An Expert Review of REVERIE and its potential for game-based learning

REVERIE (REal and Virtual Engagement in Realistic Immersive Environments) is a research project with the aim to build a safe, collaborative, online environment which brings together realistic inter-personal communication and interaction. The REVERIE platform integrates cutting-edge technologies and tools, such as social networking services, spatial audio adaptation techniques, tools for creating personalized lookalike avatars, and artificial intelligence (A.I) detection features of the user’s affective state into two distinct use cases. The first shows how REVERIE can be used in educational environments with an emphasis on social networking and learning. The second aims to emulate the look and feel of real physical presence and interaction for entertainment and collaborative purposes. This paper presents an expert evaluation of the first use case by potential users of REVERIE (teachers and students). Finally, the potential of REVERIE for game-based learning is discussed followed by an overview of the actionable recommendations that emerged as a result of the expert review

Using patient experience measures to evaluate the quality of medical and nursing care in the newly established PHC units (TOMYs), in Greece

Η Πρωτοβάθµια Φροντίδα Υγείας (ΠΦΥ) αποτελεί αναπόσπαστο µέρος του συστήµατος υγείας κάθε χώρας και της συνολικής κοινωνικής και οικονοµικής ανάπτυξης της κοινότητας. Στην Ελλάδα, το Υπουργείο Υγείας, σε µια προσπάθεια βελτίωσης της παροχής υπηρεσιών ΠΦΥ σε εθνικό επίπεδο, ίδρυσε το ∆εκέµβριο του 2017 τις πρώτες Τοπικές Μονάδες Υγείας (TOMY). Αυτές οι νέες µονάδες ΠΦΥ αποσκοπούσαν στην παροχή ποιοτικών υπηρεσιών ΠΦΥ προς τους πολίτες, βελτιώνοντας την υγεία του πληθυσµού και συµβάλλοντας στη µείωση των δαπανών για την υγεία. Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο, είναι σηµαντικό οι ασθενείς/λήπτες των υπηρεσιών ΠΦΥ να µπορούν να αξιολογούν τις εµπειρίες τους, όπως συσσωρεύονται κατά τη διάρκεια των επισκέψεών τους στις νέες αυτές δοµές ΠΦΥ. Σκοπός της αυτής της µελέτης ήταν η αξιολόγηση της ποιότητας της ιατρικής και νοσηλευτικής φροντίδας στις νεοσύστατες µονάδες ΠΦΥ (TOMY) στην Ελλάδα, µέσω της αποτύπωσης των εµπειριών των ασθενών.Primary Health Care (PHC) is an integral part of both a country’s health system and of the overall social and economic development of the community. In Greece, in an effort to improve the provision of the PHC services on a national level, the Ministry of Health established the first Local Health Units (TOMYs) in December 2017. These new PHC units aimed to contribute to the provision of quality primary care services to citizens, while at the same time favoring the health system by improving the health of the population and helping to reduce health costs. Within this context, it is important for patients/PHC services’ recipients to be able to evaluate their experiences, as accumulated during their visits at these new health PHC structures. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the quality of medical and nursing care in the newly established PHC units (TOMYs) in Greece, using patient experience measures

Impacts of the economic crisis on access to healthcare services in Greece with a focus on the vulnerable groups of the population1

Το 2010, η ελληνική οικονομία εισήλθε σε μια βαθιά, δομική και πολύπλευρη κρίση, τα κύρια χαρακτηριστικά της οποίας είναι το μεγάλο δημοσιονομικό έλλειμμα και το πολύ υψηλό δημόσιο χρέος. Αρνητικές επιπτώσεις παρατηρούνται και σε κοινωνικό επίπεδο, καθώς όλοι οι κοινωνικοί δείκτες έχουν επιδεινωθεί. Το άρθρο αυτό εξετάζει την επίπτωση της οικονομικής κρίσης στην πρόσβαση των υπηρεσιών φροντίδας υγείας ιδιαίτερα των ευάλωτων ομάδων του πληθυσμού. Οι ανασφάλιστοι, οι άνεργοι, οι ηλικιωμένοι, οι μετανάστες, τα παιδιά και οι πάσχοντες από μακροχρόνιες ασθένειες και ψυχικές διαταραχές είναι οι ομάδες που επλήγησαν περισσότερο από την οικονομική κρίση στην Ελλάδα. Το υψηλό κόστος, η χαμηλή εγγύτητα και οι μεγάλες λίστες αναμονής είναι μερικά από τα εμπόδια στην πρόσβαση των υπηρεσιών υγείας που αντιμετωπίζουν οι παραπάνω ομάδες.In 2010, the Greek economy entered a deep, structural and multi-faceted crisis, the main futures of which are a large fiscal deficit and huge public debt. The negative effects can also be observed at the societal level, as all social indicators have deteriorated. The present paper discusses the impact of economic crisis on access to healthcare services especially for the vulnerable groups. Uninsured, unemployed, older people, migrants, children and those suffering from chronic disease and mental disorders are among the groups most affected by the crisis in Greece. High costs, low proximity and long waiting lists are among the main barriers in accessing health care services

Exploring Immersive Technologies in Learning. J.UCS Special Issue

Immersive technologies have presented very promising opportunities for innovation in learning. In recent years, they have become more accessible and we are just beginning to see an increase in their adoption, addressing user needs in various domain, particularly in education. At the time of this writing (second quarter, 2020) and given the global emergency situation that COVID-19 has imposed to the world, it is more relevant than ever to look at ways to materialise the promise that they represent, tackling some of the bigger challenges that the society face. Therefore, we, the community of scholars and practitioners at the intersection of learning, technology and game sciences, find ourselves at the centre of a massive opportunity to demonstrate the potential that Immersive Learning can bring to support society in this challenging times, as the world continues to deal with a global health crisis

Inequalities between migrants and non-migrants in accessing and using health services in Greece during an era of economic hardship

A cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2013 until March 2014 to explore the existence of inequalities in access to and utilization of health services by migrants compared to non-migrants in Greece and to test the influence of various factors on these disparities. Also, we investigated the influence of several socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Study population included 1,152 migrants and 702 non-migrants. Migrants, participants suffering from a chronic disease, those without health insurance, and patients who assessed their health status as not at all good/a little good/moderate were statistically more likely to report unmet needs in getting their medication. Uninsured participants, females, those unemployed or without a permanent occupational status, and those who assessed their health status as not at all good/a little good/moderate were statistically more likely to report unmet needs in access to health services during the last year. Regarding the use of health services, those with health coverage, non-migrants, and females were statistically more likely to go for a blood test as a hospital outpatient. Greece, despite administrative delays and barriers, provided full coverage to the uninsured, asylum seekers, and migrants, even many groups of undocumented migrants

Barriers in Access to Pharmaceutical Care in Greece: The Case Study of the Out-of-Hospital Management of Patients With Acute Asthma

Aim: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of information and administrative assistance regarding patient adherence to asthma guidelines and investigate the nature of the barriers in access to pharmaceutical care in Greece based on the case study of the out-of-hospital management of patients with acute asthma.Materials and Methods: The sample of the study consisted of 100 patients with acute asthma who visited the Emergency Department of a General Hospital of Athens. A comparative cross-sectional study using convenience sampling was conducted during October 2014 and June 2015 regarding the adherence to the follow up.Results: Patients who complied with the follow up visit constituted 61% of the total sample (82% of the patients from the intervention group and 40% from the control group) and for those for whom the follow up visit had been scheduled by the researchers had been compliant with the physician's instructions more often than patients for whom the follow up had not been scheduled by the researchers (OR = 8.2, 95%CI = 2.9–23.2). Patients with increased hospitalization days during the previous year and who did not consume the appropriate medication prescribed for asthma due to lack of a prescription, visited the ED more frequently than the rest of the patients (OR = 271.47, 95%CI = 14.53–5070.8). More than one out of three patients (36.4%) reported that they had not bought their asthma medications because they had no prescription while almost one out of five stated that they had purchased their medications but had used them with savings in doses. Patients who had not taken their asthma medication due to lack of prescription, visited more than once the ED, resulting in non-admission, when compared to patients who had a prescription for their medications. (OR = 3.5, 95%CI = 1.3–9.3).Discussion–Conclusions: Out-of-hospital management of asthma in Greece presents significant gaps and shortcomings, mainly due to important unresolved issues regarding availability, accessibility and use of services. The findings of the present study confirm the cause-effect relationship between ineffective out-of-hospital management of asthma and the increase in the frequency of the use of hospital emergency departments, resulting in an increase in health costs

Human Resources for Health in Greece: Current status and the way forward

Το παρόν άρθρο παρουσιάζει συνοπτικά μια πρόταση για την εθνική στρατηγική για το ανθρώπινο δυναμικό στην υγεία, η οποία βασίζεται στην αξιολόγηση της παρούσας κατάστασης και αναπτύχθηκε με βάση 5 πεδία/στρατηγικούς τομείςκλειδιά: τον προγραμματισμό του ανθρώπινου δυναμικού, τις δεξιότητες και την κατανομή των επαγγελματιών υγείας, τη συγκράτηση προσωπικού, τη διακυβέρνηση και τις εθνικές προτεραιότητες στον τομέα της υγείας. Παρέχει μια επισκόπηση των δημογραφικών και επιδημιολογικών προκλήσεων, των προβλημάτων που αντιμετωπίζει το ελληνικό σύστημα υγείας και των πολιτικών που επηρεάζουν τη στρατηγική για το ανθρώπινο υγειονομικό δυναμικό. Περιγράφονται οι κύριοι στόχοι και οι κατευθυντήριες αρχές της προτεινόμενης εθνικής στρατηγικής για τους ανθρώπινους πόρους στον τομέα της υγείας και εξετάζονται οι αναγκαίες δράσεις και τα επόμενα βήματα που θα εξασφαλίσουν την επιτυχή υλοποίηση αυτής.This paper presents briefly the suggested national human resources for health strategy for Greece, which is based on a rapid assessment of the current situation and drafted around 5 domains/strategic key areas: planning, skills and distribution, retention, governance and government health priorities. It provides an overview of the national context including demographic challenges, health status of the population and emerging health issues as well as health system organizational characteristics and policies with an impact on human resources for health strategy. The main objectives and the guiding principles of the suggested national strategy are explained and proposals for the way forward to successfully implement it are discussed

User experience evaluation of human representation in collaborative virtual environments

Human embodiment/representation in virtual environments (VEs) similarly to the human body in real life is endowed with multimodal input/output capabilities that convey multiform messages enabling communication, interaction and collaboration in VEs. This paper assesses how effectively different types of virtual human (VH) artefacts enable smooth communication and interaction in VEs. With special focus on the REal and Virtual Engagement In Realistic Immersive Environments (REVERIE) multi-modal immersive system prototype, a research project funded by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), the paper evaluates the effectiveness of REVERIE VH representation on the foregoing issues based on two specifically designed use cases and through the lens of a set of design guidelines generated by previous extensive empirical user-centred research. The impact of REVERIE VH representations on the quality of user experience (UX) is evaluated through field trials. The output of the current study proposes directions for improving human representation in collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) as an extrapolation of lessons learned by the evaluation of REVERIE VH representation

Using Serious Games for Learning British Sign Language Combining Video, Enhanced Interactivity, and VR Technology

One in every six persons in the UK suffers a hearing loss, either as a condition they have been born with, or they developed during their life. Nine hundred thousand people in the UK are severely or profoundly deaf. Based on a study by Action on Hearing Loss UK in 2013 only 17 percent of this population, can use the British Sign Language (BSL). That leaves a massive proportion of people with a hearing impediment who do not use sign language struggling in social interaction and suffering from emotional distress. It also leaves even a larger proportion of Hearing people who cannot communicate with those of the deaf community. This paper presents a Serious Game (SG) that aims to close the communication gap between able hearing people and people with hearing impairment by providing a tool that facilitates BSL learning targeting the adult population. The paper presents the theoretical framework supporting adult learning based on which a SG game using Virtual Reality (VR) technology has been developed. The paper explains the experimental framework of the study. It presents the creation of the research instruments to facilitate the study comprising of a SG that integrates video and conventional video-based educational material. It reports and analyses the study results that demonstrate the advantage of the SG in effectively supporting users learning a set of BSL signs. It also presents qualitative outcomes that inform the further development of the game to serve learning needs. The paper closes with conclusions, directions for further development of this educational resource, and future studies