Methodologies Used to Study the Feasibility, Usability, Efficacy, and Effectiveness of Social Robots For Elderly Adults: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: New research fields to design social robots for older people are emerging. By providing support with communication and social interaction, these robots aim to increase quality of life. Because of the decline in functioning due to cognitive impairment in older people, social robots are regarded as promising, especially for people with dementia. Although study outcomes are hopeful, the quality of studies on the effectiveness of social robots for the elderly is still low due to many methodological limitations. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to review the methodologies used thus far in studies evaluating the feasibility, usability, efficacy, and effectiveness of social robots in clinical and social settings for elderly people, including persons with dementia. METHODS: Dedicated search strings were developed. Searches in MEDLINE (PubMed), Web of Science, PsycInfo, and CINAHL were performed on August 13, 2020. RESULTS: In the 33 included papers, 23 different social robots were investigated for their feasibility, usability, efficacy, and effectiveness. A total of 8 (24.2%) studies included elderly persons in the community, 9 (27.3%) included long-term care facility residents, and 16 (48.5%) included people with dementia. Most of the studies had a single aim, of which 7 (21.2%) focused on efficacy and 7 (21.2%) focused on effectiveness. Moreover, forms of randomized controlled trials were the most applied designs. Feasibility and usability were often studied together in mixed methods or experimental designs and were most often studied in individual interventions. Feasibility was often assessed with the Unified Theory of the Acceptance and Use of Technology model. Efficacy and effectiveness studies used a range of psychosocial and cognitive outcome measures. However, the included studies failed to find significant improvements in quality of life, depression, and cognition. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified several shortcomings in methodologies used to evaluate social robots, resulting in ambivalent study findings. To improve the quality of these types of studies, efficacy/effectiveness studies will benefit from appropriate randomized controlled trial designs with large sample sizes and individual intervention sessions. Experimental designs might work best for feasibility and usability studies. For each of the 3 goals (efficacy/effectiveness, feasibility, and usability) we also recommend a mixed method of data collection. Multiple interaction sessions running for at least 1 month might aid researchers in drawing significant results and prove the real long-term impact of social robots.

Insights on conducting digital patient and public involvement in dementia research during the COVID-19 pandemic: supporting the development of an "E-nabling digital co-production" framework.

BACKGROUND: The rapid transition to digital working, accelerated due to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has impacted the involvement of patients and public in research. This paper presents experiences of engaging in digital Patient and Public Involvement (e-PPI) in dementia research since the lockdowns, offering recommendations regarding future digital and hybrid working. Furthermore, it introduces a co-produced framework for researchers, PPI coordinators and public contributors to identify and discuss challenges and opportunities provided by e-PPI. METHODS: Two online workshops and one individual interview were performed with a group of researchers and PPI coordinators with experience in PPI in dementia research, and with an existing dementia PPI group having some experience of working online during the pandemic. The project was constructed as a PPI activity, with the MindTech Involvement Team (PPI group) involved in the entire process, and a collaborative data analysis process was adopted. RESULTS: After refinement of the coding structure, the MindTech Involvement Team and Project Leaders identified four main themes, resulting in the 'E-nabling Digital Co-production' Framework. During this framework development, different positions were expressed, associated with the transition to digital working. Two main themes were shared by the participating groups regarding e-PPI: wider potential reach without geographical constraints, and the perception of more business-like sessions with reduced opportunities for social interactions and communication. Specifically for dementia research, whilst e-PPI may allow public contributors to attend more meetings, potentially mutually supportive environments provided by face-to-face meetings could be diminished, with carers experiencing a possible reduction in informal respite opportunities. CONCLUSIONS: Through involving public contributors, researchers, and PPI coordinators with a focus on digital PPI in dementia research, we were able to further refine and co-produce the 'E-nabling Digital Co-production' Framework. Demonstrating potential for analysis of benefits and limitations within e-PPI, it was possible to identify both general insights and those specific to dementia research. However, the most significant contribution of the framework is the potential to support local journeys of co-production in ongoing digital and hybrid public involvement activities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the engagement of patients and the public in research. Lockdowns, social distancing, and reduced physical contact have affected the involvement of public contributors in research studies. In particular, the pandemic triggered a rapid transition to digital working, increasing the use of Information and Communication Technologies such as video conferencing on computers and mobile devices. With little time to reflect on the consequences of digital working in PPI and with a continuing legacy of hybrid or blended approaches to involvement, this project highlights the challenges and potential for e-PPI approaches (electronic/digital PPI) within the context of dementia research. In addition to examining the transition to digital working in this area, we present a co-produced framework for researchers, PPI coordinators and public contributors.

Mood Disturbances Across the Continuum of Care Based on Self-Report and Clinician Rated Measures in the interRAI Suite of Assessment Instruments.

Background: Mood disturbance is a pervasive problem affecting persons of all ages in the general population and the subset of those receiving services from different health care providers. interRAI assessment instruments comprise an integrated health information system providing a common approach to comprehensive assessment of the strengths, preferences and needs of persons with complex needs across the continuum of care. Objective: Our objective was to create new mood scales for use with the full suite of interRAI assessments including a composite version with both clinician-rated and self-reported items as well as a self-report only version. Methods: We completed a cross-sectional analysis of 511,641 interRAI assessments of Canadian adults aged 18+ in community mental health, home care, community support services, nursing homes, palliative care, acute hospital, and general population surveys to develop, test, and refine new measures of mood disturbance that combined clinician and self-rated items. We examined validity and internal consistency across diverse care settings and populations. Results: The composite scale combining both clinician and self-report ratings and the self-report only variant showed different distributions across populations and settings with most severe signs of disturbed mood in community mental health settings and lowest severity in the general population prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The self-report and composite measures were strongly correlated with each other but differed most in populations with high rates of missing values for self-report due to cognitive impairment (e.g., nursing homes). Evidence of reliability was strong across care settings, as was convergent validity with respect to depression/mood disorder diagnoses, sleep disturbance, and self-harm indicators. In a general population survey, the correlation of the self-reported mood scale with Kessler-10 was 0.73. Conclusions: The new interRAI mood scales provide reliable and valid mental health measures that can be applied across diverse populations and care settings. Incorporating a person-centered approach to assessment, the composite scale considers the person's perspective and clinician views to provide a sensitive and robust measure that considers mood disturbances related to dysphoria, anxiety, and anhedonia.

Online Mindfulness Experience for Emotional Support to Healthcare staff in times of Covid-19.

During the first confinement in Spain, between the months of March to June 2020, Information and Communication Technologies strategies were implemented in order to support health workers in the Wellbeing of Mental Health. Faced with so much uncertainty about the pandemic, an Online Mindfulness course. The objective of the course was to support healthcare professionals in Castilla y León in managing stress, anxiety and other emotional disturbances generated by coping with a situation as uncertain and unexpected as a pandemic, in order to manage emotions and thoughts that can lead to suicidal ideation. The motivations for the demand, reasons or motivations in which the health professionals of Castilla y León decided to participate in the mindfulness course in the first wave of Covid-19 in Spain are described. The descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of the customer satisfaction survey applied at the end of the mindfulness course, to the health professionals who participated in a satisfaction survey (CSQ-8: Client Satisfaction Questionnaire). Professional were asked to complete a survey based on (CSQ-8: Client Satisfaction Questionnaire) whose Cronbach's alpha = 0.917 is why the instrument used with N = 130 participants has high reliability. The 66% answered with a highly satisfied that they would return to the mindfulness online course. The 93% of the people who answered the satisfaction survey were women, of which they are professionals in the nursing area, with a participation of around 62%. In relation to the online system used in the Mindfulness intervention, 74% expressed that they fully agreed that it has been easy to use the online system for the mindfulness intervention. Health Professionals responded with 58% high satisfaction and 36% satisfaction, making a total of 94% on the help received in the online mindfulness courses to solve their problems. There is no difference between the age groups of the professionals who have preferred the Mindfulness online course (p = 0.672).

Sentiment Analysis Techniques Applied to Raw-Text Data from a Csq-8 Questionnaire about Mindfulness in Times of COVID-19 to Improve Strategy Generation.

The use of artificial intelligence in health care has grown quickly. In this sense, we present our work related to the application of Natural Language Processing techniques, as a tool to analyze the sentiment perception of users who answered two questions from the CSQ-8 questionnaires with raw Spanish free-text. Their responses are related to mindfulness, which is a novel technique used to control stress and anxiety caused by different factors in daily life. As such, we proposed an online course where this method was applied in order to improve the quality of life of health care professionals in COVID 19 pandemic times. We also carried out an evaluation of the satisfaction level of the participants involved, with a view to establishing strategies to improve future experiences. To automatically perform this task, we used Natural Language Processing (NLP) models such as swivel embedding, neural networks, and transfer learning, so as to classify the inputs into the following three categories: negative, neutral, and positive. Due to the limited amount of data available-86 registers for the first and 68 for the second-transfer learning techniques were required. The length of the text had no limit from the user's standpoint, and our approach attained a maximum accuracy of 93.02% and 90.53%, respectively, based on ground truth labeled by three experts. Finally, we proposed a complementary analysis, using computer graphic text representation based on word frequency, to help researchers identify relevant information about the opinions with an objective approach to sentiment. The main conclusion drawn from this work is that the application of NLP techniques in small amounts of data using transfer learning is able to obtain enough accuracy in sentiment analysis and text classification stages.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Castile and Leon Addiction Treatment Network: A Real-Word Experience.

Background: Patients suffering from addiction are a vulnerable group in the midst of COVID-19, so their healthcare is considered essential. In this paper, the measures and responses of the Drug Addiction Assistance Network of Castile and Leon (DAACYL) in Spain during the first 6 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic are explained. The aim is that this experience could be useful in places where this problem will continue and could help future interventions. Methods: A telephone survey was carried out as the main methodology, to collect information for the subsequent organization and repercussion on professionals and patients. This was carried out by the heads of the 18 DAACYL units. Among the interventions applied, the following stand out: implantation of telemedicine techniques, restriction of daily methadone dispensing, suspension of urine controls and initiation of care programs for the homeless. Results: As a result of these interventions, the professionals observed that patients are less demanding and mostly stable, with a low percentage of relapses. An increase in the consumption of alcohol and benzodiazepines have been reported as more common among people who relapse. Furthermore, the prevalence of COVID-19 infection in the sample is minimal; therefore, different hypotheses should be considered as an explanation (infra-diagnosis, immune system used to aggression, possible anti-inflammatory effect of some psychotropic drugs and a greater perception of danger against infection than the general population). Conclusions: The rapid adaptation and successful implementation of DAACYL have had satisfactory results. On the other hand, the prevention of the possible increase in the development of behavioral addictions and the use of homemade drugs should be considered.