Artificial and Biological Neurons: Interdisciplinary Issues and Future Perspectives. White Paper

Recent developments in the technological domain have increased the interactions between artificial and natural spheres, leading to a growing interest in the ethical, legal and philosophical implications of AI research. The present paper aims at creating an interdisciplinary discussion on issues raised by the use and the implementation of artificial intelligence algorithms, robotics, and applied solutions in the neuroscience and biotechnology field. Building on the findings of the webinar “Workshop neuroni artificial e biologici: etica e diritto”, this work explores the issues discussed in the workshop, it attempts to show both the existing challenges and opportunities and it seeks to propose ways forward to overcome some of the investigated problems

Quality of care in children with chronic diseases

Background Improving health care for chronic health conditions is a major goal of contemporary health service delivery systems. To date, the main research focus has been on adults and elderly, while fewer attention has been focused on newborns and children with chronic health conditions. To address the challenges related to the provision of integrated care to children with special health care needs, the Special Needs Kids (SpeNK) project was carried out in Emilia-Romagna Region. The specific aims of this study were: to review the ongoing sheltered discharge procedures, to develop and test instruments to assess the families’ perspective on the continuity of care and to estimate the time devoted by the family pediatrician to care coordination activities. Materials and methods The SpeNK project is still ongoing. After reviewing the procedures implemented in the Local Health Authorities of the study area, 10 face-to-face, 3 telephone semi-structured interviews and a focus group with the families at 1-6 months from discharge were conducted by a psychologist. A 20-item questionnaire on continuity of care was then developed, based on the contents of the interview and on Haggerty’s constructs of informational, management and relational continuity. The questionnaire was validated on 102 parents of preterm newborns and then administered by phone to the families of children enrolled in the SpeNK study after 9 months from discharge. Results A qualitative analysis of the contents of the semi-structured interviews revealed that families underscored the importance of informational continuity among hospital clinicians and across health care services, set a high value on the information/training received during the hospital stay of children and at discharge, and exhibited a mixed attitude towards involvement in the health care decisions. Examination of the structure of the questionnaire using factor analysis with oblique rotation identified 5 factors accounting for 61.1% of the variance of items. The factors identified can be interpretable as ‘management continuity’ , ‘informational continuity’ ‘trustful relation with the family pediatrician’, ‘information provided to families’ and ‘family empowerment’. Conclusions The preliminary results of the qualitative analysis of the semi-structured interviews suggest the relevance to the families of the hospital experience and some criticalities in the informational continuity among professionals. The questionnaire on continuity of care has a well-defined structure and can be a useful tool to capture problems related to informational continuity and to the interaction of families with the professionals involved in the care of children with special care needs

Adapted Physical Activity for the Promotion of Health and the Prevention of Multifactorial Chronic Diseases: the Erice Charter

The Erice Charter was unanimously approved at the conclusion of the 47th Residential Course "Adapted Physical Activity in Sport, Wellness and Fitness: New Challenges for Prevention and Health Promotion", held on 20-24 April 2015 in Erice, Italy, at the "Ettore Majorana" Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture, and promoted by the International School of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine "G. D'Alessandro" and the Study Group on Movement Sciences for Health of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health. After an intense discussion the participants identified the main points associated with the relevance of physical activity for Public Health, claiming the pivotal role of the Department of Prevention in coordinating and managing preventive actions. The participants underlined the importance of the physicians specialized in Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health. The contribution of other operators such as physicians specialized in Sport Medicine was stressed. Further, the holders of the new degree in Human Movement and Sport Sciences were considered fundamental contributors for the performance of physical activity and their presence was seen as a promising opportunity for the Departments of Prevention. Primary prevention based on recreational physical activities should become easily accessible for the population, avoiding obstacles such as certification steps or complex bureaucracy. The Sport Doctor is recognized as the principal referent for preliminary physical evaluation and clinical monitoring in secondary and tertiary prevention actions based on adapted physical activities. Developing research in the field is essential as well as implementing higher education on physical activity management in Schools of Public Health