551 research outputs found
Two examples of online eHealth platforms for supporting people living with cognitive impairments and their caregivers
This paper compares two methodological approaches derived from the EU Horizon 2020 funded projects CAREGIVERSPRO-MMD (C-MMD)1 and ICT4LIFE2. Both approaches were initiated in 2016 with the ambition to provide new integrated care services to people living with cognitive impairments, including Dementia, Alzheimer and Parkinson disease, as well as to their home caregivers towards a long-term increase in quality of life and autonomy at home. An outline of the disparities and similarities related to non-pharmacological interventions introduced by the two projects to foster treatment adherence was made. Both approaches have developed software solutions, including social platforms, notifications, Serious Games, user monitoring and support services aimed at developing the concepts of self-care, active patients and integrated care. Besides their differences, both projects can be benefited by knowledge and technology exchange, pilot results sharing and possible user's exchange if possible in the near future.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
User-defined challenges and desiderata for robotics and autonomous systems in health and social care settings
We report the needs and challenges identified by health and social care professionals and service users for robotics and autonomous systems that are of importance to researchers and policymakers. To this end, we held eight workshops in different locations across Cornwall (UK) in which we raised awareness of the applications and opportunities of assistive robots. The 223 participants could interact physically with four robots, watched a multimedia presentation including video and use-case scenarios and then took part in 33 focus groups. Content analysis was carried out based on summaries written by facilitators during the focus groups. The focus groups produced 163 challenges that may have digital solutions including 78 suitable for robotic assistive technology, in three main areas: maintaining independence at home, social isolation, and rurality. Although further research is needed with technology and its implementation, this study shows that health and social care professionals, patients, carers, and students are willing to consider using robotics and autonomous systems in health and social care settings
Be He@lthy - Be Mobile (A handbook on how to implement mAgeing)
The Be He@lthy, Be Mobile initiative is a global
partnership led by the World Health Organization
(WHO) and the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU), representing the United
Nations agencies for health and information
and communications technologies (ICTs). The
initiative supports the scale up of mobile health
technology (mHealth) within national health
systems to help combat noncommunicable diseases
(NCDs) and support healthy ageing.
Mobile health, or mHealth, is defined as "medical
and public health practice supported by mobile
devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring
devices, personal digital assistants, and
other wireless devices” (1). The Be Healthy, Be
Mobile initiative uses basic technologies common
in most mobile phones. The BHBM initiative
has overseen the development and implementation
of several mHealth programmes, including
mTobaccoCessation (2), mDiabetes, and mCervicalCancer.
The mHealth programme-specific
handbooks act as aids to policy-makers and
implementers of national or large-scale mHealth
programs. See Annex 1 for further information on
the Be He@lthy, Be Mobile initiative.
mHealth for Ageing, or mAgeing is a new programme
under the initiative, the central objective
of which is to assist older persons (a person
whose age has passed the median life expectancy
at birth) in maintaining functional ability and
living as independently and healthily as possible
through evidence-based self-management and
self-care interventions.
This handbook provides guidance for national
programmes and organizations responsible for
the care of older persons to develop, implement,
monitor, and evaluate an mAgeing programme.
The text messaging communication provided
uses evidence-based behaviour change techniques
to help older persons prevent and manage
early declines in intrinsic capacity and functional
ability. The mAgeing programme is based on
WHO’s Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE):
Guidelines on community-level interventions to
manage declines in intrinsic capacity (3) which
include interventions to prevent declines in intrinsic
capacity and functional abilities in older
people, namely: mobility loss, malnutrition, visual
impairment and hearing loss; as well as cognitive
impairments and depressive symptoms. The
messages are designed to encourage participation
in activities, and to prevent, reduce, or even
partly reverse, significant losses in capacity. The
content of the mAgeing programme will complement
routine care offered by health care professionals
by supporting self-care and self-management.
All content in this handbook is based on the
WHO ICOPE Guidelines and other relevant WHO
recommendations. The ICOPE Guideline recommendations
were reached by the consensus of
a guideline development group, convened by
WHO, which based its decisions on a summary of
systematic reviews of the best quality evidence
most relevant to community-level care for older
people, as well as the most up-to-date research
on the effectiveness of mHealth
Effective implementation and monitoring of telehealth and telecare in Ireland: learning from international best practice.
This document synthesises the information provided in a number of papers relating to Telecare/Telehealth commissioned by and developed for the National Disability Authority between 2014 and 2017. The papers in question were developed by researchers in Work Research Centre (WRC), the National Disability Authority and the University of Ulster, and this report has taken key learning and information from each of them to create this composite briefing paper
Perspective Chapter: Digital Assistive Technologies
The use of digital technologies has been described as a facilitator integrating services and offering facilities to support individuals with impairments. In this chapter we identify level of advancement, trends, and challenges in the growing area of digital assistive technologies. Interview with experts and a literature search were performed. The outcomes of this study shown that the generic use and adoption of technologies involves complexity and changes in several aspects and, specifically, requires changes in the overall practice environment. However, the real challenge is not to identify technologies or to prioritize products, policies, or praxis, rather it is to build infrastructures, to match levels of maturity with products or services, and to reduce the technical, and socio-economic inefficiencies that constrain the further development of the area
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