Measuring the Use of the Active and Assisted Living Prototype CARIMO for Home Care Service Users: Evaluation Framework and Results

To address the challenges of aging societies, various information and communication technology (ICT)-based systems for older people have been developed in recent years. Currently, the evaluation of these so-called active and assisted living (AAL) systems usually focuses on the analyses of usability and acceptance, while some also assess their impact. Little is known about the actual take-up of these assistive technologies. This paper presents a framework for measuring the take-up by analyzing the actual usage of AAL systems. This evaluation framework covers detailed information regarding the entire process including usage data logging, data preparation, and usage data analysis. We applied the framework on the AAL prototype CARIMO for measuring its take-up during an eight-month field trial in Austria and Italy. The framework was designed to guide systematic, comparable, and reproducible usage data evaluation in the AAL field; however, the general applicability of the framework has yet to be validated

A Geo-based Application for the Management of Mobile Actors during Crisis Situations

The widespread availability of network-enabled handled devices has made the development of pervasive computing applications an emerging reality particularly suitable for managing emergency/disaster situations. Moreover in emergency management scenarios, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are gaining momentum for their capacity to capture, analyze and manage geo-referenced data. In this paper we discuss an architecture designed to support rescue teams operating in outdoor environments and equipped with mobile devices working in a P2P fashion within a Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET). Our system has been designed to effectively address the on-field working persons’ need for geographic information that cannot be supplied by conventional paper-based maps. Our approach provides a transparent access to geo-information and to GIS functionalities, and it addresses issues specifically relevant to emergency management scenarios in open fields

Does the Argentine Tango Sustainably Improve Cancer-Associated Fatigue and Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Survivors?

Background: Chronic cancer-related fatigue is difficult to manage in breast cancer survivors. The tango trial showed that a six-week tango Argentino program was effective in reducing fatigue and improving quality of life, and here we investigated the sustainability of this tango program for breast cancer survivors. Methods: Stage I–III breast cancer survivors with increased fatigue symptoms were analyzed. The fifty participants in the tango trial were compared with a control cohort (n = 108) who did not participate in the tango program. Using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Questionnaire C30 (EORTC-QLQ-C30) and the German version of the cancer fatigue scale (CFS-D) self-reported quality of life parameters were assessed and longitudinal changes, correlations, and association factors were calculated. Results: Significant improvements in fatigue (p = 0.006), physical functioning (p = 0.01), and diarrhea (p = 0.04) persisted in the 50 Tango participants at 6 months, but not in the control cohort. Twelve months after joining the tango program, increased fatigue was associated with reduced sporting activities (p = 0.0005), but this was not the case for tango dancing. Conclusions: The present results suggest that tango may be appropriate as a component of early supportive and follow-up care programs, to promote health-related quality of life and physical activity and also eventually to improve long-term clinical outcomes of breast cancer survivors. Trial registration: Trial registration numbers DRKS00013335 on 27 November 2017 and DRKS00021601 on 21 August 2020 retrospectively registered