AATP Interactive

A Memory Lifebook for Dementia

A device called the MEMENTO Memory LifeBook is designed as a wearable mobile memory aid for elderly individuals with mild-to-moderate dementia. The goal was to design a user friendly, ergonomic device to serve the unique needs of this population. The product aims to allow the elderly demented users to manage their lives more effectively and efficiently by providing them with the confidence and ability to carry on their day-to-day living as independently and normally as possible. The device is conceptualized as giving them the opportunity to maintain their usual functioning for as long as possible by giving cognitive assistance in various spheres: e.g. maintaining contacts, reminiscence, carying out everyday routine tasks, keeping track of appointments, and maintaining consistent medication routines and other tasks.

Developed by a product design student in Singapore, MEMENTO is a design idea to offer a personal assistance device to help people suffering from dementia. The goal is to help with communication, remembering events in one's life, and keeping tabs on important to-do's and objects that need to be kept in mind.

MEMENTO Website (for more information and images)

Source: Medgadget

Who Should Own Data Captured in Personal Health Records?

According to a survey by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), 92 percent of health care IT professionals said patients should own the data captured in personal health records. Four percent of respondents said providers should own PHR data, while 1% said the company supplying the PHR should own the data.

The survey also found that nearly half of respondents said that privacy and security issues are the biggest barrier to the use of a PHR. Twenty-four percent of respondents said that the biggest barrier to PHR use is that their clinician does not use electronic records. Thirty percent of respondents said they access a PHR, while 76% of respondents said they believe PHRs need to be integrated with an electronic health record to have value in patient treatment.

Results are based on an April online survey of 675 health care IT professionals.

Source: HIMSS Vantage Point

HIMSS Vantage Point (pdf)

Structured Clinical Interview Training And Virtual Patients

Virtual Human Agent (VHA) technology has evolved to a point where researchers may begin developing mental health applications that make use of virtual reality patients. In an ongoing study from the University of Southern California of virtual patients (VP). Researchers have developed an approach that allows novice mental health clinicians to conduct an interview with a virtual character that emulates an adolescent male with conduct disorder. This study illustrates the ways in which a variety of core research components can facilitate the rapid development of mental health applications.

Effective interview skills are a core competency for psychiatry residents and developing psychotherapists. Although schools commonly make use of standardized patients to teach interview skills, the diversity of the scenarios standardized patients can characterize is limited by availability of human actors. There are also economic issues related to the investment of time and money needed to train standardized patients. Thus, using the Virtual Human Agent (VHA) technology, a different approach to developing mental health applications using virtual reality patients may be one answer to standardization.

Study

Objective structured clinical interview training using a virtual human patient.
Parsons TD, Kenny P, Ntuen CA, Pataki CS, Pato MT, Rizzo AA, St-George C, Sugar J.
Stud Health Technol Inform. 2008;132:357-62.

Virtual World For Addiction Cravings

Research funded by National Institutes of Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institutes for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism from University of Houston and published in Addictive Behaviors Journal, demonstrates that a virtual reality (VR) environment can provide the climate necessary to spark an alcohol craving so that patients can practice how to say "no" in a realistic and safe setting.

The lead author Patrick Bordnick points out that "as a therapist, I can tell you to pretend my office is a bar, and I can ask you to close your eyes and imagine the environment, but you’ll know that it’s not real, yet in this virtual environment you are at a bar or at a party or in a real-life situation. What we found was that participants had real-life responses."

Researchers studied 40 alcohol-dependent individuals who were not receiving treatment (32 men and eight women). Wearing a VR helmet, each was guided through 18 minutes of virtual social environments that included drinking. The participant’s drink of choice was included in each scene. Using a game pad, each rated his or her cravings and attention to the alcohol details in each room. Each then was interviewed following the experience. The study found that the VR environments were real enough that their cravings were intensified and demonstrates the value of using virtual reality as a tool for assessing and treating addictions. Future studies should explore the importance of environmental settings and other cues on cravings and relapse.

Journal Abstract