In this study we present feasibility of a mobile monitoring and reporting system that would provide an accurate unbiased screening tool to systematically analyze opioid adherence in Sickle cell disease patients. In addition, the software simultaneously measures pain. The Mobile Applications Rating Scale: a new and validated tool for assessing the quality of health mobile apps for engagement, functionality, aesthetics, information quality, subjective quality, relevance and overall impact was administered post usage to evaluate the application. A total of 28 patients were recruited to review and test the software at one sitting. The majority of the population found the application to be relevant for their care. Patients were also asked to report on the completeness of information within the app, the majority (96%) reported on the application’s completeness while 4% estimated the information to be minimal or overwhelming. The quality of information as it pertains to sickle cell patients was overwhelimingly reported to be relevant (91.7%); only 8.3% found the application to be poorly relevant to sickle cell disease. The application’s performance was positively rated while the ease of its use positively rated at 91.7%. Most participants (85.7%) found the application to be interesting to use while 74% found it entertaining. All users found the application’s navigation to be logical and accurate with consistent and intuitive gestural design. We conclude that surveyed patients believe it is feasible to use a smartphone application specifically targeted to monitor opioid use and behavior in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD)-associated pain

In 1944, the Government of Saskatchewan created the Northern Administrative District (NAD), which established Northern Saskatchewan as a spatial entity within the provincial milieu. Attention was focused on modernizing the region, and public health nursing became one of the first state-sponsored institutions to be introduced by the provincial government. By examining the day-to-day activities of nurses who worked at remote nursing outposts in Northern Saskatchewan between 1944 and 1957 and beyond, this research examines the complex internal factors involved in region-making. Nurses lived and worked amongst their patients in small remote communities, thus making them effective vehicles for promoting modernization principles through preventative and educations programs. Despite the governments intention to modernize Northern Saskatchewan, a colonial relationship emerged between the region and the rest of the province. This situation left nurses in a confusing and often difficult position, because the institution behind initiatives to modernize the region was also their employer to whom they had certain obligations. Furthermore, the colonial attitude towards the region also extended to the nursing stations and the nurses, which often frustrated their attempts to provide medical care. As such, the small cadre of nurses played an ambiguous role, both as agents of modernization, but also opponents of its egregious effects.<p> The research examines the role of nursing in region-making through two types of geography: A geography of region-making where the literature focuses on the formal process of institutionalization, and a geography of social life, where the emerging literature on the geography of nursing provides an entry point. This two-part approach provides an opportunity to use different lenses to view the processes involved in shaping Northern Saskatchewan as it emerged as a distinct northern place within Canada.

In 1944, the Government of Saskatchewan created the Northern Administrative District (NAD), which established Northern Saskatchewan as a spatial entity within the provincial milieu. Attention was focused on modernizing the region, and public health nursing became one of the first state-sponsored institutions to be introduced by the provincial government. By examining the day-to-day activities of nurses who worked at remote nursing outposts in Northern Saskatchewan between 1944 and 1957 and beyond, this research examines the complex internal factors involved in region-making. Nurses lived and worked amongst their patients in small remote communities, thus making them effective vehicles for promoting modernization principles through preventative and educations programs. Despite the governments intention to modernize Northern Saskatchewan, a colonial relationship emerged between the region and the rest of the province. This situation left nurses in a confusing and often difficult position, because the institution behind initiatives to modernize the region was also their employer to whom they had certain obligations. Furthermore, the colonial attitude towards the region also extended to the nursing stations and the nurses, which often frustrated their attempts to provide medical care. As such, the small cadre of nurses played an ambiguous role, both as agents of modernization, but also opponents of its egregious effects.<p> The research examines the role of nursing in region-making through two types of geography: A geography of region-making where the literature focuses on the formal process of institutionalization, and a geography of social life, where the emerging literature on the geography of nursing provides an entry point. This two-part approach provides an opportunity to use different lenses to view the processes involved in shaping Northern Saskatchewan as it emerged as a distinct northern place within Canada.

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Η ασύρματη μετάδοση δεδομένων τηλεϊατρικής καθιστά ένα εύρος μετρήσεων που θα έπρεπε να έχουν καθηλωμένο τον ασθενή, να γίνεται εύκολα και απομακρυσμένα. Στην παρούσα εργασία γίνεται διερεύνηση των δυνατοτήτων που προσφέρει η ασύρματη μετάδοση τηλεϊατρικών δεδομένων και ειδικότερα το πρωτόκολλο IEEE 802.15.4, το οποίο εντάσσεται στα ασύρματα δίκτυα χαμηλής ισχύος. Το πρωτόκολλο αυτό υποστηρίζει χαμηλό ρυθμό μετάδοσης δεδομένων, ικανό όμως για τη μετάδοση βιολογικών δεδομένων, έχει χαμηλή κατανάλωση ισχύος, είναι χαμηλού κόστους και έχει μια εμβέλεια 10 έως 75 μέτρα. Παράλληλα με τη διερεύνηση των δυνατοτήτων του συγκεκριμένου πρωτοκόλλου στην μετάδοση βιολογικών δεδομένων γίνεται και υλοποίηση σε hardware ενός συστήματος συγκέντρωσης και μετάδοσης των δεδομένων με το πρωτόκολλο IEEE 802.15.4. / The wireless data transmission in telemedicine makes a range of measurements that should have riveted the patient, easily and remotely. In the present work is exploring the possibilities to offer wireless telemedical data transmission and in particular Protocol IEEE 802.15.4, Zigbee. This protocol supports low data transmission rates, but able to transmit biological data. Alongside exploring the possibilities of the transmission protocol to biological data and is a hardware implementation of a system gathering and data transmission protocol with IEEE 802.15.4.

Designing computer systems that effectively support the user is the major goal within human-computer interaction. To achieve this, we must understand and master several tasks. This process must initially deal with the question of knowing what to develop and later, with the question of knowing how to design and develop the system. This view might seem off-target at first, since it does not explicitly mention the goals or functions of the system. However, more often than not, there is no objective goal to aim for that can be formally specified and used as a target criterion that will signal when we have designed an appropriate system. Instead, there is a large set of vague goals – some of which may last through the entire project and some that will not. It is therefore somewhat confounding that most of the current methods of systems development require that these goals are explicitly laid out, in order to steer development. For researchers in Human-Computer Interaction, the existence of many varying – and possibly conflicting goals – presents is a great challenge. The constructive main focus on producing usable systems is a matter of understanding this complex situation and knowing how to proceed from there. There are many existing approaches that can be used to carry out this complex development process. This thesis presents one approach, based on the notion that the elements that constitute a successful system are also a part of the solution. This thesis presents this approach as it is applied to the development of systems for computer-supported work in health care. The projected solution suggests that we need to focus more intently on active user involvement in iterative development that is significantly long-term. The traditional, rather narrow circle of focus that encompasses design, development and evaluation is not sufficient.

Objective The use of telehealth to provide health service delivery to rural and remote First Nations populations Canada-wide has greatly increased in recent years. Telehealth provides a mechanism for these disadvantaged and underserved communities to access timely healthcare services that would otherwise be expensive, delayed or unavailable due to geographic and resource limitations. There are numerous benefits, challenges and cultural issues that must be understood from a healthcare professional perspective when providing telehealth care to First Nations communities. Once educated with respect to these issues and experienced in providing care, healthcare professionals are well poised to provide feedback with respect to improving telehealth mediated health care delivery. This thesis examines these issues in the context of using telehealth for patient care, specifically cancer care. Methods This thesis is divided into two phases. Phase one is a literature review assessing the use of telehealth, specifically in rural and remote First Nations communities in Canada. Phase 2 is a study using a survey to assess healthcare professionals who provide telelehealth mediated patient care (in particular cancer care) to Northern BC First Nations communities. The participants were contacted through the use of an online survey tool to assess their perceptions of benefits, challenges, and cultural awareness when providing patient care. The survey population consisted of onsite health professionals and urban health professionals providing patient care to Northern BC First Nations communities via telehealth. Specific participant groups of interest were (1) onsite cancer care professionals, (2) onsite other (non-cancer) care professionals, (3) urban cancer care professionals, and (4) urban other (non-cancer) care professionals. Results The participant population of 45 was too limited a sample size for inferential statistics to be conducted. Therefore our survey data was interpreted by comparing the mean composite scores of the participants groups within each category. Our survey data implied that onsite cancer care providers found fewer benefits and more challenges with respect to telehealth than the other participant groups. We did not see any differences between the participant groups with respect to cultural awareness. Conclusion Based on the literature we reviewed telehealth can reduce costs and extend health care services in a timely manner while at the same time complement conventional care to build stronger health care community relationships. Despite these positive benefits found in literature, our survey found onsite cancer care professionals did perceive fewer benefits and more challenges regarding telehealth use. Specific issues raised by our survey participants that need to be addressed are the physical disconnect associated with telehealth and the perception that telehealth is a replacement for conventional care. / Graduate

Thesis (Ph.D. in Clinical Science) -- University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-74). Free to UCDHSC affiliates. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

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Αντικείμενο της διπλωματικής αυτής εργασίας είναι η μελέτη ενός ZigBee ασύρματου δικτύου βιοαισθητήρων και η δυνατότητα διασύνδεσης του με μεγαλύτερα δίκτυα όπως το Ίντερνετ. Αρχικά γίνεται μια αναφορά στην χρησιμοποίηση δικτύων τηλεϊατρικής, στη σπουδαιότητά τους για τον άνθρωπο καθώς και σε ολοκληρωμένες λύσεις που έχουν προταθεί. Έπειτα παρουσιάζονται και περιγράφονται βιοαισθητήρες που χρησιμοποιούνται σε ένα WBAN όπως και η λειτουργία τους. Στη συνέχεια γίνεται εκτεταμένη ανάλυση όλων των επιπέδων του πρωτοκόλλου Zigbee/802.15.4 στοχεύοντας πιο συγκεκριμένα στη ζώνη μετάδοσης των 2,4 GHz και το πως αυτή μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί κρατώντας υψηλό το QOS , απαραίτητη προϋπόθεση ενός δικτύου τηλεϊατρικής . Τέλος μελετώνται οι πιθανοί τρόποι διασύνδεσης δικτύων αισθητήρων και γίνεται προσομοίωση ενός TCP/IP δικτύου στο οποίο καταλήγουν τα δεδομένα τα οποία συγκεντρώνονται από μια σειρά αισθητήρων με σκοπό τη μελέτη της δυνατότητας χρήσης ενός τέτοιου συστήματος. / Subject of this diploma work is to study a ZigBee wireless biosensor network and connectivity with other networks like the internet. Initially is made a reference to the use of telemedicine networks, the importance for man as well as integrated solutions that have been proposed. Then there are presented and described biosensors used in a WBAN as their function. Then is made an analysis of all levels of the protocol Zigbee/802.15.4 targeting the particular zone of 2,4 GHz and how it can be used while holding a high QOS. Finally are examined possible ways of interconnecting networks of sensors and is made a simulation of a TCP / IP where the collected data from the sensors end.