Background: Health systems had to rapidly implement infection control strategies to sustain their workforces during the COVID-19 pandemic. Various outbreak response tools, such as digital contact tracing (DCT), have been developed to monitor exposures and symptoms of health care workers (HCWs). Limited research evidence exists on the experiences with these technologies and the impacts of DCT innovations from the perspective of stakeholders in health care environments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth information technologies (HIT) provide opportunities to support staff as well as residents and their families in long-term care (LTC) homes. Yet, LTC homes lag behind other healthcare organizations in HIT adoption, and little is known about the factors that inform and shape LTC home managers' decisions. We conducted an exploratory Delphi study with a panel of 19 Canadian LTC managers who were surveyed through three iterative rounds (brainstorming, narrowing down, and ranking) to solicit their input on the key factors that influence HIT adoption decisions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImplementing and sustaining technological innovations in healthcare is a complex process. Commonly, innovations are abandoned due to unsuccessful attempts to sustain and scale-up post implementation. Limited information is available on what characterizes successful e-health innovations and the enabling factors that can lead to their sustainability in complex hospital environments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis scoping review examined the breadth and depth of evidence on Electronic Medical Record (EMR) implementation benefits in outpatient settings. Following PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews, five databases were searched, and 24 studies were retained and reviewed. Benefits, facilitators, and barriers to EMR implementation were extracted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine] (GLY) adsorbs strongly in Finnish soils. A new method for GLY and its main degradation product, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) residues in clay soils (Protovertic Luvisol) was developed and validated. A new method was necessary because the previous one required laborious cleaning pre-treatments, and its recovery was quite poor (<40%-70%).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Transl Radiat Oncol
September 2023
Introduction: Pelvic insufficiency fractures (PIFs) are adverse events associated with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) administered preoperatively in rectal cancer, with incidences of 0-33.6% reported in the literature. Data on PIFs after 5 × 5 Gy fractionated short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) using highly conformal radiotherapy techniques such as volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aims to assess changes in long-term care (LTC) residents' quality of life (QoL) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A pre-test post-test study of 49 QoL measures, across four dimensions from the interRAI self-reported QoL survey, was conducted. Secondary data from 2019 ( = 116) and 2020 ( = 128) were analysed to assess the change in QoL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeart failure (HF) is the leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and health care utilization globally. Much of the cost for HF is related to hospitalization, strategies to decrease cost need to focus on avoiding unnecessary hospital readmission. Interactive voice response (IVR) is an automated telephony system that leverages existing telephone lines to monitor patients post-discharge, for early intervention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSupportive smart home technology, for older adults living with dementia and their informal care partners, has shown some benefits in private homes. In this study, a supportive smart home system is being implemented in a hospital alternative level of care setting. This case report describes how a team of researchers and healthcare managers are navigating the complexities of a hospital setting, using human-centred design and implementation strategies, to facilitate the implementation and adoption of the technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The burden of population aging and chronic conditions has been reported worldwide. Older adults, especially those with high needs, experience social isolation and have high rates of emergency visits and limited satisfaction with the care they receive. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies present opportunities to address these challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Soc Care Community
November 2020
The number of seniors and prevalence of chronic conditions are increasing worldwide, resulting in more pressure on health systems. Health Information Technologies (HIT) present opportunities to support the healthcare needs of seniors. Although prior studies have investigated HIT and seniors, it remains unclear what factors significantly affect the adoption of different HIT by elderly people in the community.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Coeliac disease (CD) is a chronic, autoimmune disease that prevents individuals from processing gluten, leading to adverse health effects. People with CD should adhere to a gluten-free diet (GFD); however, adherence rates are well below optimal in adults with CD, ranging between 42% and 91%. To date, limited evidence is available on the nature and magnitude of factors that affect adherence to GFD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study presents the case of an innovative Adult Day Program model resulting from a community-college partnership, with a formative evaluation of its contributions. A triangulation of data sources were used (existing documents, seniors' records, survey of caregivers). An overview of the historical development of the Adult Day Program model, and its underlying partnership, is presented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Research in various countries has previously investigated the competencies required for effective management of health care organizations. Yet, limited information is available on the skills and knowledge areas, which are currently lacking among the healthcare workforce employed in environments with limited resources.
Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the perceived healthcare workforce needs at the management and clinical/practice levels in Lebanon.
Telemonitoring leverages technology for the follow-up of patients with heart failure. Limited evidence exists on how telemonitoring influences senior patients' attitudes and self-care practices. This study examines telemonitoring impacts on patient empowerment and self-care, and explores adoption factors among senior patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTelemed J E Health
February 2019
Introduction: Rural geographic isolation may act as a promoting or restraining variable to the diffusion of technology and healthy aging in the community. Telehome monitoring (TM) leverages technology to support seniors living in the community with chronic conditions. To date, limited research has investigated the utilization of TM in rural settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Diabetes is a common chronic disease that places an unprecedented strain on health care systems worldwide. Mobile health technologies such as smartphones, mobile applications, and wearable devices, known as mHealth, offer significant and innovative opportunities for improving patient to provider communication and self-management of diabetes.
Objective: The purpose of this overview is to critically appraise and consolidate evidence from multiple systematic reviews on the effectiveness of mHealth interventions for patients with diabetes to inform policy makers, practitioners, and researchers.
This work presents a case of a young woman with apraxia and a severe body scheme disorder, 10 years after a childhood frontal and occipitoparietal brain injury. Despite specific limitations, she is independent in performing all activities of daily living. A battery of tests was administered to evaluate praxis and body representations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Despite the frequency of use of telemedicine in emergency care, limited evidence exists on its impacts at the patient, provider, organization, and system level. Hospital-based applications of telemedicine present a potentially important solution, particularly for small and rural hospitals where access to local specialists is rarely available.
Purpose: We conducted a systematic review of telemedicine applications for hospital-based emergency care, which aims to synthesize the existing evidence on the impact of tele-emergency applications that could inform future efforts and research in this area.
Background: Growing interest on the effects of home telemonitoring on patients with chronic heart failure (HF) has led to a rise in the number of systematic reviews addressing the same or very similar research questions with a concomitant increase in discordant findings. Differences in the scope, methods of analysis, and methodological quality of systematic reviews can cause great confusion and make it difficult for policy makers and clinicians to access and interpret the available evidence and for researchers to know where knowledge gaps in the extant literature exist.
Objective: This overview aims to collect, appraise, and synthesize existing evidence from multiple systematic reviews on the effectiveness of home telemonitoring interventions for patients with chronic heart failure (HF) to inform policy makers, practitioners, and researchers.
Int J Technol Assess Health Care
July 2014
Objectives: To date, IT strategic planning has been mostly theory-based with limited information on "best practices" in this area. This study presents the process and outcomes of IT strategic planning undertaken at a pediatric hospital (PH) in Canada.
Methods: A five-stage sequential and incremental process was adopted.
In light of increasing interest in evidence-based management, we conducted a scoping review of systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) to determine the availability and accessibility of evidence for health care managers; 14 MAs and 61 SRs met the inclusion criteria. Most reviews appeared in medical journals (53%), originated in the United States (29%) or United Kingdom (22%), were hospital-based (55%), and targeted clinical providers (55%). Topics included health services organization (34%), quality/patient safety (17%), information technology (15%), organization/workplace management (13%), and health care workforce (12%).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Active sports require sufficient energy intake. How do young athletes meet this need? The aim of this study was to investigate self-reported health and oral behaviors of young athletes and to compare them with a population-based sample of ordinary adolescents.
Design: A computer-based questionnaire on oral hygiene habits and dietary habits was conducted in two junior high schools with special classes for athletes in 2011.
Background: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of home telemonitoring interventions for patients with chronic diseases have increased over the past decade and become increasingly important to a wide range of clinicians, policy makers, and other health care stakeholders. While a few criticisms about their methodological rigor and synthesis approaches have recently appeared, no formal appraisal of their quality has been conducted yet.
Objective: The primary aim of this critical review was to evaluate the methodology, quality, and reporting characteristics of prior reviews that have investigated the effects of home telemonitoring interventions in the context of chronic diseases.