Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A New Era: Utilizing Technology Tools To Enhance Elder Independence, April Lisa Phelps

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The goal of this integrative review was to examine the multitude of technology tools and the evidence which supports their use to enhance elders’ independence when residing at home. Multiple journal articles and books published between July 2015 and July 2020 were examined using the PRISMA model for evidence to support or oppose the use of technology to enhance the elders’s independence. A total of 27 articles were included in the final review. An exploration of gaps in knowledge related to the issue of elders using technology tools such as wearable sensors, artificial intelligence, home monitoring, robots, mHealth, Internet of …

Operability, Usefulness, And Task-Technology Fit Of An Mhealth App For Delivering Primary Health Care Services By Community Health Workers In Underserved Areas Of Pakistan And Afghanistan: Qualitative Study, Shehla Zaidi, Abdul Momin Kazi, Atif Riaz, Ammarah Ali, Rabia Najmi Taha, Rawshan Jabeen, Umerdad Khudadad, Saleem Sayani

Community Health Sciences

Background: The recent proliferation of digital health technology in low- and middle-income countries has made it possible for community health workers (CHWs) to use mobile health (mHealth) to perform tasks such as data collection and training. Although most studies focus on the prospect of digital apps to motivate and connect CHW, only a few have captured end-user experiences with mobile-based apps. We examined the experience of frontline health workers with a move towards digitalized real-time data to record maternal and childcare services in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Objective: Our study aimed to explore CHW perceptions on the operability …

A Smartphone-Based Support Group For Alcoholism: Effects Of Giving And Receiving Emotional Support On Coping Self-Efficacy And Risky Drinking, Woohyun Yoo, Dhavan V. Shah, Ming-Yuan Chih, David H. Gustafson

Health and Clinical Sciences Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature and effects of exchanging emotional support via a smartphone-based support group for patients with alcohol dependence. Of the 349 patients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for alcohol dependence, 153 patients participated in the discussion group within the Addiction-Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System, a smartphone application aimed at reducing relapse. This was developed to prevent problem drinking by offering individuals in recovery for alcohol dependence automated 24/7 recovery support services and frequent assessment of their symptom status as part of their addiction care. …

Untold Stories In User-Centered Design Of Mobile Health: Practical Challenges And Strategies Learned From The Design And Evaluation Of An App For Older Adults With Heart Failure., Victor Philip Cornet, Tammy Toscos Phd, Davide Bolchini, Romisa Rohani Ghahari, Ryan Ahmed, Carly Daley, Michael J. Mirro Md, Richard J Holden

Health Services and Informatics Research

BACKGROUND: User-centered design (UCD) is a powerful framework for creating useful, easy-to-use, and satisfying mobile health (mHealth) apps. However, the literature seldom reports the practical challenges of implementing UCD, particularly in the field of mHealth.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to characterize the practical challenges encountered and propose strategies when implementing UCD for mHealth.

METHODS: Our multidisciplinary team implemented a UCD process to design and evaluate a mobile app for older adults with heart failure. During and after this process, we documented the challenges the team encountered and the strategies they used or considered using to address those challenges.

RESULTS: We …

Automatic Recognition, Segmentation, And Sex Assignment Of Nocturnal Asthmatic Coughs And Cough Epochs In Smartphone Audio Recordings: Observational Field Study, Filipe Barata, Peter Tinschert, Frank Rassouli, Claudia Steurer-Stey, Elgar Fleisch, Milo Puhan, Martin Brutsche, David Kotz, Tobias Kowatsch

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic respiratory diseases. Despite increased investment in treatment, little progress has been made in the early recognition and treatment of asthma exacerbations over the last decade. Nocturnal cough monitoring may provide an opportunity to identify patients at risk for imminent exacerbations. Recently developed approaches enable smartphone-based cough monitoring. These approaches, however, have not undergone longitudinal overnight testing nor have they been specifically evaluated in the context of asthma. Also, the problem of distinguishing partner coughs from patient coughs when two or more people are sleeping in the same room using contact-free audio …

Mobile Consulting (Mconsulting) And Its Potential For Providing Access To Quality Healthcare For Populations Living In Low-Resource Settings Of Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Frances Griffiths, Jocelyn Anstey Watkins, Caroline Huxley, Bronwyn Harris, Jonathan Cave, Senga Pemba, Beatrice Chipwaza, Romaina Iqbal, Saleem Sayani, Komal Tabani

Community Health Sciences

Objective: The poorest populations of the world lack access to quality healthcare. We defined the key components of consulting via mobile technology (mConsulting), explored whether mConsulting can fill gaps in access to quality healthcare for poor and spatially marginalised populations (specifically rural and slum populations) of low- and middle-income countries, and considered the implications of its take-up.
Methods: We utilised realist methodology. First, we undertook a scoping review of mobile health literature and searched for examples of mConsulting. Second, we formed our programme theories and identified potential benefits and hazards for deployment of mConsulting for poor and spatially marginalised populations. …

Leveraging The Use Of Mhealth In Patients With Depression Among Low- And Middle- Income Countries, Naureen Akber Ali, Adeel Khoja

School of Nursing & Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Mobile Personal Healthcare System For Non-Invasive, Pervasive And Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring: A Feasibility Study, Luis J. Mena, Vanessa G. Felix, Rodolfo Ostos, Armando J. Gonzalez, Rafael Martinez-Pelaez, Jesus D. Melgarejo, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Background: Smartphone-based blood pressure (BP) monitor using photoplethysmogram (PPG) technology has emerged as a promising approach to empower users with self-monitoring for effective diagnosis and control ofhypertension (HT).

Objective: This study aimed to develop a mobile personal healthcare system for non-invasive, pervasive, and continuous estimation of BP level and variability to be user-friendly to elderly.

Methods: The proposed approach was integrated by a self-designed cuffless, calibration-free, wireless and wearable PPG-only sensor, and a native purposely-designed smartphone application using multilayer perceptron machine learning techniques from raw signals. We performed a pilot study with three elder adults (mean age 61.3 ± 1.5 …

Feasibility Of Post-Operative Mobile Health Monitoring Among Colorectal Surgery Patients, Tanya Kuper

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Post-operative readmission following colorectal surgery is a common and costly occurrence. Remote health monitoring via mobile applications has the potential to reduce post-operative readmissions by early identification of complications. This intervention depends on patient acceptance and compliance with available technology. The feasibility of home monitoring using automated daily surveys and wound photo uploads, delivered via a mobile health application, was tested in the immediate post-operative period after colorectal surgery. Patient compliance, the association between generated alerts and readmissions, and patient satisfaction were measured. Patient satisfaction was high; 80.5% of patients reported that they felt safer going home knowing that they …

Utilizing Digital Health To Collect Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes In Prostate Cancer: Single-Arm Pilot Trial, Christine Tran, Ms, Adam Dicker, Md, Phd, Benjamin Leiby, Phd, Eric Gressen, Md, Noelle Williams, Md, Heather Jim, Phd

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

Background: Measuring patient-reported outcomes (PROs) requires an individual’s perspective on their symptoms, functional status, and quality of life. Digital health enables remote electronic PRO (ePRO) assessments as a clinical decision support tool to facilitate meaningful provider interactions and personalized treatment.

Objective: This study explored the feasibility and acceptability of collecting ePROs using validated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires for prostate cancer.

Methods: Using Apple ResearchKit software, the Strength Through Insight app was created with content from validated HRQoL tools 26-item Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) or EPIC for Clinical Practice and 8-item Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Advanced …

Accuracy Of Vital Signs Measurements By A Smartwatch And A Portable Health Device: Validation Study., Christina Hahnen, Cecilia G. Freeman, Nilanjan Haldar, Jacquelyn N. Hamati, Dylan M. Bard, Vignesh Murali, Geno J. Merli, Jeffrey I. Joseph, Noud Van Helmond

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: New consumer health devices are being developed to easily monitor multiple physiological parameters on a regular basis. Many of these vital sign measurement devices have yet to be formally studied in a clinical setting but have already spread widely throughout the consumer market.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the accuracy and precision of heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and oxygen saturation (SpO₂) measurements of 2 novel all-in-one monitoring devices, the BodiMetrics Performance Monitor and the Everlast smartwatch.

METHODS: We enrolled 127 patients (>18 years) from the …

Operability, Acceptability, And Usefulness Of A Mobile App To Track Routine Immunization Performance In Rural Pakistan: Interview Study Among Vaccinators And Key Informants, Shehla Zaidi, Saqib Ali Shaikh, Saleem Sayani, Abdul Momin Kazi, Adeel Khoja, Syed Shahzad Hussain, Rabia Najmi

Community Health Sciences

Background: There has been a recent spate of mobile health (mHealth) app use for immunizations and other public health concerns in low- and middle-income countries. However, recent evidence has largely focused on app development or before-and-after effects on awareness or service coverage. There is little evidence on the factors that facilitate adoption of mHealth programs, which is critical to effectively embed digital technology into mainstream health systems.

Objective: This study aimed to provide the qualitative experiences of frontline health staff and district managers while engaging with real-time digital technology to improve the coverage of routine childhood immunization in an underserved …