A dedicated website for cancer subjects, the nutritional support study: preliminary results.

BACKGROUND: The Internet has become a widely used resource for information on cancer and for support. As part of the EuroCancerComs project (www.eurocancercoms.eu), an intervention study has been designed. The study aims to help patients with cancer providing an Internet "space" where to find information about nutritional care. METHODS: The study consists of a randomized 6-month intervention. The website (www.supportonutrizionale.it) hosts a contents area, prepared according to guidelines and recommendations, a forum and a blog. Subjects have been randomly allocated in intervention (IG) and control group (CG). IG has a free access to the website and it is involved in live activities, discussions and examinations. CG receives the same information by e-mail, without having access to the website. Three questionnaires are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach, concerning quality of life (QoL), psychological status and nutrition facts. RESULTS: Since the study startup, 191 subjects have been screened, and 58 (30%) have been randomized. Participants in both groups are mainly females, married and have at least a high school education level. Participants experienced a high psychological distress for 27% of IG and 33% of CG considering the four classes of scores at the baseline. Regarding QoL, a low "role functioning" score for IG and "emotional functioning" and "social functioning" scores for both groups are reported, while "fatigue" and "nausea and vomiting" respectively for IG and CG are the worsened symptoms compared with reference values. Considering the nutrition facts questionnaire, subjects showed a medium-high score profile and the worst scale regards "Nutrition and cancer knowledge". From the beginning of the study, a total of 48 actions have been registered, including votes to contents, comments and forum messages. CONCLUSION: The Internet has made possible the new forms of interaction and knowledge, and it is likely to become essential to gain access to health information. The results of this randomized intervention may help in the evaluation of the efficacy of these interventions in cancer setting.

Multiple metaphor environments: designing for diversity.

This paper advances a proposition for the engineering of interactive computer-based environments capable of exhibiting alternative interactive embodiments to cope with diversity in users, interaction platforms and usage contexts. Such systems are referred to as Multiple Metaphor Environments (MME). The theoretical underpinnings of an MME rely on a conception of HCI design as mapping functions in a machine-oriented language (target domain) to symbols in a user-oriented language (source domain), and vice versa. Such a conception, which is rooted in developments in communication theory and the philosophy of language, constitutes the baseline for formulating a proposal for the design of MME. The proposal comprises a set of engineering principles, process-oriented guidelines and design techniques intended to facilitate a detailed account of how interactive systems could be designed to cope with diversity. To aid the articulation of the various properties of MME, we refer to concrete case studies that provide exemplars of novel insights and promising design practices towards the specification of MME.

Transferring technology toward the European assistive technology industry: mechanisms and implications.

This paper considers the need, conditions and mechanisms for successful technology transfer toward the European assistive technology industry. The discussion reveals the role of nonprofit institutions in initiating and sustaining a reasonable level of technology transfer since the industry is not likely to achieve this by itself. In particular, it is argued that, given the impediments to successful technology transfer discussed in the paper, there is a need for an organizational entity to assess the needs of the industry, evaluate alternative potential sources of technology based on their relative merits and synergies, coordinate sources and recipients, and provide a minimum infrastructure for such transfers to materialize. To this effect, general mechanisms for transferring technology from one place to another are reviewed and criteria are introduced depicting a tentative evaluation of each of the mechanisms being considered with regard to its contributions toward design for all.

On the impediments to innovation in the European assistive technology industry.

This paper identifies and analyses some critical aspects of the European assistive technology industry which characterize innovation and determine its type, direction and diffusion. It is argued that innovation in this field is restricted because of (i) the limited and inefficient interaction between certain distinctive market elements, namely research, development, production, trade, service delivery, procurement and usage; (ii) the structural characteristics and general economic environment of the European assistive technology market; and (iii) the lack of a concise set of complementary and supportive actions towards the promotion of an environment favourable to industrial innovation and the transfer of new technology towards the European assistive technology market. The major conclusion from the investigation of the above factors is that innovation is not well served, while the limited innovative activity which is currently observed takes place mainly within institutions where the overall level of research seems to be concentrated and is of an occasional rather than permanent nature. Typically, this limited amount of innovation originates outside the assistive technology market and takes the form of 'induced' innovation.

The demand, supply and provision system of the rehabilitation technology market in Europe: a modelling perspective.

Modelling of the rehabilitation (assistive) technology (RT) market, as introduced in this paper, facilitates a multi-disciplinary and formal analysis of the RT domain, by identifying and interrelating the appropriate abstract entities whose value and relevance are widely appreciated. In particular, three notions are explored, namely, the demand for RT goods, the provision system and the supply of RT goods. Demand and supply are modelled in terms of the key elements which can be extracted from the environment of a demand-related or a supply-related actor respectively. The provision system, on the other hand, is analysed adopting a systems approach, being considered as a complex 'human activity system' whose functional purpose can be described in terms of a dynamic interaction between the field actors, the activities they engage in and the relevant set of factors which affect the system's behaviour.

Rehabilitation technology product taxonomy: a conceptual tool for analysing products and extracting demand determinants.

This paper proposes and describes a conceptual tool, namely the rehabilitation (assistive) technology (RT) product taxonomy, as a framework for analysing rehabilitation technology products and extracting demand determinants. The ultimate objective of this work is to provide demand and supply-related actors with a meaningful tool for identifying and focusing on specific aspects, which may be directly or indirectly related to existing or new products, so that demand and consumption allocation decisions can be targeted, evaluated and/or predicted.