E-HEALTH - E-SANTE - PHARMAGEEK

Use of eHealth technologies is common in the multiple sclerosis (MS) population and facilitates the exchange of health care information with providers, according to a recent study.

However, use of eHealth and mHealth technologies varies substantially with sociodemographic factors, and health care providers need to be aware of these disparities as these technologies are increasingly leveraged in health care settings.

Researchers surveyed participants in the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) Registry in 2017 about their use of eHealth technologies using questions adapted from the Health Information National Trends (HINTS) 4 Cycle 4 survey. They found:

• Of 6,423 participants included in the analysis, most participants were female, and white, with a mean (SD) age of 59.7 (10.1) years.
• Overall, 5,408 (84.2%) had exchanged medical information with a health professional most often using a secure online portal (1,839, 28.6%), followed by email (1,327, 20.7%).
• Of the 5,529 smartphone and tablet users, 2,556 (46.2%) used an mHealth app.

read original at https://www.mdedge.com/clinicalneurologynews/clinical-edge/summary/multiple-sclerosis/use-ehealth-technologies-common-ms

The objective of this study was to investigate how users experience the implementation of self-regulation techniques
in a Web-based intervention targeting physical activity and sedentary behavior in the general population.

Background: eHealth interventions show stronger effects when informed by solid behavioral change theories; for example,
self-regulation models supporting people in translating vague intentions to specific actions have shown to be effective in altering
health behaviors. Although these theories inform developers about which behavioral change techniques should be included, they
provide limited information about how these techniques can be engagingly implemented in Web-based interventions. Considering
the high levels of attrition in eHealth, investigating users’ experience about the implementation of behavior change techniques might be a fruitful avenue.

Results:

The techniques “providing feedback on performance,” “action planning,” and “prompting review of behavioral goals”
were appreciated by users.

However, the implementation of “barrier identification/problem solving” appeared to frustrate users; this was also reflected by the users’ website data—many coping plans were of poor quality.

Most users were well aware of the benefits of adopting a more active way of living and stated not to have learned novel information. However, they appreciated the provided information because it reminded them about the importance of having an active lifestyle. Furthermore, prompting users to self-monitor their behavioral change was not sufficiently stimulating to make users actually monitor their behavior.

Conclusions: Iteratively involving potential end users offers guidance to optimally adapt the implementation of various

Every year, more than 3 million people in Europe experience a heart attack. For half of them, this is not the first time. Most of these recurrent heart attacks can be prevented by improving the lifestyle after the first heart attack, for which patients are often offered cardiac rehabilitation. These programs consist of exercise and lifestyle recommendations. Cardiac rehabilitation is provided at specialized centers.
 
According to estimates, if all cardiac patients were to undergo cardiac rehabilitation, the mortality from myocardial infarctions could fall by 26 percent and hospital admissions by more than 30 percent. Despite these benefits, less than half of cardiac patients receive cardiac rehabilitation. This lack of participation is mainly due the distance to the cardiac rehabilitation centers, which patients experience as being too far. There are also many objections to the limited possibilities for taking an individualized program.
 
Research has shown that an internet-based rehabilitation program can achieve the same results as rehabilitation at a center. An e-health application for cardiac rehabilitation could therefore eliminate many obstacles for patients.

However, such an application is not yet available.

With Eurostar funding of € 1.9 million, a European consortium of researchers and companies will create CaRe, a mobile platform for cardiac rehabilitation.

Maria Hopman is creating this e-health program for cardiac rehabilitation together with a consortium of Danish and Swiss companies. Starting in 2021, the program will be available for physiotherapists and hospitals in Europe.

more at https://www.radboudumc.nl/en/news/2018/major-grant-for-development-of-e-health-program-for-cardiac-rehabilitation

Estonia and Finland will start exchanging digital prescriptions at the end of the year, in a groundbreaking move that Estonian Health Minister Riina Sikkut said she hoped other EU countries will follow.

Speaking to EURACTIV.com on the sidelines of the European Health Forum in Gastein, Austria, Sikkut said that in Estonia, it is common practice for healthcare professionals to use the e-health system to exchange patient medical records.

“But it is also important for people who have a need for healthcare services abroad to have his or her health data available to a doctor, nurse or a pharmacist so that they could also provide quality healthcare services and continuity of care,” she said.

The cross-border flow of data has taken centre stage in the discussion in Brussels. Right now, when citizens move to another EU member state, their healthcare data is in fact simply “lost”.

Advocates of the digitisation of healthcare say data mobility, or the “5th freedom”, in the EU could unlock the potential of innovation in the sector and make EU patients’ lives easier.

Estonia is known for its digitisation push in all sectors, and during its EU Presidency (July-December 2017), it took significant steps to create a “coalition of the willing” of EU member states to speed up healthcare data mobility in Europe.

Digital health is rapidly changing our lives. Almost every day, new developments using data, artificial intelligence and smartphones to improve health, on individual and population levels, are entering the market. In 2015, there were more than 40,000 healthcare apps on Apple's U.S. App Store alone. And the number has kept growing.

But in the process of delivering the next revolutionary technology, health-tech innovators have often neglected to include usability in their apps so that they may also benefit people with disabilities, research suggests 


“People with disabilities have a particularly hard time, as they are often overlooked in the design of new technology, both regarding tools and content,” noted a report titled, “Health Inequalities in eHealth Context,” by the European Commission.

“Due to their impairment, the notion of them being proficient (information and communications technology) users is often sidelined.”

So, what does this issue look like in the real world?

In August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the marketing of the first mobile health (mHealth) app for contraception: Natural Cycles. The app allows women to avoid pregnancy by monitoring their resting body temperature — known as the basal body temperature — and recording their data so that an algorithm can determine their daily fertility.

With “perfect use,” the app’s creators say the failure rate is 1.8 percent, which means that 1.8 in 100 women annually will become pregnant despite using the technology.

But although the app meets the FDA’s guidelines governing mHealth apps, Natural Cycles poses problems for some nontraditional eHealth users, including women who have disabilities or irregular periods.

read the whole story at https://www.hcanews.com/news/natural-cycles-is-the-first-fdaapproved-contraception-app-but-its-not-for-all-women