Enhancing active aging through IRAGE: Mitigating social isolation with intergenerational gaming.

This paper presents the outcomes of a pioneering study that explores the potential of remote intergenerational communication to combat social isolation among children and older adults, especially under constraints posed by pandemics such as COVID-19. Acknowledging the limited mobility of many older adults, this research aims to provide insights into how digital platforms can facilitate meaningful exchanges between generations. Utilizing a mixed methodology approach, the study first conducted a user interaction analysis to outline guidelines for participant engagement with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based tool called IRAGE (Intergenerational Remote Access to Gaming Experiences) designed specifically for this purpose. Following the development of the ICT tool, three sessions of the remote intergenerational experience were held, during which participants' interactions were recorded and subsequently analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Key findings from the study reveal that remote intergenerational communication can significantly mitigate feelings of isolation among older adults, contributing to their mental health and emotional well-being. Moreover, the study highlights the effectiveness of the web-based platform in facilitating these interactions, with older adults and children finding the user interface intuitive and the overall experience engaging. These outcomes underscore the importance of leveraging technology to maintain social connections during challenging times and offer valuable guidelines for developing ICT tools that cater to the needs of diverse user groups. By demonstrating the feasibility and benefits of remote intergenerational communication, this research contributes to the broader discourse on active aging and the role of digital technologies in promoting social inclusion and emotional health.

The effectiveness of a "EspaiJove.net"- a school-based intervention programme in increasing mental health knowledge, help seeking and reducing stigma attitudes in the adolescent population: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to evaluate the short- and long-term effects of the universal mental health literacy intervention "EspaiJove.net" in increasing mental health knowledge, help seeking and reducing stigma attitudes in the adolescent population. We also examine whether these effects depend on the intervention intensity.  METHODS: A clustered school-based randomised controlled trial (cRCT) design. SUBJECTS: 1,298 secondary pupils aged 13 and 14 were recruited from 18 schools in Barcelona (Spain) between September 2016 and January 2018. INTERVENTION: Three programmes were assessed: 1) Sensitivity Programme (SP; 1 h); 2) Mental Health Literacy (MHL; 6 h); 3) MHL plus a first-person Stigma Reduction Programme (MHL + SR; 7 h); 4) Control group (CG): waiting list. OUTCOME MEASURES: 1) MHL: EspaiJove.net EMHL Test (First part and Second Part); 2) Stigma: RIBS and CAMI; 3) Help-seeking and use of treatment: GHSQ. ANALYSIS: The data was collected at baseline, post-intervention and 6 and 12 months later. An intention-to-treat analysis and imputation method was used to analyse the missing data. Intervention effects were analysed using multilevel modelling. RESULTS: One thousand thirty-two students were included (SP = 225; MHL = 261; MHL + SR = 295 and CG = 251). The MHL and MHL + SR interventions showed short- and long-term an increase in knowledge compared to SP and CG, but no significant change post-intervention or over time (First part p = 0.52 and Second part p = 0.62) between intervention groups and CG. No significant changes were found in stigma scores post-intervention or over time (CAMI p = 0.61 and RIBS p = 0.98) or in help-seeking scores (parent p = 0.69; teacher p = 0.23 and healthcare professional p = 0.75). The MHL + SR intervention was the best valued and recommended (p < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The three interventions of the EspaiJove.net programme (SP, MHL and MHL + SR) seem not to be effective in terms MHL, Stigma and help-seeking behaviours. The contact with a person who has experimented mental illness first-hand did not reduce stigma attitudes. Further research should deal with the heterogeneity of MHL interventions (concept, duration and measures) and identify which components of stigma interventions are effective. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03215654 (registration date 12 July 2017).

Evaluación del impacto del confinamiento en jóvenes atendidos en centros comunitarios de salud mental / Avaluació de l'impacte del confinament en joves atesos en centres comunitaris de salut mental / Evaluation of the lockdown impact on young people in community mental health centres

mental. Elobjetivo de este estudio es analizar el impacto del confinamiento debido al virus del SARS-CoV-2 en la vida delos jóvenes atendidos en servicios de salud mental comunitarios. Se trata de un estudio observacional descrip-tivo transversal que se lleva a cabo entre junio y octubre del 2020 en una muestra de 41 jóvenes usuarios delCSMIJ, HDA y CSMA de la Asociación Centro de Higiene Mental Les Corts. Los resultados muestran que la situa-ción de confinamiento ha afectado en su salud física y mental, aunque el estar acompañados por la familia y unlugar de residencia óptimo les podría haber ayudado a afrontar mejor este período.(AU)

This study aims toanalyse the lockdown impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on the lives of young people attending community mentalhealth services. This is a cross-sectional descriptive observational study carried out between June and October2020 in a sample of 41 young users of the Mental Health centers and Day Care Hospital from Associació Centred’Higiene Mental Les Corts. The results show that the lockdown situation has affected their physical and mentalhealth, although being accompanied by the family and an optimal place of residence could have helped themto cope better with this period.(AU)

L'objectiud'aquest estudi és analitzar l'impacte del confinament a causa del virus de la SARS-CoV-2 a la vida dels joves ate-sos en serveis de salut mental comunitaris. Es tracta d’un estudi observacional descriptiu transversal que es porta aterme entre juny i octubre de l'any 2020 en una mostra de 41 joves usuaris del CSMIJ, HDA i CSMA de l’AssociacióCentre d’Higiene Mental Les Corts. Els resultats mostren que la situació de confinament ha afectat la seva salutfísica i mental, tot i que el fet d’estar acompanyats per la família i tenir un lloc de residència òptim els podria haverajudat a afrontar millor aquest període.(AU)

La reorganización de un servicio comunitario de salud mental infantil y juvenil ante la pandemia de covid-19 / The reorganization of a community mental health center for children and youth due to the covid-19 pandemic

La crisis sanitaria causada por la COVID-19 ha forzado una reorganización de los servicios de salud mental. El presente artículo describe una propuesta de reorganización aplicada en una unidad de salud mental infanto-juvenil (atención ambulatoria y comunitaria). Se exponen las estrategias concretas de intervención desarrolladas en las distintas fases de la pandemia según las medidas de restricción sanitarias y los distintos niveles de intervención requeridos (prevención, atención primaria y atención especializada). Además, se compara el número de visitas hechas durante el periodo de Marzo-Julio de 2020 con el mismo periodo en 2019. Concluimos que se ha producido una rápida adaptación del marco asistencial presencial a la metodología telemática mediante una reorganización flexible. Sin embargo, la disminución de la asistencia presencial y la cancelación de grupos terapéuticos han incrementado la presión asistencial notablemente. Se ha observado un incremento de conductas autolíticas y de problemas relacionados con la conducta alimentaria que deberán ser investigados en futuros estudios. (AU)

The heath crisis caused by COVID-19 has required a reorganization of mental health centers. This article describes the reorganization proposal that was applied in a child and adolescent mental health unit (outpatient and community care). The specific intervention strategies developed in the different phases of the pandemic are presented according to the sanitary restriction measures and the different levels of intervention required (prevention, primary care, and specialized care). In addition, the number of visits made during March-July 2020 is compared to the same period in 2019. We conclude that there has been a rapid adaptation from the face-to-face care framework to atelematic approach through a flexible reorganization. However, the decrease in face-to-face assistance and the cancellation of therapeutic groups have significantly increased the pressure of care. A rise in autolytic behaviors and eating pathologies has been observed that should be investigated in future studies. (AU)

[Literacy programs for the promotion of mental health in the school setting. SESPAS Report 2020]. / Programas de alfabetización para la promoción de la salud mental en el ámbito escolar. Informe SESPAS 2020.

The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of developing programs of mental health promotion and prevention to ensure the wellbeing of young people. Mental health literacy in schools is an example of universal prevention intervention. The objective of this article is to conduct a systematic review of the mental health literacy interventions in the educational setting that are being carried out at the international level and to describe and evaluate, as well, an experience at the local level. A search has been carried out in PubMed to identify experimental studies on mental health literacy interventions in the educational setting including primary and/or secondary. Out of 245 references identified, 13 experimental studies were included in the review and its quality was assessed. Results show that these programs increase mental health knowledge, improve help-seeking and reduce stigma behavior. In Barcelona, the Espaijove.net mental health literacy program has been running since 2008. In the last seven school courses (2012-2019) workshops have been provided to 24,118 secondary school students, of whom 11,678 completed a post-workshop satisfaction questionnaire. The results show that the program has been interesting, useful, has resolved students' doubts and that they would recommend it to other students, and a better reception by the girls.

Programas de alfabetización para la promoción de la salud mental en el ámbito escolar. Informe SESPAS 2020 / Literacy programs for the promotion of mental health in the school setting. SESPAS Report 2020

La Organización Mundial de la Salud señala la importancia del desarrollo de programas de promoción y prevención de la salud mental como aspecto clave para ayudar al bienestar de los/las jóvenes. La alfabetización en salud mental en centros educativos es un ejemplo de intervención de prevención universal. El objetivo de este artículo es realizar una revisión sistemática sobre las intervenciones de alfabetización en salud mental en el ámbito educativo que se están llevando cabo en diferentes países, y describir y evaluar un programa local de alfabetización en salud mental. Se ha llevado a cabo una búsqueda en PubMed para identificar estudios experimentales sobre intervenciones de alfabetización en salud mental en el ámbito educativo en primaria y secundaria. De las 245 referencias identificadas, se han incluido en la revisión 13 estudios experimentales y se ha evaluado su calidad. Los resultados muestran que estos programas incrementan los conocimientos en salud mental, mejoran las conductas de búsqueda de ayuda y reducen las conductas de estigma. En Barcelona, desde 2008 se está desarrollando el programa de alfabetización en salud mental Espaijove.net. Durante los últimos siete cursos escolares (2012-2019) se ha proporcionado formación a 24.118 estudiantes de secundaria, de los cuales 11.678 cumplimentaron un cuestionario de satisfacción tras la realización del taller. Los resultados muestran que el programa ha sido interesante y útil, ha resuelto las dudas de los/las estudiantes y lo recomendarían a otros/las estudiantes. Se observa una mejor acogida por parte de las chicas

The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of developing programs of mental health promotion and prevention to ensure the wellbeing of young people. Mental health literacy in schools is an example of universal prevention intervention. The objective of this article is to conduct a systematic review of the mental health literacy interventions in the educational setting that are being carried out at the international level and to describe and evaluate, as well, an experience at the local level. A search has been carried out in PubMed to identify experimental studies on mental health literacy interventions in the educational setting including primary and/or secondary. Out of 245 references identified, 13 experimental studies were included in the review and its quality was assessed. Results show that these programs increase mental health knowledge, improve help-seeking and reduce stigma behavior. In Barcelona, the Espaijove.net mental health literacy program has been running since 2008. In the last seven school courses (2012-2019) workshops have been provided to 24,118 secondary school students, of whom 11,678 completed a post-workshop satisfaction questionnaire. The results show that the program has been interesting, useful, has resolved students' doubts and that they would recommend it to other students, and a better reception by the girls

Evaluación del Plan de Servicios Individualizado tras diez años de funcionamiento en dos distritos de Barcelona / Evaluation of the Individualized Services Plan after ten years of functioning in two districts of Barcelona

El objetivo de este trabajo es valorar la efectividad del Plan de Servicios individualizado (PSI) tras sus primeros 10 años de funcionamiento. Se trata de un estudio retrospectivo sobre la efectividad del programa teniendo en cuenta variables clínicas, psicosociales y de utilización de servicios. Se realizan comparaciones de estas variables en el momento en que las personas entran y salen del programa. El PSI se muestra efectivo en las medidas de funcionamiento clínico y psicosocial, y se observa una disminución significativa de ingresos hospitalarios. La mayoría de personas atendidas mantuvo continuidad de su atención al alta. Además, se realiza una comparativa entre los primeros 5 años de funcionamiento del programa frente a los 5 siguientes en la que se observa únicamente una disminución de la intensidad de la intervención. Finalmente, se realiza un estudio de la relación entre variables consideradas importantes. En general, el PSI se muestra efectivo en la atención a las personas con trastorno mental grave de larga evolución y con dificultades de vinculación a los servicios

The objective of this work is to assess the effectiveness of the Individualized Service Plan (PSI) after 10 years of functioning. It is a retrospective study that takes into account clinical, psychosocial and variables related to use of services. Comparisons of these variables between the time people enter and leave the program are made. PSI is effective in measures of clinical and psychosocial functioning, and a significant decrease in hospitalization is observed. The majority of people received continuity of care after discharge. In addition, the comparison between the first 5 years of operation of the program and the following 5 years yielded only a decrease in the intensity of the intervention. Finally, a study of the relationship between variables considered important is carried out. Overall, the PSI is effective in the care of patients with long-term severe mental illness and with difficulties in maintaining contact with services

"EspaiJove.net"- a school-based intervention programme to promote mental health and eradicate stigma in the adolescent population: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: One half of adults who develop any mental disorder do so during adolescence. Previous literature showed that Mental Health Literacy (MHL) interventions impact mental health knowledge, reduce the associated stigma, and promote help-seeking among the adolescent population. However, evidence for the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these programmes remains inconclusive. The aim of this paper is to present a study protocol that evaluates the effectiveness of the " EspaiJove.net " programme. " EspaiJove.net " consists of a universal MHL intervention designed to promote mental health knowledge, increase help-seeking, reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, and prevent mental disorders in Spanish school settings. METHODS: A school-based clustered randomised controlled trial (cRCT) design with 12 months of follow-up. SUBJECTS: At least 408 secondary school students who attend the 3rd year of E.S.O (Compulsory secondary education for 13- to 14-year- olds) will be recruited from 8 schools within Barcelona city, Catalonia (Spain). INTERVENTION: A dose-response intervention will be delivered with 4 arms: 1) Sensitivity Programme (SP) in Mental Health (1 h); 2) Mental Health Literacy (MHL) Programme (6 h); 3) MHL plus first-person Stigma Reduction (MHL + SR) (7 h); 4) Control group: waiting list. Primary outcomes: 1) MHL: EspaiJove.net MHL Test (EMHLT); 2) Stigma: Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS) and Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill (CAMI). Others outcomes: 1) Acceptability of intervention; 2) Mental health symptoms and emotional well-being (SDQ); 3) States of Change Scale (SCS); 4) Bullying and Cyberbullying; 5) Quality of life (EQ-5D); 6) Help seeking and use of treatment; 7) Health benefits. DISCUSSION: Results would be informative for efforts to prevent mental disorders and promote mental wellbeing in secondary school students. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03215654 (date registration July 12, 2017).

A proposal for automatic fruit harvesting by combining a low cost stereovision camera and a robotic arm.

This paper proposes the development of an automatic fruit harvesting system by combining a low cost stereovision camera and a robotic arm placed in the gripper tool. The stereovision camera is used to estimate the size, distance and position of the fruits whereas the robotic arm is used to mechanically pickup the fruits. The low cost stereovision system has been tested in laboratory conditions with a reference small object, an apple and a pear at 10 different intermediate distances from the camera. The average distance error was from 4% to 5%, and the average diameter error was up to 30% in the case of a small object and in a range from 2% to 6% in the case of a pear and an apple. The stereovision system has been attached to the gripper tool in order to obtain relative distance, orientation and size of the fruit. The harvesting stage requires the initial fruit location, the computation of the inverse kinematics of the robotic arm in order to place the gripper tool in front of the fruit, and a final pickup approach by iteratively adjusting the vertical and horizontal position of the gripper tool in a closed visual loop. The complete system has been tested in controlled laboratory conditions with uniform illumination applied to the fruits. As a future work, this system will be tested and improved in conventional outdoor farming conditions.

Ambient intelligence application based on environmental measurements performed with an assistant mobile robot.

This paper proposes the use of an autonomous assistant mobile robot in order to monitor the environmental conditions of a large indoor area and develop an ambient intelligence application. The mobile robot uses single high performance embedded sensors in order to collect and geo-reference environmental information such as ambient temperature, air velocity and orientation and gas concentration. The data collected with the assistant mobile robot is analyzed in order to detect unusual measurements or discrepancies and develop focused corrective ambient actions. This paper shows an example of the measurements performed in a research facility which have enabled the detection and location of an uncomfortable temperature profile inside an office of the research facility. The ambient intelligent application has been developed by performing some localized ambient measurements that have been analyzed in order to propose some ambient actuations to correct the uncomfortable temperature profile.

An embedded real-time red peach detection system based on an OV7670 camera, ARM cortex-M4 processor and 3D look-up tables.

This work proposes the development of an embedded real-time fruit detection system for future automatic fruit harvesting. The proposed embedded system is based on an ARM Cortex-M4 (STM32F407VGT6) processor and an Omnivision OV7670 color camera. The future goal of this embedded vision system will be to control a robotized arm to automatically select and pick some fruit directly from the tree. The complete embedded system has been designed to be placed directly in the gripper tool of the future robotized harvesting arm. The embedded system will be able to perform real-time fruit detection and tracking by using a three-dimensional look-up-table (LUT) defined in the RGB color space and optimized for fruit picking. Additionally, two different methodologies for creating optimized 3D LUTs based on existing linear color models and fruit histograms were implemented in this work and compared for the case of red peaches. The resulting system is able to acquire general and zoomed orchard images and to update the relative tracking information of a red peach in the tree ten times per second.

Definition of linear color models in the RGB vector color space to detect red peaches in orchard images taken under natural illumination.

This work proposes the detection of red peaches in orchard images based on the definition of different linear color models in the RGB vector color space. The classification and segmentation of the pixels of the image is then performed by comparing the color distance from each pixel to the different previously defined linear color models. The methodology proposed has been tested with images obtained in a real orchard under natural light. The peach variety in the orchard was the paraguayo (Prunus persica var. platycarpa) peach with red skin. The segmentation results showed that the area of the red peaches in the images was detected with an average error of 11.6%; 19.7% in the case of bright illumination; 8.2% in the case of low illumination; 8.6% for occlusion up to 33%; 12.2% in the case of occlusion between 34 and 66%; and 23% for occlusion above 66%. Finally, a methodology was proposed to estimate the diameter of the fruits based on an ellipsoidal fitting. A first diameter was obtained by using all the contour pixels and a second diameter was obtained by rejecting some pixels of the contour. This approach enables a rough estimate of the fruit occlusion percentage range by comparing the two diameter estimates.

Two-dimensional radial laser scanning for circular marker detection and external mobile robot tracking.

This paper presents the use of an external fixed two-dimensional laser scanner to detect cylindrical targets attached to moving devices, such as a mobile robot. This proposal is based on the detection of circular markers in the raw data provided by the laser scanner by applying an algorithm for outlier avoidance and a least-squares circular fitting. Some experiments have been developed to empirically validate the proposal with different cylindrical targets in order to estimate the location and tracking errors achieved, which are generally less than 20 mm in the area covered by the laser sensor. As a result of the validation experiments, several error maps have been obtained in order to give an estimate of the uncertainty of any location computed. This proposal has been validated with a medium-sized mobile robot with an attached cylindrical target (diameter 200 mm). The trajectory of the mobile robot was estimated with an average location error of less than 15 mm, and the real location error in each individual circular fitting was similar to the error estimated with the obtained error maps. The radial area covered in this validation experiment was up to 10 m, a value that depends on the radius of the cylindrical target and the radial density of the distance range points provided by the laser scanner but this area can be increased by combining the information of additional external laser scanners.

Measuring oscillating walking paths with a LIDAR.

This work describes the analysis of different walking paths registered using a Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) laser range sensor in order to measure oscillating trajectories during unsupervised walking. The estimate of the gait and trajectory parameters were obtained with a terrestrial LIDAR placed 100 mm above the ground with the scanning plane parallel to the floor to measure the trajectory of the legs without attaching any markers or modifying the floor. Three different large walking experiments were performed to test the proposed measurement system with straight and oscillating trajectories. The main advantages of the proposed system are the possibility to measure several steps and obtain average gait parameters and the minimum infrastructure required. This measurement system enables the development of new ambulatory applications based on the analysis of the gait and the trajectory during a walk.

Design and implementation of a biomimetic turtle hydrofoil for an autonomous underwater vehicle.

This paper presents the design and implementation of a turtle hydrofoil for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). The final design of the AUV must have navigation performance like a turtle, which has also been the biomimetic inspiration for the design of the hydrofoil and propulsion system. The hydrofoil design is based on a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 0014 hydrodynamic profile. During the design stage, four different propulsion systems were compared in terms of propulsion path, compactness, sealing and required power. The final implementation is based on a ball-and-socket mechanism because it is very compact and provides three degrees of freedom (DoF) to the hydrofoil with very few restrictions on the propulsion path. The propulsion obtained with the final implementation of the hydrofoil has been empirically evaluated in a water channel comparing different motion strategies. The results obtained have confirmed that the proposed turtle hydrofoil controlled with a mechanism with three DoF generates can be used in the future implementation of the planned AUV.

Characterization of a low-cost optical flow sensor when using an external laser as a direct illumination source.

In this paper, a low cost optical flow sensor is combined with an external laser device to measure surface displacements and mechanical oscillations. The measurement system is based on applying coherent light to a diffuser surface and using an optical flow sensor to analyze the reflected and transferred light to estimate the displacement of the surface or the laser spot. This work is focused on the characterization of this measurement system, which can have the optical flow sensor placed at different angles and distances from the diffuser surface. The results have shown that the displacement of the diffuser surface is badly estimated when the optical mouse sensor is placed in front of the diffuser surface (angular orientation >150°) while the highest sensitivity is obtained when the sensor is located behind the diffuser surface and on the axis of the laser source (angular orientation 0°). In this case, the coefficient of determination of the measured displacement, R(2), was very high (>0.99) with a relative error of less than 1.29%. Increasing the distance between the surface and the sensor also increased the sensitivity which increases linearly, R(2) = 0.99. Finally, this measurement setup was proposed to measure very low frequency mechanical oscillations applied to the laser device, up to 0.01 Hz in this work. The results have shown that increasing the distance between the surface and the optical flow sensor also increases the sensitivity and the measurement range.

Bioinspired electronic white cane implementation based on a LIDAR, a tri-axial accelerometer and a tactile belt.

This work proposes the creation of a bioinspired electronic white cane for blind people using the whiskers principle for short-range navigation and exploration. Whiskers are coarse hairs of an animal's face that tells the animal that it has touched something using the nerves of the skin. In this work the raw data acquired from a low-size terrestrial LIDAR and a tri-axial accelerometer is converted into tactile information using several electromagnetic devices configured as a tactile belt. The LIDAR and the accelerometer are attached to the user's forearm and connected with a wire to the control unit placed on the belt. Early validation experiments carried out in the laboratory are promising in terms of usability and description of the environment.

Measuring gait using a ground laser range sensor.

This paper describes a measurement system designed to register the displacement of the legs using a two-dimensional laser range sensor with a scanning plane parallel to the ground and extract gait parameters. In the proposed methodology, the position of the legs is estimated by fitting two circles with the laser points that define their contour and the gait parameters are extracted applying a step-line model to the estimated displacement of the legs to reduce uncertainty in the determination of the stand and swing phase of the gait. Results obtained in a range up to 8 m shows that the systematic error in the location of one static leg is lower than 10 mm with and standard deviation lower than 8 mm; this deviation increases to 11 mm in the case of a moving leg. The proposed measurement system has been applied to estimate the gait parameters of six volunteers in a preliminary walking experiment.

Using the optical mouse sensor as a two-euro counterfeit coin detector.

In this paper, the sensor of an optical mouse is presented as a counterfeit coin detector applied to the two-Euro case. The detection process is based on the short distance image acquisition capabilities of the optical mouse sensor where partial images of the coin under analysis are compared with some partial reference coin images for matching. Results show that, using only the vision sense, the counterfeit acceptance and rejection rates are very similar to those of a trained user and better than those of an untrained user.