[Design and evaluation options of multimedia applications to support the care of people with mild dementia]. / Gestaltungs- und Evaluationsmöglichkeiten von Multimediaanwendungen zur Unterstützung der Betreuung von Menschen mit leichter Demenz.

BACKGROUND: In order to cognitively and physically activate people with dementia (MMD) in institutional settings, there are numerous touch-based multimedia applications specifically designed for this target group that are actually being used in practice. In contrast, the use of similar applications in domestic settings has been relatively limited. AIM AND METHOD: This study is based on 11 expert interviews guided by questions and examines design options and requirements for application content as well as requirements for study designs to provide evidence of the effectiveness of touch-based multimedia applications for MMD and their caregiving relatives (PA). RESULTS: There is a high degree of consensus regarding the criteria for requirements for touch-based multimedia applications. Acceptance is highly dependent on user competence, usage practices, experiences and incentive structures; however, there are diverse opinions about their structural and content-related design. The quality of life is mentioned as an essential evaluation parameter for multimedia applications. DISCUSSION: The highly variable individual life circumstances of MMD and their PAs, along with limited access options and a lack of suitability of the multimedia applications, may be causal factors for their relatively limited use, especially in domestic settings. Daily performance capabilities and individual disease progression pose special requirements for the scientific evaluation and the demonstration of the effectiveness of touch-based multimedia applications.

My hands are running away - learning a complex nursing skill via virtual reality simulation: a randomised mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Clinical skills training is an essential component of nursing education. However, sometimes education does not sufficiently prepare nurses for the real world. Virtual reality (VR) is an innovative method to complement existing learning strategies, yet few studies investigate its effectiveness. This study compared educational outcomes achieved by three groups learning with either of two different VR simulation variants, with varying technological features, or a video training on the endotracheal suctioning skill. METHODS: The investigated outcomes were knowledge and skill acquisition, learner satisfaction, and technology acceptance. 131 undergraduate nursing students were randomised into three groups, based on the interventions they received. Knowledge was assessed through a pre-post-test design, skill through a post-intervention objective structured clinical examination on a manikin, learning satisfaction and technology acceptance through standardised questionnaires, and qualitative feedback through focus groups. RESULTS: All interventions led to a significant knowledge acquisition, with no significant difference between the groups. The video intervention group performed significantly better than the VR groups in skill demonstration. One of the two VR intervention groups had a significantly higher learner satisfaction than the video group. Technology acceptance was high for both VR groups, with the simpler VR simulation resulting in higher technology acceptance than the one with more experimental features. Students described the VR experience as realistic, interactive, and immersive, and saw the opportunity to practise skills in a safe environment, learn from mistakes, and increase knowledge and confidence. CONCLUSIONS: For the development of VR trainings, we recommend keeping them simple and targeting a specific educational outcome since trying to optimise for multiple outcomes is resource intensive and hard to achieve. Psychomotor skills were easier for participants to learn by watching a video on the procedure rather than practically learning it with the VR hardware, which is a more abstract representation of reality. We therefore recommend using VR as a complementing resource to skills labs, rather than replacing existing learning strategies. Perhaps VR is not ideal for practising practical psychomotor skills at the moment, but it can increase knowledge, satisfaction, motivation, confidence and prepare for further practical training. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable.

Mobile Digital Health Intervention to Promote Nutrition and Physical Activity Behaviors Among Long-term Unemployed in Rural Areas: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Long-term unemployed have poor nutritional and physical activity statuses, and, therefore, special health promotion needs. Particularly in rural areas, however, they often do not have access to health promotion service. Thus, new promising strategies to improve the health of long-term unemployed are needed. Hence, a digital health intervention to promote nutritional and physical health behaviors was conceived, and the effectiveness of the intervention in combination with face-to-face sessions will be evaluated in a randomized controlled trial. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to elucidate the effectiveness of a mobile digital health intervention to promote the nutritional and physical activity behaviors of long-term unemployed in the rural areas of Germany. METHODS: The 9-week intervention aims to promote nutritional or physical activity behavior by improving drinking habits, increasing the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, increasing daily step count, strengthening muscles, and improving endurance. The intervention design is based on the transtheoretical model and is implemented in a mobile app using the MobileCoach open-source platform. The effectiveness of the intervention will be elucidated by a 9-week, 2-armed, parallel-designed trial. Therefore, long-term unemployed will be recruited by employees of the German social sector institutions and randomized either to receive information brochures; the digital intervention in the form of a mobile app; and 3 face-to-face sessions regarding technical support, healthy eating, and physical activity (n=100) or to receive a control treatment consisting of solely the hand over of information brochures (n=100). The effectiveness of the intervention will be assessed using questionnaires at baseline, after 9 weeks in face-to-face appointments, and after a 3-month follow-up period by postal contact. The use of the mobile app will be monitored, and qualitative interviews or focus groups with the participants will be conducted. Incentives of €50 (US $49.7) will be paid to the participants and are tied to the completion of the questionnaires and not to the use of the mobile app or progress in the intervention. RESULTS: The effectiveness of the intervention in promoting the nutritional and physical activity behaviors of long-term unemployed participants will be elucidated. The adherence of the participants to and the acceptance and usability of the mobile device app will be evaluated. Recruitment started in March 2022, and the final publication of the results is expected in the first half of 2023. CONCLUSIONS: Positive health-related changes made by the intervention would display the potency of digital health interventions to promote nutritional and physical activity behaviors among long-term unemployed in the rural areas of Germany, which would also contribute to an improved health status of the German population in general. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00024805; https://www.drks.de/DRKS00024805. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/40321.

Virtual reality simulations in nurse education: A systematic mapping review.

OBJECTIVES: Simulation-based learning is widely used in nurse education, including virtual reality (VR) methods which have experienced a major growth lately. Virtual reality offers risk free and contactless learning. Currently, little is known about what topics of nursing are adopted for VR simulations and how their design meets various educational goals. This review aims to scope existing articles on educational VR nursing simulations, and to analyse approaches from didactic and technical perspectives. METHOD: A systematic mapping review following the PRISMA-ScR guideline and PICo search strategy was conducted. Peer reviewed articles in English and German were searched across Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX, PsycARTICLES, PubMed, ERIC and The Cochrane Library. Studies had to include at least one immersive head-mounted display VR simulation in the field of nursing education. Data extraction and analysis was performed in a narrative, graphical and tabular way. RESULTS: Twenty-two articles were identified. There is a large variety in the use and definition of VR simulation for educational purposes. Simulations were classified into four main educational objectives: procedural skills training to improve technical knowledge and proficiency; emergency response training that focusses on confidence; soft skills training that teaches empathy; and finally, psychomotor skills training. Various approaches and simulation designs were implemented to achieve these educational outcomes. A few of them were highly innovative in providing an immersive experience to learn complex tasks, e.g. auscultation, or foster empathy by mimicking life with dementia. CONCLUSIONS: Despite an increase in the use of state-of-the-art VR nursing simulations, there is still a paucity of studies on immersive HMD based VR scenarios. Researchers designing educational VR packages need to be clear on terminology. In order to make full use of VR, designers should consider including haptic devices to practise psychomotor skills and include social interaction to teach soft skills.

Collaboration applications for mixed home care - A systematic review of evaluations and outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: Mixed home care, in which informal and professional actors work closely together, contributes significantly to ensuring home care up to old age. In this context, collaboration applications can considerably enhance the interactions among caregivers. However, although much research is conducted on need and requirement analyses of such applications, little is known about their introduction and use in care models. The purpose of this contribution is to identify studies that evaluate collaboration applications for mixed home care and compare their outcomes. METHODS: To identify literature on mixed home care collaboration applications (mHCA) and their evaluation, a systematic literature review was conducted in five bibliographic databases covering the years 2008 through 2019. The results were supplemented by a search in the meta-database Google Scholar. The evaluation approaches of the studies were analyzed and results compared by using the NASSS framework. Finally, a context concretized model was derived which summarizes interrelations. RESULTS: Twelve qualitative studies evaluating eleven applications could be identified. They report on increased competency in self-management, psychological relatedness, involvement, and understanding. However, most studies conclude that large scale platform tests are still needed to prove significant changes in care processes, communication, or organization. CONCLUSION: Among other things, their implementation is rather difficult due to the specifics of the target group. To enable a more targeted and successful implementation, it might be helpful to classify care networks beforehand and assess their communication behavior and needs. To prove the added value of mHCAs standardized assessment tools should be used.

Using multimedia information and communication technology (ICT) to provide added value to reminiscence therapy for people with dementia : Lessons learned from three field studies.

BACKGROUND: In the care of people with dementia (PwD), occupational therapies and activities aiming at maintaining the quality of life of PwD, such as reminiscence therapy (RT), are taking on a more and more important role. Information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to improve and to facilitate RT by facilitating access to and selection of biographical information and related contents or by providing novel multimodal interaction forms to trigger memories; however, interactive multimedia technology is barely used in practice. OBJECTIVES, MATERIALS AND METHODS: This article presents three exploratory field studies that evaluated different aspects of RT technology use for PwD in care homes, including the utilization of online movie databases, interactive surface touch computers as well as natural user interfaces allowing gestures and haptic interaction. In these studies, the usage of prototype systems was observed in occupational sessions by 5, 12 and 16 PwD. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results indicate positive effects of technology use, e. g. in the form of verbally elicited reminiscence statements, expressed joy and playful interaction. Lessons learned for the design of technology-based RT interventions are presented and discussed.

Using Surface Table Computers to Promote the Well-Being of People with Dementia.

As the demographic change progresses, dementia is going to become a prevalent condition in many countries. In order to keep the Quality of Life (QoL) of People with Dementia (PwD) on a steady level, Assistive Technologies (AT) implemented on table-sized Surface Computers (SC) that promote playful and/or reminiscence-triggering activities turn out to be valuable tools for dementia care. This article gives an overview over two similar multimedia-based AT systems implemented on Microsoft PixelSense SCs and field-tested in dementia care institutions. The observations indicate that both systems can trigger positive emotions and activities as well as memories.

Scenario-based design of an ICT platform for mobile information services in ambulatory care nursing.

The field of ambulatory care nursing is rapidly growing due to rising health care costs and the demographic development. Against this background, the VitaBIT project started in 2007 with the objective of designing an ICT platform for the safe application of mobile information services in ambulatory care nursing. Communication and secure information exchange between all parties involved in the care process are also guaranteed. The article explains the project's current approach to develop a user-oriented solution using the design steps implied by ISO 13407. Even if a technology is developed and formally tested to be highly usable there exists no guarantee that this will lead to acceptance. That is the reason why end users are involved in all the project stages and serve as testers of prototypes in VitaBIT.