Multidisciplinary collaboration on exoskeleton development adopting user-centered design: a systematic integrative review.

Purpose: The world population is ageing, along with an increasing possibility of functional limitations that affect independent living. Assistive technologies such as exoskeletons for rehabilitative purposes and daily activities assistance maintaining the independence of people with disabilities, especially older adults who wish to ageing-in-place. The purpose of this systematic integrative review was threefold: to explore the development team compositions and involvement, to understand the recruitment and engagement of stakeholders, and to synthesise reported or anticipated consequences of multidisciplinary collaboration.Methods: Databases searched included PubMed, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, and IEEE Xplore. A total of 34 studies that reported the development of exoskeleton adopting user-centered design (UCD) method in healthcare or community settings that were published in English from 2000 to July 2022 were included.Results: Three major trends emerged from the analysis of included studies. First, there is a need to redefine multidisciplinary collaboration, from within-discipline collaboration to cross-discipline collaboration. Second, the level of engagement of stakeholders during the exoskeleton development remained low. Third, there was no standardised measurement to quantify knowledge production currently.Conclusion: As suggested by the synthesised results in this review, exoskeleton development has been increasing to improve the functioning of people with disabilities. Exoskeleton development often required expertise from different disciplines and the involvement of stakeholders to increase acceptance, thus we propose the Multidisciplinary Collaboration Appraisal Tool to assess multidisciplinary collaboration using the UCD approach. Future research is required to understand the effectiveness of multidisciplinary collaboration on exoskeleton development using the UCD approach.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONGlobal trend of population ageing causes a higher risk of disability in older adults who require rehabilitation and assistance in daily living.Assistive technologies such as exoskeletons have the potential to contribute to rehabilitation training and daily activity assistance demand closer multidisciplinary collaboration.A Multidisciplinary Collaboration Appraisal Tool using user-centered design approach (MCAT) is proposed to understand the effectiveness as well as limitations and barriers associated with multidisciplinary collaboration in developing exoskeletons.

"I Think the Mental Part Is the Biggest Factor": An Exploratory Qualitative Study of COVID-19 and Its Negative Effects on Indigenous Women in Toronto, Canada.

This article explores the unique and understudied experiences of Indigenous women living in Toronto, Canada during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to better document the impacts of COVID-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous women in Toronto, Canada to better understand unmet needs, as well as lay the groundwork for more targeted research and potential interventions based on these needs. Using in-depth semi-structured interviews with thirteen Indigenous women, we shed light on the negative effects this pandemic has had on this population. We find that COVID-19 has negatively affected people's mental health, substance use and access to health services. This research speaks to the growing body of work that discusses the harmful effects of COVID-19 generally and how this pandemic has specifically affected Indigenous peoples.

A validation study of public health knowledge, skills, social responsibility and applied learning.

OBJECTIVES: To design and validate a questionnaire to measure medical students' Public Health (PH) knowledge, skills, social responsibility and applied learning as indicated in the four domains recommended by the Association of Schools & Programmes of Public Health (ASPPH). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to develop an evaluation tool for PH undergraduate education through item generation, reduction, refinement and validation. The 74 preliminary items derived from the existing literature were reduced to 55 items based on expert panel review which included those with expertise in PH, psychometrics and medical education, as well as medical students. Psychometric properties of the preliminary questionnaire were assessed as follows: frequency of endorsement for item variance; principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation for item reduction and factor estimation; Cronbach's Alpha, item-total correlation and test-retest validity for internal consistency and reliability. RESULTS: PCA yielded five factors: PH Learning Experience (6 items); PH Risk Assessment and Communication (5 items); Future Use of Evidence in Practice (6 items); Recognition of PH as a Scientific Discipline (4 items); and PH Skills Development (3 items), explaining 72.05% variance. Internal consistency and reliability tests were satisfactory (Cronbach's Alpha ranged from 0.87 to 0.90; item-total correlation > 0.59). Lower paired test-retest correlations reflected instability in a social science environment. CONCLUSIONS: An evaluation tool for community-centred PH education has been developed and validated. The tool measures PH knowledge, skills, social responsibilities and applied learning as recommended by the internationally recognised Association of Schools & Programmes of Public Health (ASPPH).

The Effect of Depressive Symptoms and Antidepressant Use on Subsequent Physical Decline and Number of Hospitalizations in Nursing Home Residents: A 9-Year Longitudinal Study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether depressive symptoms and antidepressant use at baseline predict the subsequent decline in physical functioning and number of hospitalizations in nursing home residents. DESIGN: Observational study based on Minimum Data Set (MDS) 2.0. SETTING: Six nursing homes in Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS: All nursing home residents (n = 1076) assessed with the MDS 2.0 in 2005 followed until 2013. MEASUREMENTS: Outcome variables included annual performance in activities of daily living (ADLs) and number of hospitalizations within 90 days before each assessment. The presence of depressive symptoms at baseline was measured by the Resident Assessment Protocol triggered from the MDS 2.0 assessment. Records of antidepressant use and other control variables were exacted directly from the MDS 2.0 assessment. RESULTS: The presence of baseline depressive symptoms did not have significant association with baseline ADLs and number of hospitalizations according to the multilevel mixed-effect model. However, it was associated with a faster deterioration of physical functioning (coefficient 0.03; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.00-0.07) and an increase in the number of hospitalizations (coefficient 0.05; 95% CI 0.03-0.07). No significant difference between elders using antidepressants and elders who were free from depressive symptoms was observed. If depressive symptoms were presented but antidepressants were not used, a much sharper decline was evident (coefficient 0.06; 95% CI 0.02-0.09). CONCLUSIONS: This study provided evidence that the presence of depressive symptoms is associated with more utilization of health care services. However, the use of antidepressants may play a significant role in altering the trajectory. The presence of depressive symptoms is a worrisome but treatable condition. Effective intervention/treatment should be called on.

The "leap forward" in nursing home development in urban China: future policy directions.

In the past decade, the number of nursing beds in China has increased annually by an average of 10%, reaching 4.3 million in 2013. Although the State Council pushed for further increases to a ratio of 30 nursing home beds per 1000 persons by 2015, service utilization, quality assurance, and regulatory oversight are the inherent challenges in developing an equitable long-term care (LTC) system that can safeguard older persons' rights. We review and analyze both laws and policies in light of demographic and socioeconomic changes and advocate 3 policy directions for LTC development in China: allocating LTC resources with comprehensive eligibility criteria, with particular consideration of family needs; establishing viable quality standards for outcome-driven evaluation; and highlighting standardized monitoring mechanisms in both institutional and home LTC settings.