RESUMO
Background: Technological devices can support nursing home employees; however, their perspective is not sufficiently studied. Our aims were thus to (a) examine affinity for technology and technology interaction and related sociodemographic confounders, as well as (b) detect possible requirements and boundary conditions relevant for the development and implementation of assistive technologies among nursing home employees. Methods: We conducted an online survey between May and July of 2022 among 200 nursing home employees in Germany. The survey included two questionnaires, that is, Affinity for Technology Interaction (ATI) and Affinity for Technology-Electronic Devices (TA-EG; subscales TA-EG-Enthusiasm, TA-EG-Competence, TA-EG-Positive Consequences, and TA-EG-Negative Consequences), as well as sociodemographic variables, that is, age, gender, professional groups, education/graduation level. We carried out factorial variance and multiple regression analyses. Results: There were differences between age groups in ATI (lower score with increasing age) and between gender, age, and professional group in TA-EG (lower score for females, participants with higher ages, and nursing home managers). Predictors of ATI were age and professional group, predictors of TA-EG, TA-EG-Enthusiasm, and TA-EG-Competence were gender, age, and professional group. Predictors of TA-EG-Positive Consequences were education and professional group. Conclusions: We observed rather high affinity for technology and technology interaction values overall, and particularly for nursing home employees compared to managers. Significant predictors for technology affinity and interaction may have important implications, for example the perspectives of nursing home employees and managers should be considered separately in the technological design, development, and implementation process. Furthermore, an open dialogue between all stakeholders should be encouraged to increase the probability of actual technology use.
RESUMO
Age-related decreases in physical activity (PA) and a decline in physical functioning lead to increased fall risk. As falls are a major cause of accidental deaths and hospitalization in older adults, PA promotion and fall prevention are important measures, especially in nursing homes (NH). With advances in information and communication technology, e- and m-health solutions have been developed to positively influence various health-related factors. To date, only little research exists on the implementation of these technologies to promote health in NH. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review was to provide an overview of the effectiveness, acceptability, and feasibility of e- and m-health interventions aimed at promoting PA and preventing falls in NH. Additionally, the effectiveness of such interventions regarding the secondary outcomes physical function, cognitive function, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and psychosocial status was examined. A systematic literature search was performed in five databases and studies published until 15 November 2021, were considered for inclusion. All studies that examined the effectiveness and/or the acceptability and feasibility of e- or m-health interventions in promoting PA and preventing falls in NH, without restriction on language or date of publication, were included in the final synthesis. Of the 1,358 records retrieved, 28 studies were included in this systematic review. Twenty-four studies contained digital exergaming as an intervention or as a part of the intervention, the four additional studies on e-health interventions only examined a small number of outcomes. No m-health intervention study was identified. Data synthesis indicates that exergaming may be effective in reducing the number of falls and fall risk in NH residents. Several significant improvements were also reported regarding secondary outcomes albeit not consistent across studies. No conclusion can be drawn about the effects of exergaming and other e-health interventions on PA, as data is scarce. E-health interventions were mostly reported as feasible and well accepted by NH residents. However, these findings may not be applicable to NH residents with advanced physical and/or cognitive impairments, since they were excluded in many studies. Therefore, more research examining other digital solutions besides exergaming to promote PA in this specific population is critical. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42021289488.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Rehabilitation is seen as crucial in dealing with the demographic change in many European countries. In Germany, for example, after having stayed in a rehabilitation center, patients have the possibility to participate in aftercare programs aimed at promoting long-term health behaviour. Despite the relevance of follow-up support for patients' long-term health and work ability, participation rates in aftercare programs are quite low. Here, web-based aftercare programs can be a viable alternative to the traditional face-to-face programs due to their flexibility in time and location. This research project aims to use quantitative and qualitative methods to gain more insight into the potential of web-based aftercare programs. METHODS: The goal is to recruit up to 1150 patients at baseline in five rehabilitation centers across Germany. For ethical reasons, partially randomized experimental study design is used to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of web-based aftercare programs. All patients are offered the traditional face-to-face aftercare treatment (IRENA). When patients deny to participate in traditional face-to-face aftercare, they are randomly distributed into either web-based aftercare (digIRENA) or a control group. In all three groups, the SF-12, which measures subjective health, and the WAI, which measures working ability, will be used at baseline, 13 weeks, 26 weeks and 43 weeks after the patients have left the rehabilitation center. BREQ-2, which measures motivation, is used only in the traditional aftercare group and the web-based aftercare group. A multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measurement and latent growth curve models will be used to compare the development of the variables in the three groups. For the qualitative part of the study, interviews with patients and therapists will be conducted to shed light on the applicability, acceptance, and usability of web-based aftercare programs. DISCUSSION: This study may provide valuable insight into the potential of web-based rehabilitation aftercare programs as a way to supplement traditional face-to-face programs. This seems particularly promising if it can manage to reach those patients who do not currently participate in traditional face-to-face rehabilitation aftercare programs due to time and location constraints. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial has been registered at the German Register of Clinical Studies (DRKS) with the registration number: DRKS00022467 .