcome, but there is a big space for improvement to facilitate the collaborative appointment management with accessible mobile communication technology. This study proposes a design of integral reminder systems that automates the process of appointment rescheduling for patients and physicians in addition to confirmation and cancellation. Based on the premises of patient-centered care of media synchronicity theory, design principles are proposed to cater to the different requirements of healthcare providers and patient users on appointment management. The design provides useful guidelines for building integral reminder systems that enhance medical compliance

    Smart Interventions for Effective Medication Adherence

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    In this research we present a model for medication adherence from information systems and technologies (IS/IT) perspective. Information technology applications for healthcare have the potential to improve cost-effectiveness, quality and accessibility of healthcare. To date, measurement of patient medication adherence and use of interventions to improve adherence are rare in routine clinical practice. IS/IT perspective helps in leveraging the technology advancements to develop a health IT system for effectively measuring medication adherence and administering interventions. Majority of medication adherence studies have focused on average medication adherence. Average medication adherence is the ratio of the number of doses consumed and the number of doses prescribed. It does not matter in which order or pattern patients consume the dose. Patients with enormously diverse dosing behavior can achieve the same average levels of medication adher­ence. The same outcomes with different levels of ad­herence raise the possibility that patterns of adherence affect the effectiveness of medication adherence. We propose that medication adherence research should utilize effective medication adherence (EMA), derived by including both the pattern and average medication adherence for a patient. Using design science research (DSR) approach we have developed a model as an artifact for smart interventions. We have leveraged behavior change techniques (BCTs) based on the behavior change theories to design smart intervention. Because of the need for real time requirements for the system, we are also focusing on hierarchical control system theory and reference model architecture (RMA). The benefit of using this design is to enable an intervention to be administered dynamically on a need basis. A key distinction from existing systems is that the developed model leverages probabilistic measure instead of static schedule. We have evaluated and validated the model using formal proofs and by domain experts. The research adds to the IS knowledge base by providing the theory based smart interventions leveraging BCTs and RMA for improving the medication adherence. It introduces EMA as a measurement of medication adherence to healthcare systems. Smart interventions based on EMA will further lead to reducing the healthcare cost by improving prescription outcomes

    Smart Interventions for Effective Medication Adherence

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    In this research we present a model for medication adherence from information systems and technologies (IS/IT) perspective. Information technology applications for healthcare have the potential to improve cost-effectiveness, quality and accessibility of healthcare. To date, measurement of patient medication adherence and use of interventions to improve adherence are rare in routine clinical practice. IS/IT perspective helps in leveraging the technology advancements to develop a health IT system for effectively measuring medication adherence and administering interventions. Majority of medication adherence studies have focused on average medication adherence. Average medication adherence is the ratio of the number of doses consumed and the number of doses prescribed. It does not matter in which order or pattern patients consume the dose. Patients with enormously diverse dosing behavior can achieve the same average levels of medication adher­ence. The same outcomes with different levels of ad­herence raise the possibility that patterns of adherence affect the effectiveness of medication adherence. We propose that medication adherence research should utilize effective medication adherence (EMA), derived by including both the pattern and average medication adherence for a patient. Using design science research (DSR) approach we have developed a model as an artifact for smart interventions. We have leveraged behavior change techniques (BCTs) based on the behavior change theories to design smart intervention. Because of the need for real time requirements for the system, we are also focusing on hierarchical control system theory and reference model architecture (RMA). The benefit of using this design is to enable an intervention to be administered dynamically on a need basis. A key distinction from existing systems is that the developed model leverages probabilistic measure instead of static schedule. We have evaluated and validated the model using formal proofs and by domain experts. The research adds to the IS knowledge base by providing the theory based smart interventions leveraging BCTs and RMA for improving the medication adherence. It introduces EMA as a measurement of medication adherence to healthcare systems. Smart interventions based on EMA will further lead to reducing the healthcare cost by improving prescription outcomes

    Delivering elder-care environments utilizing TV-channel based mechanisms

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    In this paper, we present a smart environment for elderly. What makes the development of such system challenging is that the concept of smartness for elderly brings to the extreme the idea of invisibility of the technology. In our experience, elders are well-disposed to new technologies, provided that those will not require significant changes - namely, they are invisible - to their habits. Starting from this consideration, 200 caregivers responses were collected by questionnaire, so as to better understand elders' needs and habits. A system was subsequently developed allowing elders to access a number of "modern web services" as standard TV channels: at channel 43 there is the health status, at channel 45 the photos of the family, at 46 the agenda of the week, just to mention few of the available services. The content of such services is automatically generated by the smart devices in the environment and is managed by the caregivers (e.g., family members) by simple web apps. Fourteen families were asked to install the system in their house. The results of these experiments confirm that the proposed system is considered effective and user-friendly by elders

    eHealth in transplantation

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    eHealth ("electronic" Health) is a new field in medicine that has the potential to change medical care, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. In this review, we analyzed the current status of eHealth in transplantation by performing a PubMed search over the last 5 years with a focus on clinical studies for post-transplant care. We retrieved 463 manuscripts, of which 52 clinical reports and eight randomized controlled trials were identified. Most studies were on kidney (n = 19), followed by liver (n = 10), solid organ (n = 7), bone-marrow (n = 6), and lung transplantation (n = 6). Eleven articles included adolescents/children. Investigated eHealth features covered the whole spectrum with mobile applications for patients (n = 24) and video consultations (n = 18) being most frequent. Prominent topics for patient apps were self-management (n = 16), adherence (n = 14), symptom-reporting (11), remote monitoring of vital signs (n = 8), educational (n = 7), and drug reminder (n = 7). In this review, we discuss opportunities and strengths of such new eHealth solutions, the implications for successful implementation into the healthcare process, the human factor, data protection, and finally, the need for better evidence from prospective clinical trials in order to confirm the claims on better patient care, potential efficiency gains and cost savings

    The design and evaluation of a mobile handheld intervention for providing context-sensitive medication reminders

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    Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-124).This work introduces the design and exploratory evaluation of a home reminder system for medication and healthcare that situates the timing and location of reminders based on contextual information about the user. The system consists of three major components: 1) a handheld computing interface for providing reminders, 2) a sensor subsystem integrated into the home environment, and 3) a central server that manages medical tasks and reasons over sensor data in real time. A volunteer participant adhering to a complex regimen of simulated medical tasks is closely observed in a residential research facility. The participant is presented with both context-sensitive reminders and reminders that are scheduled at fixed times during the day. The degree of adherence to the regimen, and the participant's own assessment of the usefulness of each reminder (while blinded to the reminder strategy being used), are evaluated over the course of a 10-day study. Quantitative and qualitative results are provided, comparing the efficacy of context-sensitive reminders over fixed-time reminders with respect to adherence and perceived value.by Pallavi Kaushik.S.M

    Investigating mobile graphic-based reminders to support compliance of tuberculosis treatment

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    The phenomenon of rapid increment of the mobile phones can be utilized through supporting patients, such as those who have tuberculosis, for treatment adherence. This utilization will enable these patients to directly communicate their needs and requirements or receive health information such as reminder messages from healthcare facilities. However, the current mobile interventions, such as text messaging and speech reminder systems have limited use for people with low literacy levels. To overcome these challenges, this study proposed that the mobile graphic-based reminders be used to support tuberculosis patients to improve compliance with treatment regimens, especially for semi-literate and illiterate patients. A review of the literature and initial investigation study were carried out. The findings from the review were useful in understanding both the current practice of tuberculosis treatment regimens and the patients' needs and requirements. These findings, in addition, were referred in the choices of the components of the mobile graphic-based reminders to be implemented. A visual aid for communication theory was applied to the design and development of graphic-based reminder prototypes. An application prototype was implemented for the Android platform. Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of an application prototype in supporting tuberculosis treatment. To measure the effect, the recovery rate was measured based on the effect of: (1) the graphic-based reminder group versus the control group; and (2) the graphic-based reminder group versus the speech-based reminder group. Data was collected using application event logs, interviews, field notes and audio recordings. It was found that treatment adherence of patients in the graphic-based group was higher than in the speech-based or in the control groups. It was further noted that the number of reminder responses in the graphic-based group was higher than in the speech-based group. Additionally, it was observed that patients in the graphic-based group responded sooner after receiving reminder messages compared to those in the speech-based group. The qualitative feedback also indicated that most patients not only found graphic-based reminders more useful to supporting their treatment than speech-based reminders and traditional care but believed that the application met their needs. This study provides empirical evidence that graphic-based reminders, designed for and based on patients' needs and requirements, can support the treatment of tuberculosis for patients of all literacy levels
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