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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Behavior, Chronic Disease and Health Promotion".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2019) | Viewed by 26737

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Prof. Dr. George Crooks

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Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre, Inovo Building, 121 George Street, Glasgow G1 1RD, UK
Interests: innovation in health and care; digital tools and services for healthcare; telehealth; telecare; technology-enabled care
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are organizing a Special Issue on “Global Advances in Telehealth Practice” in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The venue is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes articles and communications in the interdisciplinary area of environmental health sciences and public health. For detailed information on the journal, we refer you to https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph.

The global telehealth market continues to experience double digit growth and this is expected to continue over the next decade. There is therefore a need for continuing study into the use of existing available technologies and their application as well as a look into the future. There is an increasing use of home and mobile technologies being used to monitor many aspects of peoples lives from pure health and assisted living applications through to devices and applications that support health and wellbeing. The ethical and trust considerations that an exponential increase in data generation and data sharing will bring need to be discussed and resolved sooner rather than later. The use of consumer devices rather than a reliance on formal “medical technology” creates great opportunities but with it come challenges.

This Special Issue is designed to stimulate researchers and all interested communities from around the world to share their research and test their hypotheses with a likeminded audience so that we can create a future that serves to benefit us all.

Prof. Dr. George Crooks
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Telehealth
Telecare
Health monitoring
Data generation
Data sharing
Trust
Ethical issues

Published Papers (5 papers)

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8 pages, 526 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

The Safer Prescription of Opioids Tool (SPOT): A Novel Clinical Decision Support Digital Health Platform for Opioid Conversion in Palliative and End of Life Care—A Single-Centre Pilot Study

by Roger Flint, Deans Buchanan, Scott Jamieson, Alfred Cuschieri, Shady Botros, Joanna Forbes and Jacob George

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(11), 1926; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16111926 - 31 May 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4070

Abstract

Opioid errors are a leading cause of patient harm. Active failures in opioid dose conversion can contribute to error. Conversion is complex and is currently performed manually using tables of approximate equivalence. Apps that offer opioid dose double-checking are available but there are concerns about their accuracy and clinical validation. This study evaluated a novel opioid dose conversion app, The Safer Prescription of Opioids Tool (SPOT), a CE-marked Class I medical device, as a clinician decision support (CDS) platform. This single-centre prospective clinical utility pilot study followed a mixed methods design. Prescribers completed an initial survey exploring their current opioid prescribing practice. Thereafter prescribers used SPOT for opioid dosage conversions in parallel to their usual clinical practice, then evaluated SPOT through a survey and focus group. SPOT matched the Gold Standard result in 258 of 268 (96.3%) calculations. The 10 instances (3.7%) when SPOT did not match were due to a rounding error. Users had a statistically significant increase in confidence in prescribing opioids after using SPOT. Focus group feedback highlighted benefits in Quality Improvement and Safety when using SPOT. SPOT is a safe, reliable and validated CDS that has potential to reduce harms from opioid dosing errors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Advances in Telehealth Practice)

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18 pages, 1848 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of User-Centered Security in Telehealth Services

by Mario Vega-Barbas, Fernando Seoane and Iván Pau

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(5), 693; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16050693 - 26 Feb 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3884

Abstract

Emerging information and communication technologies are expected to foster new, efficient and accessible services for citizens, while guaranteeing the core principles of equality and privacy. Telehealth services are a clear example of a service in which technology can help enhance efficiency. The security of telehealth services is essential due to their critical nature. However, although ample efforts have been made to characterize security requirements for healthcare facilities, users are often worried because they are not aware of or do not understand the guarantees provided by the technology they are making use of. This paper describes the concept of User-Centered Security and characterizes it in the form of requirements. These requirements have been formalized in the form of a security architecture that should be utilized for each telehealth service during its design stage. Thus, such sensitive services will adequately manage patient fears regarding their correct operation. Finally, these requirements and the related security architecture have been validated by means of a test-case that is based on a real home telehealth service in order to ensure their consistency, completeness, realism and verifiability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Advances in Telehealth Practice)

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15 pages, 1161 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Conventional Rehabilitation Therapy Versus Telerehabilitation in Cardiac Patients: A Comparison of Motivation, Psychological Distress, and Quality of Life

by Helle Spindler, Kasper Leerskov, Katrine Joensson, Gitte Nielsen, Jan Jesper Andreasen and Birthe Dinesen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(3), 512; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16030512 - 12 Feb 2019

Cited by 37 | Viewed by 6172

Abstract

Telerehabilitation (TR) has gained attention as a promising rehabilitation format. Our study examined how patients responded to TR and whether it provided adequate support for their lifestyle changes and self-care efforts when compared to conventional rehabilitation (CR). Cardiac patients (n = 136) were randomly assigned to a TR or CR group. The TR group was provided with relevant health care technology for a period of three months, and both groups filled in questionnaires on their motivation for lifestyle changes and self-care psychological distress, and quality of life at 0, 3, 6, and 12 months. Patients in both groups were found to be equally motivated for lifestyle changes and self-care (p < 0.05) and they experienced similar levels of psychological distress and quality of life. TR is comparable to conventional rehabilitation in motivating patients, preventing psychological distress and improving quality of life. Although we observed an initial increase in autonomous motivation in the telerehabilitation group, this positive difference in motivation does not last over time. As such, neither rehabilitation format seems able to ensure long-term motivation. Therefore, TR may serve as a viable replacement for conventional rehabilitation when considered relevant. Further research is needed to enhance long-term motivation, and maybe telerehabilitation can help to achieve this. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Advances in Telehealth Practice)

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27 pages, 2974 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Evolutionary Game-Theoretic Approach for Assessing Privacy Protection in mHealth Systems

by Guang Zhu, Hu Liu and Mining Feng

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(10), 2196; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15102196 - 08 Oct 2018

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3477

Abstract

With the rapid deployment of mobile technologies and their applications in the healthcare domain, privacy concerns have emerged as one of the most critical issues. Traditional technical and organizational approaches used to address privacy issues ignore economic factors, which are increasingly important in the investment strategy of those responsible for ensuring privacy protection. Taking the mHealth system as the context, this article builds an evolutionary game to model three types of entities (including system providers, hospitals and governments) under the conditions of incomplete information and bounded rationality. Given that the various participating entities are often unable to accurately estimate their own profits or costs, we propose a quantified approach to analyzing the optimal strategy of privacy investment and regulation. Numerical examples are provided for illustration and simulation purpose. Based upon these examples, several countermeasures and suggestions for privacy protection are proposed. Our analytical results show that governmental regulation and auditing has a significant impact on the strategic choice of the other two entities involved. In addition, the strategic choices of system providers and hospitals are not only correlated with profits and investment costs, but they are also significantly affected by free riding. If the profit growth coefficients increase to a critical level, mHealth system providers and hospitals will invest in privacy protection even without the imposition of regulations. However, the critical level is dependent on the values of the parameters (variables) in each case of investment and profits. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Advances in Telehealth Practice)

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17 pages, 1753 KiB

Open AccessPerspective

Introducing Care 4.0: An Integrated Care Paradigm Built on Industry 4.0 Capabilities

by Chaloner Chute and Tara French

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(12), 2247; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16122247 - 25 Jun 2019

Cited by 63 | Viewed by 8641

Abstract

Western developed health and care policy is shifting from a patriarchal medical model to a co-managed and integrated approach. Meanwhile, the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is transforming manufacturing in line with the digital consumer revolution. Digital health and care initiatives are beginning to use some of the same capabilities to optimize healthcare provision. However, this is usually limited to self-management as part of an organization-centric delivery model. True co-management and integration with other organizations and people is difficult because it requires formal care organizations to share control and extend trust. Through a co-design lens, this paper discusses a more person-centered application of Industry 4.0 capabilities for care. It introduces ‘Care 4.0’, a new paradigm that could change the way people develop digital health and care services, focusing on trusted, integrated networks of organizations, people and technologies. These networks and tools would help people co-manage and use their own assets, in the context of their own care circle and community. It would enable personalized services that are more responsive to care needs and aspirations, offering preventative approaches that ultimately create a more flexible and sustainable set of integrated health and social care services that support meaningful engagement and interactions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Advances in Telehealth Practice)

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