Examining the Effect of Overload on the MHealth Application Resistance Behavior of Elderly Users: An SOR Perspective

Aging has increased the burden of social medical care. Mobile health (mHealth) services provide an effective way to alleviate this pressure. However, the actual usage of mHealth services for elderly users is still very low. The extant studies mainly focused on elderly users’ mHealth adoption behavior, but resistance behavior has not been sufficiently explored by previous research. A present study tried to remedy this research gap by examining the effect of overload factors on the mHealth application resistance behavior based on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework. The results indicated that information overload and system feature overload of an mHealth application increased the fatigue and technostress of the elderly user, which further increased their resistance behavior. Meanwhile, we integrated the intergeneration support with the SOR model to identify the buffer factor of the elderly user’s resistance behavior. The results showed that intergenerational support not only directly decrease the elderly user’s mHealth application resistance behavior, but also moderates (weaken) the effects of fatigue and technostress on resistance behavior. The present study also provided several valuable theoretical and practical implications.

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QUALITY OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY SILESIAN HEALTHCARE INSTITUTIONS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC – RESULTS OF THE SURVEY

Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology Organization and Management Series ◽

10.29119/1641-3466.2021.154.6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 (154) ◽

pp. 67-79

Author(s):

Julia JURASIK ◽

◽

Paulina KRĘT ◽

Bartosz ORZEŁ ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Care ◽

Quality Of Services ◽

Main Research ◽

Medical Clinics ◽

Medical Facilities ◽

Research Gap ◽

Key Aspects ◽

Practical Implications

Purpose: The purpose of this article is determine the level of medical services quality provided by medical clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: The research was based on analyzing the results of a survey conducted among patients of Silesian clinics. First, a survey sheet was designed using the SERVQUAL model. The next step was to conduct a study in clinics in Silesia. As part of the study, 50 patients’ survey votes were received and analyzed. Findings: Respondents rate the state of health care in Poland as good, telehealth should be reserved for those in quarantine, and should be conducted only when prescriptions are being written, not when diagnosing a patient, respondents pointed out that medical facilities provided meeting conditions that did not expose patients to COVID-19 infection, hence it seems unjustified to use tele advice for patients not under compulsory quarantine. Research limitations/implications: The main research limitation is the number of feedback surveys received. If there were more votes, the research sample could be even more credible. Practical implications: The study was conducted in times of a real epidemiological threat. The results of the study show how, in a group of 50 patients, the key aspects related to the provision of medical care in Silesian healthcare institutions are perceived. Social implications: Patients’ observations regarding the functioning of the health care system in times of a pandemic and the key aspects related to ensuring access to this care are extremely valuable tips that may improve the standard of medical care in Poland also during possible future pandemic waves. Originality/value: Carrying out a literature analysis indicated that there were no studies conducted among patients so far. Thus, the research gap was defined. The authors decided to conduct the study directly among patients by sending the sheets to medical clinics.

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Application of mobile health to support the elderly during the COVID-19 outbreak: A systematic literature review (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.26929 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Saeedeh Fehresti ◽

Elham Monaghesh

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Mobile Health ◽

The Elderly ◽

Mental Health Consultation ◽

Inclusion Criteria ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Current Crisis ◽

Health Service Provision ◽

Positive Effects

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 outbreak has affected the elderly's physical and mental health. The application of information and communication technology, such as mobile health (m-health), can play a significant role in combating this pandemic by changing the behavior and lifestyle of the elderly during this time of crisis. OBJECTIVE This systematic review aimed to synthesize m-health capabilities in providing health services to the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify the factors associated with the success of these tools. METHODS To ﬁnd the relevant studies, a search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, and Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria were: studies in English that used m-health intervention in all aspects of elderly healthcare during the COVID-19 outbreak, published in peer-reviewed journals from 31 December 2019, and had any research design and methodology. Two authors independently took all the steps of this review, and finally performed narrative synthesis to report the findings. RESULTS Our initial search identified 421 studies, of which 10 met the inclusion criteria. The data analysis showed that all the m-health interventions had positive effects on the health of the elderly. The m-health services for the elderly during the current pandemic were used for therapy, information provision, self-help, monitoring, and mental health consultation purposes. The results also indicated that various factors affected the elderly's use of m-health tools. CONCLUSIONS The application of m-health keeps the elderly and healthcare providers safe, accelerates health service provision, reduces the costs of service delivery, and decreases the risk of morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 outbreak. The successful use of m-health tools for the elderly in health programs during the current crisis greatly depends on supporting the elderly and overcoming the barriers.

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Smart Wearable Sensors Based on Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Personal Healthcare Monitoring

Micromachines ◽

10.3390/mi12040352 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 352

Author(s):

Ruonan Li ◽

Xuelian Wei ◽

Jiahui Xu ◽

Junhuan Chen ◽

Bin Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Care ◽

Health Monitoring ◽

Wearable Sensors ◽

The Elderly ◽

The Body ◽

Assessment System ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Personal Healthcare ◽

Healthcare Monitoring ◽

Smart Wearable

Accurate monitoring of motion and sleep states is critical for human health assessment, especially for a healthy life, early diagnosis of diseases, and medical care. In this work, a smart wearable sensor (SWS) based on a dual-channel triboelectric nanogenerator was presented for a real-time health monitoring system. The SWS can be worn on wrists, ankles, shoes, or other parts of the body and cloth, converting mechanical triggers into electrical output. By analyzing these signals, the SWS can precisely and constantly monitor and distinguish various motion states, including stepping, walking, running, and jumping. Based on the SWS, a fall-down alarm system and a sleep quality assessment system were constructed to provide personal healthcare monitoring and alert family members or doctors via communication devices. It is important for the healthy growth of the young and special patient groups, as well as for the health monitoring and medical care of the elderly and recovered patients. This work aimed to broaden the paths for remote biological movement status analysis and provide diversified perspectives for true-time and long-term health monitoring, simultaneously.

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Promotion of active ageing through interactive artificial agents in a smart environment

SN Applied Sciences ◽

10.1007/s42452-021-04567-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Paulo Menezes ◽

Rui P. Rocha

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Pilot Study ◽

The Elderly ◽

Training System ◽

Regular Physical Activity ◽

List Type ◽

Multi Agent System ◽

Agent System ◽

Multi Agent ◽

Elderly Users

Abstract Societies in the most developed countries have witnessed a significant ageing of the population in recent decades, which increases the demand for healthcare services and caregivers. The development of technologies to help the elderly, so that they can remain active and independent for a longer time, helps to mitigate the sustainability problem posed in care services. This article follows this new trend, proposing a multi-agent system composed of a smart camera network, centralised planning agent, a virtual coach, and robotic exercise buddy, designed to promote regular physical activity habits among the elderly. The proposed system not only persuades the users to perform exercise routines, but also guides and accompanies them during exercises in order to provide effective training and engagement to the user. The different agents are combined in the system to exploit their complementary features in the quest for an effective and engaging training system. Three variants of the system, involving either a partial set of those agents or the full proposed system, were evaluated and compared through a pilot study conducted with 12 elderly users. The results demonstrate that all variants are able to guide the user in an exercise routine, but the most complete system that includes a robotic exercise buddy was the best scored by the participants. Article Highlights Proposal of a multi-agent system to help elderly adopting regular physical activity habits. A virtual coach and a robotic exercise buddy provide both guidance and companionship during the exercise. A pilot study conducted with 12 elderly users demonstrated an effective and engaging training system.

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Antecedents and Consequences of Digital Shadow Work in Mobile Shopping Apps Context

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13147697 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 7697

Author(s):

Sung Yul Ryoo ◽

Sang Cheol Park

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Information Overload ◽

Integrative Model ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Structural Components ◽

Mobile Shopping ◽

Antecedents And Consequences ◽

Digital Shadow ◽

The Relationship ◽

System Feature

Shadow work continues to witness a significant uptick in the context of mobile shopping. Therefore, we question whether shadow work perceived by mobile shoppers may become a bigger problem, create fatigue for mobile shoppers, and lead them to discontinue the use of mobile shopping apps. This study examines the relationship between shadow work and the discontinuance of mobile shopping apps. Data from a total of 266 completed surveys were collected by a market research firm. We adopted partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to assess both the measurement and structural components of the model. The results show that both information overload and system feature overload positively influence individuals’ shadow work. This study explores the concept of shadow work in the context of mobile shopping apps. Specifically, the study developed the relationships between the antecedents and consequences of shadow work in the mobile shopping context. The main contribution of our study is that it introduces an integrative model of shadow work in the mobile shopping context, highlighting the importance of shadow work.

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Assessment of Poverty by Municipalities in the Context of Population Ageing—The Case of Małopolskie Voivodeship

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13052563 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 2563

Author(s):

Małgorzata Ćwiek ◽

Katarzyna Maj-Waśniowska ◽

Katarzyna Stabryła-Chudzio

Keyword(s):

The Elderly ◽

Research Problem ◽

Point Of View ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Chi Square ◽

Social Challenge ◽

Depth Analysis ◽

Qualitative Variables ◽

Chi Square Test ◽

Research Gap

This article undertakes the research problem of the assessment of the significance of poverty as a social challenge for local self-government units, and the differences in the assessment of the incidence of this phenomenon depending on the type of municipality. The authors also analyse the relationships between the ageing of the population and the assessment of the extent of poverty by municipalities. It must be pointed out that the undertaken problem has not been a subject of in-depth analysis thus far. Hence, this article fills the identified research gap in this field. The empirical part is based on the results of our own research, conducted using the Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) method on a sample of 144 municipalities of the Małopolskie Voivodship (Poland). In order to verify whether there is a relationship between the researched qualitative variables, the chi-square test of independence was used. In order to determine the relationships occurring between the categories of variables characterising the scale of the incidence of poverty and the remaining variables, a correspondence analysis was conducted. The research enabled us to find the issue of poverty to be one of the most important social problems from the point of view of municipalities. It is also worth noting that the degree of ageing in the population has an impact on the assessment of poverty among the elderly.

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Examining the association of medical-dental integration with closure of medical care gaps among the elderly population

The Journal of the American Dental Association ◽

10.1016/j.adaj.2020.12.010 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 152 (4) ◽

pp. 302-308

Author(s):

David M. Mosen ◽

Matthew P. Banegas ◽

John F. Dickerson ◽

Jeffrey L. Fellows ◽

Neon B. Brooks ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Care ◽

Elderly Population ◽

The Elderly ◽

Care Gaps

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PROFIT LEVELS STAGNATING AT HOSPITALS

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.95.4.597 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 95 (4) ◽

pp. 597-597

Author(s):

J. F. L.

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Care ◽

The Elderly ◽

Health Care Executives ◽

Profit Margins ◽

Care For The Elderly ◽

The Poor

Profit margins at most hospitals across the country declined or stagnated last year, reflecting growing pressure on them to reduce costs. And health care executives said many hospitals would be under even greater pressure in 1995 if Congress enacted proposals that would slash spending for medical care for the elderly and the poor. At investor-owned hospitals, the outlook is brighter, because many of them have moved aggressively to merge and cut costs. Profit at these hospitals has risen in the 1990s.

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Recent advances in non-surgical management of cancer in the elderly

F1000Research ◽

10.12688/f1000research.14264.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 1793

Author(s):

Emily J. Guerard ◽

Gil E. Harmon ◽

Kieran D. Sahasrabudhe ◽

Noelle K. LoConte

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Palliative Care ◽

Supportive Care ◽

Medical Care ◽

Surgical Management ◽

The Elderly ◽

The Body ◽

The Other ◽

Patients With Cancer ◽

Chemotherapy Agents

This article summarizes the seminal publications from mid-2016 through 2017 in the area of medical care for older adults with cancer. Areas addressed include chemotherapy tolerance and efficacy in the aged, geriatric fitness assessments, and advancements in palliative and supportive care. The practice-changing finding from this past year’s publications is that antipsychotics should not be used in the management of terminal delirium in older adults receiving palliative care. The other trials demonstrated an improved understanding of the utility of geriatric assessments in patients with cancer, developed the body of information about which chemotherapy agents are safe and effective in older adults (and which are not), and expanded our understanding of good palliative and supportive care.

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