Overcoming barriers to the adoption of locating technologies in dementia care: a multi-stakeholder focus group study

BACKGROUND: Locating technologies are a subtype of assistive technology that aim to support persons with dementia by helping manage spatial orientation impairments and provide aid to care partners by intervening when necessary. Although a variety of locating devices are commercially available, their adoption has remained low in the past years. Several studies have explored barriers to the adoption of assistive technologies from the perspective of professional stakeholders, but in-depth explorations for locating technologies are sparse. Additionally, the inputs of business professionals are lacking. The aim of this study was to expand knowledge on barriers to the adoption of locating technologies from a multi-stakeholder professional perspective, and to explore strategies to optimize adoption. METHODS: In total, 22 professionals working in business (n = 7), healthcare (n = 6) and research (n = 9) fields related to gerontology and gerontechnology participated in our focus group study. Perceptions on the value of using locating technologies for dementia care, barriers to their adoption, as well as salient services and information dissemination strategies were explored. After verbatim transcription, transcripts were analysed following an inductive data-driven content analysis approach in MAXQDA. RESULTS: Six key adoption barriers centering on: (1) awareness-, (2) technological-, (3) product characteristic- and (4) capital investment-based limitations, (5) unclear benefits, as well as (6) ethical concerns emerged. The interplay between barriers was high. Five core themes on services and information dissemination strategies centering on: (1) digital autonomy support, (2) emergency support, (3) information dissemination actors, (4) product acquisition, and (5) product advertising were extracted. CONCLUSIONS: Our study with interdisciplinary stakeholders expands knowledge on barriers to the adoption of locating technologies for dementia care, and reinforces recommendations that an interdisciplinary strategy is needed to optimize adoption. Also, our findings show that focusing on services to increase digital autonomy and on information dissemination strategies has been largely overlooked and may be particularly effective

Influenza hospitalizations during childhood in children born preterm

Objective: The objective is to determine if children born preterm were at increased risk of influenza hospitalization up to age five. Methods: National registry data on all children born in Norway between 2008 and 2011 were used in Cox regression models to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for influenza hospitalizations up to age five in children born preterm (<37 pregnancy weeks). HRs were also estimated separately for very preterm (<32 weeks), early term (37-38 weeks), and post-term (≥42 weeks) children. Results: Among 238,628 children born in Norway from January 2008 to December 2011, 15,086 (6.3%) were born preterm. There were 754 (0.3%) children hospitalized with influenza before age five. The rate of hospitalizations in children born preterm was 13.8 per 10,000 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI] [11.3, 16.7]), and 5.9 per 10,000 person-years (95% CI [5.5, 6.4]) in children born at term (≥37 weeks). Children born preterm had a higher risk of influenza hospitalization before age 5: aHR 2.33 (95% CI [1.85, 2.93]). The risk increased with decreasing gestational age and was highest among those born extremely/very preterm; aHR 4.07 (95% CI [2.63, 6.31]). Compared with children born at 40-41 weeks, children born early term also had an elevated risk of influenza hospitalization; aHR (37 weeks) 1.89 (95% CI [1.43, 2.50]), aHR (38 weeks) 1.43 (95% CI [1.15, 1.78]). Conclusion: Children born preterm had a higher risk of influenza hospitalizations before age five. An elevated risk was also present among children born at an early term. Children born preterm could benefit from influenza vaccinations

Determination of the Wound Healing Potentials of Medicinal Plants Historically Used in Ghana

The present study was carried out to investigate the wound healing potentials of 17 medicinal plants historically used in Ghana for wound healing. Warm and cold water extracts were prepared from the 17 dried plant species and tested in vitro in the scratch assay with NIH 3T3 fibroblasts from mice. The wound healing scratch assay was used to evaluate the effect of the plants on cell proliferation and/or migration in vitro, as a test for potential wound healing properties. After 21 hours of incubation increased proliferation and/or migration of fibroblasts in the scratch assay was obtained for 5 out of the 17 plant species. HPLC separation of the most active plant extract, which was a warm water extract of Philenoptera cyanescens, revealed the wound healing activity to be attributed to rutin and a triglycoside of quercetin. The present study suggests that Allophylus spicatus, Philenoptera cyanescens, Melanthera scandens, Ocimum gratissimum, and Jasminum dichotomum have wound healing activity in vitro

Determination of the Wound Healing Potentials of Medicinal Plants Historically Used in Ghana

The present study was carried out to investigate the wound healing potentials of 17 medicinal plants historically used in Ghana for wound healing. Warm and cold water extracts were prepared from the 17 dried plant species and tested in vitro in the scratch assay with NIH 3T3 fibroblasts from mice. The wound healing scratch assay was used to evaluate the effect of the plants on cell proliferation and/or migration in vitro, as a test for potential wound healing properties. After 21 hours of incubation increased proliferation and/or migration of fibroblasts in the scratch assay was obtained for 5 out of the 17 plant species. HPLC separation of the most active plant extract, which was a warm water extract of Philenoptera cyanescens, revealed the wound healing activity to be attributed to rutin and a triglycoside of quercetin. The present study suggests that Allophylus spicatus, Philenoptera cyanescens, Melanthera scandens, Ocimum gratissimum, and Jasminum dichotomum have wound healing activity in vitro

Measurement of the Eta Production in Proton Proton Collisions with the COSY Time of Flight Spectrometer

The reaction pp -> pp eta was measured at excess energies of 15 and 41 MeV at an external target of the Juelich Cooler Synchrotron COSY with the Time of Flight Spectrometer. About 25000 events were measured for the excess energy of 15 MeV and about 8000 for 41 MeV. Both protons of the process pp eta were detected with an acceptance of nearly 100% and the eta was reconstructed by the missing mass technique. For both excess energies the angular distributions are found to be nearly isotropic. In the invariant mass distributions strong deviations from the pure phase space distributions are seen.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, 4 table

Single \pi^- production in np collisions for excess energies up to 90 MeV

The quasifree reaction np\to pp\pim was studied in a kinematically complete experiment by bombarding a liquid hydrogen target with a deuteron beam of momentum 1.85 GeV/c and analyzing the data along the lines of the spectator model. In addition to the three charged ejectiles the spectator proton was also detected in the large-acceptance time-of-flight spectrometer COSY-TOF. It was identified by its momentum and flight direction thus yielding access to the Fermi motion of the bound neutron and to the effective neutron 4-momentum vector $\mathbb{P}_n$ which differed from event to event. A range of almost 90 MeV excess energy above threshold was covered. Energy dependent angular distributions, invariant mass spectra as well as fully covered Dalitz plots were deduced. Sizeable $pp$ FSI effects were found as were contributions of $p$ and $d$ partial waves. The behavior of the elementary cross section $\sigma_{01}$ close to threshold is discussed in view of new cross section data. In comparison with existing literature data the results provide a sensitive test of the spectator model.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJ