My Home Is My Hospital on Recent Research on Health-Enabling Technologies.

During the last years there has been considerable progress in the area of health-enabling and ambient assistive technologies (HEAAT). Based on HEAAT, there is the chance that health care and preventive health will more and more take place again in a person's home. The objective of this essay is to report about this progress and to point out and discuss consequences, mainly by referring to a publication in the IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics 2016 about "Health-Enabling and Ambient Assistive Technologies: Past, Present, Future".

Use and Acceptance of Mobile Technology by Hospital Nurses in Germany.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to measure and describe user behavior, information and communication technology (ICT) competence and technology acceptance of hospital nurses.

Methods: 36 nurses received for six weeks a mobile phone or a tablet pc with mobile application and answered one questionnaire before and after the six weeks.

Results: The participating nurses show a high technology acceptance and private daily use of technologies.

Smart Glasses in Nursing Training - Redundant Gadget or Precious Tool? A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Heavy workloads in nursing care and high employee turnover call for efficient methods to support on-the-job training. Within the Witra Care project - aiming to develop mobile technologies to support knowledge transfer between experienced and inexperienced nurses - the objective was to investigate the feasibility and perceived usefulness of advanced smart glasses for an exemplary, specific activity in nursing training - preparation of a surgical instrument table in an operating room.

Methods: Four trainee nurses performed different tasks using speech-command operated smart glasses within an operating room setting and were asked for their expectations towards this technology, their experiences and perceptions.

Knowledge Transfer in Health Care Through Digitally Collecting Learning Experiences - Results of Witra Care.

Introduction: The goal of the project Witra Care was to investigate how far the use of mobile technology is suitable to collect experience-based knowledge of nurses.

Methods: Nine new employees and seven experienced nurses received for six weeks a mobile phone or a tablet pc with a mobile application that allowed them to collect learning object as pictures, videos, audio files or notes.

Results: In Witra Care the nurses created 303 learning objects.

Physical Activity, Decision-Making Abilities, and Eating Disturbances in Pre- and Postbariatric Surgery Patients.

Background: Physical activity (PA) is considered to have a beneficial influence on executive functioning, including decision-making. Enhanced decision-making after bariatric surgery may strengthen patients' ability to delay gratification, helping to establish appropriate eating behavior. The objectives of this study were to (1) compare a preoperative group with a postoperative group with regard to daily PA, decision-making, and eating disturbances; and (2) investigate the relationship between these variables.

Improving Bridging from Informatics Theory to Practice.

Background: In 1962, Methods of Information in Medicine (MIM) began to publish papers on the methodology and scientific fundamentals of managing data, information, and knowledge in biomedicine and health care. Meeting an increasing demand for research about practical implementation of health information systems, the journal Applied Clinical Informatics (ACI) was launched in 2009. Both journals are official journals of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA).

The Night Eating Syndrome (NES) in Bariatric Surgery Patients.

The night eating syndrome (NES) has been included into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 as an example of an 'other-specified feeding or eating disorder'. The prevalence of NES has found to be higher in obese populations than in the general population and seems to rise with increasing body mass index. Recent studies suggest a prevalence of 2%-20% in bariatric surgery samples.

AppFactLib - A Concept for Providing Transparent Information about Health Apps and Medical Apps.

Users often have to rely on incomplete or marketing oriented information sources when they have to decide whether they trust an app they are interested in or not since official quality seals are lacking. While various tools exist that aim at aiding users with assessing an app's quality, using them is often cumbersome; also, the available information is often insufficient for applying these tools and making an informed decision. Based on an approach we previously described, i.

Benefits and Barriers of E-Learning for Staff Training in a Medical University.

Learning Management Systems (LMS) are a feasible solution to fulfill the various requirements for e-learning based training in a medical university. Using the LMS ILIAS, the Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology has designed an e-learning unit about data protection, which has been used by 73% of the department's employees in the first three months. To increase the use of e-learning for staff training, it is necessary to identify barriers and benefits, which encourage the use of e-learning.

Developing a mobile application for recording learning experiences in nursing practice.

Objective: In complex clinical on-the-job training a seamless and target-oriented incorporation is crucial to assure a good medical care. The reliable transmission of specific and relevant facts, besides education knowledge, is a key factor to ensure sustainable quality in care processes.

Materials And Methods: We present the clinical field study WITRA care.

Physical activity event regularity and health outcome - 'Undiscovered country' in cohort accelerometer data.

The increasing use of wearable devices for measuring long-term activity data allows for detailed analyses of real-life behavioral patterns and for the identification of new parameters such as activity event regularity. Thus far, the medical relevance of this new regularity parameter is unknown. The objective of the research work for this paper is to investigate associations between activity regularity and resting systolic blood pressure, as an exemplary well-established cardiovascular risk factor.

Using ICT to Support Individual Guidance in Health Promotion Programs for Increased Physical Activity.

Introduction: We report on experiences in implementing a system to support the individual guidance of training in health promotion programs aiming to increase participants' regular level of physical activity.

Methods: We used an iterative development approach considering data privacy and security aspects, followed by a phase of field testing and continuous further development.

Results: Our preliminary results comprise identified clinically relevant parameters, suitable data collection methods, experienced privacy and security challenges and a glance on our developed prototype system.

Demographic and health related data of users of a mobile application to support drug adherence is associated with usage duration and intensity.

Purpose: A wealth of mobile applications are designed to support users in their drug intake. When developing software for patients, it is important to understand the differences between individuals who have, who will or who might never adopt mobile interventions. This study analyzes demographic and health-related factors associated with real-life "longer usage" and the "usage-intensity per day" of the mobile application "Medication Plan".

Feasibility study of a sensor-based autonomous load control exercise training system for COPD patients.

Decision support systems (DSSs) which are able to automatically supervise and control physical exercise training of patients affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are regarded as a novel method to promote rehabilitation. The objective of our research work for this paper was to evaluate the feasibility of a rule-based DSS for autonomous bicycle ergometer training of COPD patients. Load control is based on real-time analysis of sensor parameters oxygen saturation and heart rate.

A novel approach for discovering human behavior patterns using unsupervised methods.

Background: As is well known, elderly people gradually lose the ability of self-care. The decline can be reflected in changes in their daily life behavior. A solution to assess their health status is to design sensor-enhanced living environments to observe their behavior, in which unobtrusive sensors are usually used.

Clinical evaluation of a mobile sensor-based gait analysis method for outcome measurement after knee arthroplasty.

Clinical scores and motion-capturing gait analysis are today's gold standard for outcome measurement after knee arthroplasty, although they are criticized for bias and their ability to reflect patients' actual quality of life has been questioned. In this context, mobile gait analysis systems have been introduced to overcome some of these limitations. This study used a previously developed mobile gait analysis system comprising three inertial sensor units to evaluate daily activities and sports.

Clustering physical activity phenotypes using the ATLAS index on accelerometric data from an epidemiologic cohort study.

While many studies have identified associations of physical activity with both mortality and morbidity, the effects of different dose-patterns are still unclear. Employing the recently introduced ATLAS index, the aim of the research work for this paper was to investigate whether physical activity phenotypes can actually be extracted from a large-scale epidemiological accelerometer data set, and if these match the ones proposed. The ATLAS parameters were computed for 6386 data sets from the NHANES 2005-2006 cohort study, and x-Means clustering was performed on the results.

Mobility parameters in health applications--a literature review.

Independent mobility is linked to self-determined life and quality of life. [1] Since human mobility follows reproducible pattern [2], it may be useful to assess mobility in health applications. This article represents a literature review which considers the question which parameters represent mobility, how they are assessed (are tracking technologies used?) and their relation to health.

Multimodal activity monitoring for home rehabilitation of geriatric fracture patients--feasibility and acceptance of sensor systems in the GAL-NATARS study.

Background: Demographic change will lead to a diminishing care workforce faced with rising numbers of older persons in need of care, suggesting meaningful use of health-enabling technologies, and home monitoring in particular, to contribute to supporting both the carers and the persons in need.

Objectives: We present and discuss the GAL-NATARS study design along with first results regarding technical feasibility of long-term home monitoring and acceptance of different sensor modalities.

Methods: Fourteen geriatric participants with mobility-impairing fractures were recruited in three geriatric clinics.

A prospective field study for sensor-based identification of fall risk in older people with dementia.

Objective: Aim of this study was to make a fall prognosis in a cohort of older people with dementia in short-term (2 month), mid-term (4 month) and long-term (8 month) intervals using accelerometry during the subjects' everyday life.

Methods: The study was designed as a longitudinal cohort study. The subjects were recruited from a nursing home and geriatric assessment tests were conducted at baseline.

Information and communication technologies for promoting and sustaining quality of life, health and self-sufficiency in ageing societies--outcomes of the Lower Saxony Research Network Design of Environments for Ageing (GAL).

Many societies across the world are confronted with demographic changes, usually related to increased life expectancy and, often, relatively low birth rates. Information and communication technologies (ICT) may contribute to adequately support senior citizens in aging societies with respect to quality of life and quality and efficiency of health care processes. For investigating and for providing answers on whether new information and communication technologies can contribute to keeping, or even improving quality of life, health and self-sufficiency in ageing societies through new ways of living and new forms of care, the Lower Saxony Research Network Design of Environments for Ageing (GAL) had been established as a five years research project, running from 2008 to 2013.

Rollende arztpraxis - first results of an ambulant mobile care model for rural areas.

German medical care is going to suffer from a decreasing number of general practitioners due to demographic change. We study if ambulatory care in rural areas can be complementary ensured by a mobile care unit. A medical care van - the "rolling medical practice" (RMP) - has been constructed based on care scenarios created for rural communities in northern Germany.

App-synopsis: self-assessment on trust or distrust of health-apps.

Mobile devices and the apps running on them have become an integral part of daily life and this also includes the areas of medicine and health. Target audiences include those interested in their health, patients, and professional users. Nevertheless, the sheer number of available apps makes it hard for users to decide whether an app they are interested in is trustable or not.