Broadband for Telemedicine and Health Services

2021 ◽  
pp. 139-163
Author(s):  
Sharon Strover
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Meaningful Use ◽  
Federal Communications Commission ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Target Populations ◽  
Rural Broadband ◽  
Measurement And Evaluation

Given the prominence of rural communities in early 21st-century broadband initiatives, especially in telemedicine, this chapter considers issues for program evaluation in both the geographic and health policy contexts. Rural broadband and health needs are important challenges for public policy, as less populated regions lag in both infrastructure and health services. Some Federal Communications Commission projects have linked broadband capabilities and health services infrastructure. Electronic health records also are relevant to a discussion of the role of broadband networks. This chapter briefly reviews the language and intent of broadband-related health services regulations and federal agency programs and then presents detail on rural broadband availability and adoption. Finally, measurement and evaluation issues in this field are addressed, including the need to understand constraints in the rural context, meaningful use for target populations, issues for privacy and security, and the need for randomized trials rather than the anecdotal evidence that currently dominates in this area.

scholarly journals Obstacles to using online health services among adults age 50 and up and the role of family support in overcoming them

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Mizrachi ◽  
S. Shahrabani ◽  
M. Nachmani ◽  
A. Hornik
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Older People ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Population Group ◽  
List Type ◽  
Privacy And Security

Abstract Background Using Online Health Services (OHS) could benefit older adults greatly and could also reduce the burden on the health system. Yet invisible obstacles or barriers appear to impede mass adoption of these services among this population group. The aim of the current research is to provide a qualitative picture of these invisible obstacles and to profile their main features, with special attention to the role of family members in supporting OHS use among this population group. Methods This qualitative study entailed a series of in-depth, semi-structured, open phone interviews conducted with 31 individuals age 50 and up in Israel, who constituted a sample of OHS users and non-users among older adults. Results Four major themes and primary observations emerge from our data: While older adults are aware of OHS to some extent, they often do not fully understand the specific benefits of using these services; Older adults need to acquire much more experience with OHS use. OHS user interfaces still have a long way to go for older adults to feel comfortable using them. People age 50 and up seem to be less concerned about privacy and security issues than about seemingly more trivial issues such as recovering forgotten passwords; Family members can play key roles in helping older adults adopt OHS by providing technical support as well as encouragement; Older adults have worthwhile recommendations for innovations and policy improvements that would facilitate wider adoption of OHS. Conclusions The results of the current study reveal important nuances regarding the importance of awareness, user interface and experience for OHS use among older adults, as well as the critical role of family members in OHS adoption. Based on these findings, we recommend the following: expanding advertising on media channels to emphasize the benefits of OHS use; improving HMO websites to make them more user-friendly for older people; developing HMO-run community OHS guidance programs geared to older people to reduce the gap between required skills and user competencies, thus enabling older people to benefit from OHS use.

scholarly journals How do rural consumers contribute to quality assurance of health services?

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 447 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S Humphreys ◽  
Terri A Meehan-Andrews ◽  
Judith A Jones ◽  
Lynn D Griffin ◽  
Bethia A Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Rural Consumers ◽  
Hospital Boards ◽  
Western Victoria ◽  
North Western

Objective: To investigate the reasons for complaint or non-complaint by rural consumers of health services. Design: Qualitative study using focus group discussion of hypothetical scenarios. Setting: Selected rural communities in the Loddon- Mallee region of north-western Victoria. Participants: Sixty volunteer participants in eight focus groups recruited through advertising. Main outcome measure: Issues and themes concerning circumstances leading to, and factors inhibiting, complaints about a health service and awareness of complaints mechanisms. Results: Compared with residents of larger towns, those of small communities were more likely to report they would complain to the local provider, whereas those in larger towns were more likely to mention Hospital Boards or the Commissioner. Deterrents to making complaints included the lack of services, scepticism about the role of complaints in bringing about change and an attitude that it was more appropriate to try to fix the problem than complain about it. Lack of awareness of appropriate complaint mechanisms which feed into quality assurance processes was also identified.

PERAN KELUARGA DALAM MEMANTAU KEPATUHAN MINUM OBAT PENDERITA HIPERTENSI PADA MASYARAKAT

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saiful Nurhidayat
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Medication Adherence ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
College Education ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Hypertensive Patients ◽  
Purposive Sampling ◽  
The Family

Abstract : Hypertension or high blood pressure is an abnormal increase in blood pressure in the arteries continuously over a period. The dangers of hypertension can lead to damage to various organs including kidneys, brain, heart, eye, causing vascular resistance and stroke. Hypertension takes care of the old and continuously. One effective way to lower blood pressure is to obediently take medicine so that it takes the role of families in monitoring patients taking the medication. With the participation of the family are expected to hypertension sufferers can be controlled. This study aims to determine the family's role in monitoring the adherence of hypertensive patients. The study was conducted in rural communities Slahung Ponorogo, a representative sample of 53 respondents taken by purposive sampling. Quantitative design with cross sectional design of the study the family's role in monitoring the adherence of hypertensive patients. Instruments in this study using questionnaires and observation sheets. The results of 53 respondents obtained the majority of the 29 respondents (55%) has the role of both families and 24 respondents (45%) families have a bad role in monitoring medication adherence. Age and education contribute to determining the role family. Intermediate (41-60 years old) and college education contribute to determining the role well. Conversely > 61 years of elementary education and contribute in a bad role.Keywords : the role of the family, medication adherence, hypertension. Abstrak : Hipertensi atau tekanan darah tinggi adalah suatu peningkatan abnormal tekanan darah dalam pembuluh darah arteri secara terus-menerus lebih dari suatu periode. Bahaya hipertensi dapat memicu rusaknya berbagai organ tubuh diantaranya: ginjal, otak, jantung, mata, menyebabkan resistensi pembuluh darah dan stroke. Penyakit hipertensi membutuhkan perawatan yang lama dan terus menerus. Salah satu cara yang efektif untuk menurunkan tekanan darah adalah dengan patuh minum obat sehingga dibutuhkan peran keluarga dalam memantau minum obat penderita. Dengan adanya peran serta keluarga diharapkan penyakit hipertensi penderita dapat terkontrol. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui peran keluarga dalam memantau kepatuhan minum obat penderita hipertensi. Penelitian dilakukan pada masyarakat desa Slahung Ponorogo,sampel representatif sejumlah 53 responden diambil secara Purposive Sampling. Desain kuantitatif dengan rancangan Cross sectional yang mempelajari peran keluarga dalam memantau kepatuhan minum obat penderita hipertensi. Instrumen pada penelitian ini menggunakan kuesioner dan lembar observasi. Hasil penelitian dari 53 responden didapatkan sebagian besar 29 responden (55 %) keluarga mempunyai peran baik dan 24 responden (45 %) keluarga mempunyai peran buruk dalam memantau kepatuhan minum obat. Faktor usia dan pendidikan berkontribusi dalam menentukan peran keluarga. Usia madya (41-60 tahun) dan jenjang pendidikan perguruan tinggi berkontribusi dalam menentukan peran baik. Sebaliknya > 61 tahun dan jenjang pendidikan SD berkontribusi dalam peran buruk.Kata Kunci : peran keluarga, kepatuhan minum obat, penyakit hipertensi.

scholarly journals Challenging the State: Devolutionary Tenure Transitions for Saving and Expanding Forests

Human Ecology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Alden Wily
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Property Relations ◽  
The Will ◽  
Customary Land

AbstractI address a contentious element in forest property relations to illustrate the role of ownership in protecting and expanding of forest cover by examining the extent to which rural communities may legally own forests. The premise is that whilst state-owned protected areas have contributed enormously to forest survival, this has been insufficiently successful to justify the mass dispossession of customary land-owning communities this has entailed. Further, I argue that state co-option of community lands is unwarranted. Rural communities on all continents ably demonstrate the will and capacity to conserve forests – provided their customary ownership is legally recognized. I explore the property rights reforms now enabling this. The replication potential of community protected forestlands is great enough to deserve flagship status in global commitments to expand forest including in the upcoming new Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

scholarly journals Evaluation of the first pharmacy-led weight management programme in Greece

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i45-i46
Author(s):  
A Peletidi ◽  
R Kayyali
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Annual Report ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Cvd Risk ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Introduction Obesity is one of the main cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.(1) In primary care, pharmacists are in a unique position to offer weight management (WM) interventions. Greece is the European country with the highest number of pharmacies (84.06 pharmacies per 100,000 citizens).(2) The UK was chosen as a reference country, because of the structured public health services offered, the local knowledge and because it was considered to be the closest country to Greece geographically, unlike Australia and Canada, where there is also evidence confirming the potential role of pharmacists in WM. Aim To design and evaluate a 10-week WM programme offered by trained pharmacists in Patras. Methods This WM programme was a step ahead of other interventions worldwide as apart from the usual measuring parameters (weight, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure (BP)) it also offered an AUDIT-C and Mediterranean diet score tests. Results In total,117 individuals participated. Of those, 97.4% (n=114), achieved the programme’s aim, losing at least 5% of their initial weight. The mean % of total weight loss (10th week) was 8.97% (SD2.65), and the t-test showed statistically significant results (P<0.001; 95% CI [8.48, 9.45]). The programme also helped participants to reduce their waist-to-height ratio, an early indicator of the CVD risk in both male (P=0.004) and female (P<0.001) participants. Additionally, it improved participants’ BP, AUDIT-C score and physical activity levels significantly (P<0.001). Conclusion The research is the first systematic effort in Greece to initiate and explore the potential role of pharmacists in public health. The successful results of this WM programme constitute a first step towards the structured incorporation of pharmacists in public’s health promotion. It proposed a model for effectively delivering public health services in Greece. This study adds to the evidence in relation to pharmacists’ CVD role in public health with outcomes that superseded other pharmacy-led WM programmes. It also provides the first evidence that Greek pharmacists have the potential to play an important role within primary healthcare and that after training they are able to provide public health services for both the public’s benefit and their clinical role enhancement. This primary evidence should support the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association, to “fight” for their rights for an active role in primary care. In terms of limitations, it must be noted that the participants’ collected data were recorded by pharmacists, and the analysis therefore depended on the accuracy of the recorded data, in particular on the measurements or calculations obtained. Although the sample size was achieved, it can be argued that it is small for the generalisation of findings across Greece. Therefore, the WM programme should be offered in other Greek cities to identify if similar results can be replicated, so as to consolidate the contribution of pharmacists in promoting public health. Additionally, the study was limited as it did not include a control group. Despite the limitations, our findings provide a model for a pharmacy-led public health programme revolving around WM that can be used as a model for services in the future. References 1. Mendis S, Puska P, Norrving B, World Health Organization., World Heart Federation., World Stroke Organization. Global atlas on cardiovascular disease prevention and control [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization in collaboration with the World Heart Federation and the World Stroke Organization; 2011 [cited 2018 Jun 26]. 155 p. Available from: http://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/publications/atlas_cvd/en/ 2. Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union. Pharmacy with you throughout life:PGEU Annual Report [Internet]. 2015. Available from: https://www.pgeu.eu/en/library/530:annual-report-2015.html

scholarly journals Does Spelling Still Matter—and If So, How Should It Be Taught? Perspectives from Contemporary and Historical Research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven C. Pan ◽  
Timothy C. Rickard ◽  
Robert A. Bjork
Keyword(s):  
Approaches To Teaching ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Relevant Evidence ◽  
Spelling Instruction ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Traditional Approaches

AbstractA century ago, spelling skills were highly valued and widely taught in schools using traditional methods, such as weekly lists, drill exercises, and low- and high-stakes spelling tests. That approach was featured in best-selling textbooks such as the Horn-Ashbaugh Speller of 1920. In the early 21st century, however, skepticism as to the importance of spelling has grown, some schools have deemphasized or abandoned spelling instruction altogether, and there has been a proliferation of non-traditional approaches to teaching spelling. These trends invite a reevaluation of the role of spelling in modern English-speaking societies and whether the subject should be explicitly taught (and if so, what are research-supported methods for doing so). In this article, we examine the literature to address whether spelling skills are still important enough to be taught, summarize relevant evidence, and argue that a comparison of common approaches to spelling instruction in the early 20th century versus more recent approaches provides some valuable insights. We also discuss the value of explicit spelling instruction and highlight potentially effective ways to implement such instruction, including the use of spelling tests. Overall, our goals are to better characterize the role of spelling skills in today’s society and to identify several pedagogical approaches—some derived from traditional methods and others that are more recent—that hold promise for developing such skills in efficient and effective ways.

Data-driven sector coupling in 5G-based smart networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Guenter Knieps
Keyword(s):  
Data Privacy ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Network Industries ◽  
5G Networks ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Open Set ◽  
Application Service ◽  
Downstream Application

5G attains the role of a GPT for an open set of downstream IoT applications in various network industries and within the app economy more generally. Traditionally, sector coupling has been a rather narrow concept focusing on the horizontal synergies of urban system integration in terms of transport, energy, and waste systems, or else the creation of new intermodal markets. The transition toward 5G has fundamentally changed the framing of sector coupling in network industries by underscoring the relevance of differentiating between horizontal and vertical sector coupling. Due to the fixed mobile convergence and the large open set of complementary use cases, 5G has taken on the characteristics of a generalized purpose technology (GPT) in its role as the enabler of a large variety of smart network applications. Due to this vertical relationship, characterized by pervasiveness and innovational complementarities between upstream 5G networks and downstream application sectors, vertical sector coupling between the provider of an upstream GPT and different downstream application industries has acquired particular relevance. In contrast to horizontal sector coupling among different application sectors, the driver of vertical sector coupling is that each of the heterogeneous application sectors requires a critical input from the upstream 5G network provider and combines this with its own downstream technology. Of particular relevance for vertical sector coupling are the innovational complementarities between upstream GPT and downstream application sectors. The focus on vertical sector coupling also has important policy implications. Although the evolution of 5G networks strongly depends on the entrepreneurial, market-driven activities of broadband network operators and application service providers, the future of 5G as a GPT is heavily contingent on the role of frequency management authorities and European regulatory policy with regard to data privacy and security regulations.

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