scholarly journals Rationale and Methods of Evaluation for ACHO, a New Virtual Assistant to Improve Therapeutic Adherence in Rural Elderly Populations: A User-Driven Living Lab

Author(s):  
Jeronimo Luengo-Polo ◽  
David Conde-Caballero ◽  
Borja Rivero-Jiménez ◽  
Inmaculada Ballesteros-Yáñez ◽  
Carlos A. Castillo-Sarmiento ◽  
...  

Low therapeutic adherence is a concern for health professionals as it decreases therapeutic efficiency while increasing costs, especially in elderly populations. To increase therapeutic adherence in elderly populations, the technology applied in the medical devices that are used must be adapted to improve usability. This paper outlines the rationale behind, and methods applied to assess the usability of, ACHO (Assistant on Care and Health Offline), a voice assistant that provides elderly patients with reminders of medical appointments to attend and when they need to take their medication. This work is a descriptive, cross-sectional, observational study, and will include a three-phase (analysis, testing and refinement) multidimensional usability analysis of an initial prototype, in the setting of a user-driven Living Lab, which enables the needs and characteristics of the end users to be identified and incorporated into the prototype with each iteration, in which a multidisciplinary team of researchers and users will participate as co-creators. This methodology will allow us to develop a better prototype, increasing usability and, thus, increasing therapeutic adherence.

Author(s):  
Mieke Deschodt ◽  
Anthony Jeuris ◽  
Bastiaan Van Grootven ◽  
Eline Van Waerebeek ◽  
Evie Gantois ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose Inpatient geriatric consultation teams (IGCTs) provide recommendations for the care of older patients hospitalized on non-geriatric wards based on comprehensive geriatric assessment. The lack of adherence to their recommendations hinders the potential impact of IGCTs. We evaluated the adherence to IGCT recommendations and determined which team and recommendation characteristics are related to higher adherence rates. Methods Multicenter observational study in older adults aged ≥ 75 years admitted to an acute non-geriatric ward. Demographic and adherence data were collected for 30 consecutive patients. A cross-sectional survey mapped team and organizational characteristics of the participating IGCTs. Results Analyses were conducted in 278 patients (51.4% male, mean age 82.5 years, and median length of stay 10 days). There was a median number of 3 recommendations (range 1–13) per patient. The overall adherence rate was 69.7%. Recommendations related to ‘social status’ (82.4%) and ‘functional status/mobility’ (73.3%) were best adhered to. Recommendations related to ‘medication’ (53.2%) and ‘nutritional status’ (59.1%) were least adhered to. Adherence rates increased if recommendations were given to allied health professionals (OR = 6.37, 95% CI = 1.15–35.35) or by more experienced IGCTs (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.04–1.72) and decreased when more recommendations were given (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.33–0.80). Conclusion Adherence rate to IGCT recommendations increased if given to allied health professionals or by more experienced IGCTs and when fewer recommendations were given. Study replication in an international multicenter study with a larger number of centers and evaluating the quality of the recommendations is suggested.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 08-15
Author(s):  
Rahma Triyana ◽  
Salmi Salmi

Malaria is one of the health problems in Indonesia, especially West Sumatra. Determination of the description of Malaria disease in an area is needed to determine the spread and severity of the disease. This study aims to determine the frequency distribution according to age, sex and place of residence, description of the types of Plasmodium causes of Malaria and hematological features in Malaria patients at Siti Rahmah Padang Hospital in 2018. This type of research is a descriptive observational study with an approach or design cross section (cross sectional). The frequency distribution of Malaria sufferers in Siti Rahmah Padang Hospital in 2018 according to the highest age was in the age group 21-30 years as many as 28 cases (36.8%), the highest sex among men was 46 (60.5%) and the highest number of residences was found in Koto Tangah sub-district there were 31 cases (40.8%). The type of Plasmodium found in Malaria cases in Siti Rahmah Padang Hospital in 2018 was P. vivax (73 cases (96.05%)) and P. falciparum (3 cases (3.95%)). The results of laboratory tests on Hb, hematocrit, platelet and leukocyte levels in Malaria positive patients in Siti Rahmah Padang Hospital in 2018 were in the normal range.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 08-15
Author(s):  
Rahma Triyana Y ◽  
Salmi Salmi

Malaria is one of the health problems in Indonesia, especially West Sumatra. Determination of the description of Malaria disease in an area is needed to determine the spread and severity of the disease. This study aims to determine the frequency distribution according to age, sex and place of residence, description of the types of Plasmodium causes of Malaria and hematological features in Malaria patients at Siti Rahmah Padang Hospital in 2018. This type of research is a descriptive observational study with an approach or design cross section (cross sectional). The frequency distribution of Malaria sufferers in Siti Rahmah Padang Hospital in 2018 according to the highest age was in the age group 21-30 years as many as 28 cases (36.8%), the highest sex among men was 46 (60.5%) and the highest number of residences was found in Koto Tangah sub-district there were 31 cases (40.8%). The type of Plasmodium found in Malaria cases in Siti Rahmah Padang Hospital in 2018 was P. vivax (73 cases (96.05%)) and P. falciparum (3 cases (3.95%)). The results of laboratory tests on Hb, hematocrit, platelet and leukocyte levels in Malaria positive patients in Siti Rahmah Padang Hospital in 2018 were in the normal range.


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