Individual Perception of Telehealth: Validation of a German Translation of the Telemedicine Perception Questionnaire and a Derived Short Version

Telehealth is a growing domain with particular relevance for remote patient monitoring. With respect to the biopsychosocial model of health, it is important to evaluate perception and satisfaction with new methods in telehealth as part of an integrative approach. The Telemedicine Perception Questionnaire (TMPQ) is a 17-item questionnaire measuring patients’ perception of and satisfaction with telecare. We translated this survey into German and determined its validity and reliability in 32 adolescents and adults. Furthermore, we derived a short version of the TMPQ, named Patient and Physician Satisfaction with Monitoring (PPSM), which is a 5-item questionnaire that can be administered to both patients and physicians. Validity and reliability were tested in 32 patients and 32 physicians. Crohnbach’s α for the translated TMPQ was 0.76, and the German version yielded high validity (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.995). We tested the PPSM in both patients and physicians and found acceptable values for Crohnbach’s α (0.72 and 0.78) with excellent validity (ICC 0.965). We therefore concluded from this small study that both German versions of the TMPQ and PPSM can be used to investigate the acceptance of telehealth applications.

Between Moments - Using virtual reality with participatory processes to design healthcare waiting places

<p>Within healthcare architecture, there is a void of attention directed towards the non-medical spaces; the waiting rooms, hallways and all ‘between moments’ where many people spend extended periods of time under acute stress. Nowhere is this more prevalent that in the emergency departments where patients seek care and treatment for real or perceived, serious injuries or illnesses. While waiting for medical attention, exposure to high levels of harsh lighting, sterile furnishings, chaotic activity and cavernous rooms with others in distress can cause and increase anxiety, delirium and high blood pressure. The emotional experience of such spaces changes based upon a user’s unique sensory conditions and therefore their individual perception of space. The architectural design tools and devices to explore these highly charged sensory spaces have been historically limited to technical plans and sections and rendered marketing perspectival images, which do not fully communicate the immersive experience of these spaces when in use. Virtual reality is emerging as a powerful three-dimensional visualisation tool, offering designers the opportunity to comprehend proposed designs more clearly during the planning and design phases, thus enabling a greater influence on design decision making. This research explores the use of VR in a healthcare perspective, adopting a participatory design approach to simulate sensory conditions of blindness, deafness and autism and the emotions associated with these conditions within space. This approach diverges from a purely visual method of design towards an understanding of the haptic, exploring the critical phenomenology behind these non-medical spaces. The research finds significant potential for the use of virtual reality as a design tool to simulate the experience of these spaces in early design stages.</p>

Between Moments - Using virtual reality with participatory processes to design healthcare waiting places

<p>Within healthcare architecture, there is a void of attention directed towards the non-medical spaces; the waiting rooms, hallways and all ‘between moments’ where many people spend extended periods of time under acute stress. Nowhere is this more prevalent that in the emergency departments where patients seek care and treatment for real or perceived, serious injuries or illnesses. While waiting for medical attention, exposure to high levels of harsh lighting, sterile furnishings, chaotic activity and cavernous rooms with others in distress can cause and increase anxiety, delirium and high blood pressure. The emotional experience of such spaces changes based upon a user’s unique sensory conditions and therefore their individual perception of space. The architectural design tools and devices to explore these highly charged sensory spaces have been historically limited to technical plans and sections and rendered marketing perspectival images, which do not fully communicate the immersive experience of these spaces when in use. Virtual reality is emerging as a powerful three-dimensional visualisation tool, offering designers the opportunity to comprehend proposed designs more clearly during the planning and design phases, thus enabling a greater influence on design decision making. This research explores the use of VR in a healthcare perspective, adopting a participatory design approach to simulate sensory conditions of blindness, deafness and autism and the emotions associated with these conditions within space. This approach diverges from a purely visual method of design towards an understanding of the haptic, exploring the critical phenomenology behind these non-medical spaces. The research finds significant potential for the use of virtual reality as a design tool to simulate the experience of these spaces in early design stages.</p>

THE ROLE OF DAYLIGHT IN LIBRARY USERS’ SEAT PREFERENCES

Seating that meets the needs and preferences of students can promote a longer stay in libraries and keep students motivated, which in turn influences their emotions and learning abilities. However, existing knowledge on the interaction between daylighting and seating preferences is limited. This study aims to understand what type of spaces are in more demand and the relationship between seat occupancy and daylight availability. Occupancy data of the UCL Bartlett library acquired from motion sensors located underneath each desk was used to assess occupancy, which was then compared to characteristics of space, including daylight availability. The study revealed that although daylight has a considerable impact on students’ seat selection, the seating preference of the students cannot be explained by daylight alone. The seats with a good combination of daylight, outdoor view and privacy are in more demand compared to seats that provide only a high level of daylight. Future research should involve individual perception in addition to occupancy monitoring data, considering daylight conditions together with other components such as privacy, outdoor views, and quietness.

Self Medication Practices: Insights from Caregivers to Their Under Five Children in Southwestern Nigeria

The act of childcare by caregivers requires meticulous attention especially to under-five children in any clime. This paper aggregates the understanding of caregivers on the practice of self-medication to their under-five children. A qualitative approach using Focus group discussions among selected caregivers to under-five children in Osun and Lagos states of southwestern states of Nigeria was used for data collection. Thematic analysis was done with the assistance of the ATLAs Ti package. The caregivers’ understanding of the practice included; re-use of medications based on previous illnesses, use of familiar drugs, and use of medications without conducting any laboratory investigations. Also they ascribed the practice to the use of medication for minor ailments only and largely on their individual perception of their under-five children. Most caregivers were knowledgeable of the practice though in diverse contexts, thereby provided different social milieu for the practice. In the overall, the study revealed the caregivers’ different understanding of what self-medication practice to their under-five children are.

The Impact of Self- and Relation-Inferred Efficacy on Physical Activity in Older Adult Couples

Previous research has indicated that physical activity (PA) is a health-promoting behavior that is closely linked in couples. However, few studies have examined how PA is intertwined among couples in their everyday lives. For example, relation-inferred efficacy (RIE) is an individual perception that captures whether a close other believes in one’s own abilities to perform specific behaviours; it originates from the sports literature on coach-athlete dyads and has been shown to shape athlete performance. Applying a repeated daily life assessment design, the current study targets self-efficacy (SE) and relation-inferred efficacy (RIE) as predictors of PA in older adult couples, as well as potential moderators when obstacles occur. We hypothesized that: (a.) There is a main effect of SE and RIE on PA. (b.) PA is lower on days when people anticipate barriers (c.) SE and RIE moderate the time-varying relationship between PA and barriers. Heterosexual couples (N=108 couples, Mage=70.5 years, SD=6.70) rated their SE and REI, completed daily electronic questionnaires asking about barriers and wore an accelerometer to capture indices of PA across seven days. In line with past work, SE (r(2438)=.13, p=&lt;.001) and RIE (r(2438)=.14, p=&lt;.001) were significantly related to total moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and step counts. A series of multilevel models were fit to examine the hypotheses. Preliminary analyses indicated that RIE (estimate=3.93, SE=1.49, p=.009) is a stronger predictor of MVPA than SE (estimate=2.83, SE=2.02, p=.16). Further analysis will be conducted to unpack daily life circumstances that create barriers to PA, including daily pain, anxiety, and tiredness.

SIBERIAN STEPPE IN MODERN AESTHETIC PRACTICES (KONSTANTIN BALMONT – MARINA TSVETAEVA)

Statement of the problem. The problems of the article are addressed to the methods of cultural development of the vast Siberian steppes in Russian modernism, to the methods of overcoming cultural entropy. The purpose of the article is to describe the parameters of the “steppe” texts by M. Tsvetaeva and K. Balmont, to identify their cultural genealogy. Review of scientific literature on the problem is associated with solving specific problems: identifying ways of authorizing the Siberian text in the poetics of a particular author (works by A. Smith, E. Korkina, and V. Marosha). Research results. The article is devoted to the Siberian texts by K. Balmont and M. Tsvetaeva. In the collection of works by Balmont entitled “Blue Horseshoe. Poems about Siberia”, the perception of the Siberian steppes is built around the concepts of “distance”, “width”, and “freedom”, characteristic of Balmont’s poetry, in principle. In Tsvetaeva’s poem “Siberia”, the steppe theme appears twice: in the exposition of the poem, and also in the second part (the image of the Barabinsk steppe). The sources of Tsvetaeva’s steppe imagery can be considered her individual perception Blok’s “Scythianism”, her direct empirical experience of experiencing the Crimean steppes, as well as her keen interest in the Eurasian theory at the time of writing the poem. Conclusions. Spatial entropy does not become an obstacle for an artist of the modernist formation in the cultural development of space. Each poet creates his own image of the Siberian steppes, based on the available poetic tools, synthesizing creative methods.

Warmth or competence? The effects of cool and cuteness on the perceived quality of digital products

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of cuteness and cool on the perceived quality of digital products, the mediating effect of brand perception (warmth and competence) and the moderating effect of the individual perception level.Design/methodology/approachThis paper utilizes experimental design and survey methods to collect data and the ANOVA, independent sample t-test and bootstrap analysis methods to verify the assumed hypotheses.FindingsStudies 1 and 2 demonstrate that cuteness (vs cool) is more likely to promote the perception of brand warmth (vs competence), and the brand perception plays a mediating role between cuteness (cool) and the perceived quality. Study 3 replicates the findings of Study 2 and indicates that people with high-cuteness (vs low-cuteness) perception are the same to perceive the brand warmth to promote the perceived quality of digital products, but people with high-cool (vs low-cool) perception are more likely to perceive the brand competence to promote the perceived quality of digital products.Practical implicationsBased on the conclusions in this paper, marketers could emphasize the cool information of digital products in advertisements to promote the perceived quality to promote younger consumers' willingness to pay (WTP). Furthermore, firms could shape warm brand images by the perception of cuteness because cuteness is positively associated with the warmth of brand perception (e.g. the logo of Three Squirrels, a Chinese nut business brand that consists of three cute squirrels).Originality/valueFrom a theoretical standpoint, this paper contributes to the brand perception when consumers accept product information with the characteristics of cuteness or cool. Second, a model of perceived quality of digital products is built based on the stereotype content theory. Third, this paper considers individual perception levels on cuteness and cool as the boundaries to conduct further conceptual model.