Community-Based Trials of Mobile Solutions for the Detection and Management of Cognitive Decline

This study focused on the development and usability evaluation of EnCare diagnostics (ECD) and the brain fit plan (BFP) in healthy older adults, cognitively impaired and physically impaired individuals. ECD is proposed as a novel solution to cognitive assessment based on colour selection. BFP is a novel solution to personalised cognitive stimulation. The study consisted of two trials designed to evaluate the usability of the apps. Trial 1 involved 11 healthy older adults and four older adults with physical impairments who undertook ECD and mini-mental state examination (MMSE) once per month for 4 months with only those with physical impairments also completing the BFP daily. Trial 2 involved eight older adults diagnosed with early stage dementia who completed MMSE and ECD once per month for 6 months. In Trial 1, 10 out of 11 participants enjoyed the trial and managed the usability of the app easily. A 75% drop out was observed in response to the BFP with issues of dexterity and lack of understanding on how to use the technology being the main reasons for lack of compliance. Four out of eight participants completed Trial 2 with most of the participants having no usability issues. This usability study demonstrated that ECD is highly acceptable in both healthy older adults and those with early stage dementia when given the shorter versions to accommodate their diagnosis. The BFP was not suited to this population of participants

Quality is not strategy : Nash equilibrium and international market entry

Version of RecordA recent Harvard Business Review article by Suarez and Lanzolla (2001) entitled the Half-truth of First Mover Advantage argued that this is a business concept which has so much intuitive appeal that its validity is almost taken for granted. In the following paper, we illustrate how typical applications of game theory to describe first mover advantage in the context of international markets are generally set up use an improper theoretical framework and compare incommensurable qualities and quantities. We then review the work of Porter (1996) and others with respect to sustainable competitive advantage and suggest that the Nash equilibrium may provide some guidance as to the kinds of circumstances in which a profitable first mover advantage may or may not be obtainable when entering international markets.Vos Fellman, P., Nugent N., Vos Post, J., & Doyon, D. (2007, October). Quality is not strategy : Nash equilibrium and international market entry. Presented at the Academy of International Business U.S. Northeast Chapter Regional Meeting, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.ed

Portal Design for the Open Data Initiative: A Preliminary Study

The Open Data Initiative (ODI) has been previously proposed to facilitate the sharing of annotated datasets within the pervasive health care research community. This paper outlines the requirements for the ODI portal based on the ontological data model of the ODI and its typical usage scenarios. In the context of an action research framework, the paper outlines the ODI platform, the design of a prototype user interface for the purposes of initial evaluation and its technical review by third-party researchers (n = 3). The main findings from the technical review were found to be the need for a more flexible user interface to reflect the different experimental configurations in the research community, provision for describing dataset usage, and dissemination conditions. The technical review also identified the value of permitting datasets with variable quality, as noisy datasets are useful in the testing of activity recognition algorithms. Revisions to the ODI ontology and platform are proposed based on the findings from this study

Co-design to support engagement in activities of daily living and meaningful activities for people living with dementia

Dementia is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative illness, which can lead to significant difficulties in a person’s capacity to perform activities of daily living and engage in meaningful activities. The Smart Dementia Care project aims to establish an understanding of how best to design digital tools that persons with dementia and their carers will find useful and usable for care planning and goal setting. This paper discusses the first phase of this project and describes how co-design is being used to support engagement in activities of daily living and meaningful activities for people living with the early stages of dementia, with such engagement intended to extend the period of independent living for the person with dementia. It is anticipated that adopting a co-design approach and involving people living with dementia throughout the design cycle will allow for an application that is viewed as usable and intuitive while also acting as a tool of empowerment rather than a burden. At the same time, the intention is that integrating personalized goal-setting functionality focussing on individualized activities and everyday tasks will result in a system that is useful and effective

Monitoring Activities of Daily Living for Maintaining Independent Living in Dementia

Our ability to live independent meaningful lives depends on our ability to perform various activities and to maintain our cognitive functions. Maintaining independent living is important for persons with dementia, it increases selfworth and allows to remain independent and in their own homes for longer. We describe the activities established as being important for the maintenance of independent living, and methods for monitoring these activities using technology