Summary Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the adoption and actual use of a digital dietary monitoring system (DDMS) and its impact on patient satisfaction with the provided hospital care, body weight changes and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with potentially curable esophageal cancer planned for surgery. The DDMS enables patients and dietitians to monitor patients' nutritional intake and body weight during the preoperative period. Methods In this prospective observational study, the first 47 included patients received usual nutritional care, and were followed from diagnosis until surgery. After implementation of the DDMS 37 patients were followed, again from diagnosis until surgery. Main outcomes were actual use of the DDMS, by means of adoption and usage measures, overall patient satisfaction (EORTC-INPATSAT32), weight change and HRQoL (EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC-OG25). Outcomes were assessed immediately after diagnosis, and 6 and 12 weeks later. Results The system had an adoption rate of 64% and a usage rate of 78%. No significant effects on patient satisfaction were found at 12 weeks after diagnosis between the intervention and the usual care group. The implementation of the DDMS also had no significant effect on body weight and HRQoL over time. Conclusions Patients with potentially curable esophageal cancer planned for surgery were able to use the DDMS. However, no significant effects on patient satisfaction, body weight changes and HRQoL were observed. Further research should focus on the specific needs of patients regarding information and support to preoperatively optimize nutritional intake and nutritional status.
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The aim of the study was to investigate if and how body image, taken from a contextual perspective, contributes to the eating disorder history. This qualitative study investigated the process of eating disorder development in eight elite women athletes in at-risk sports. The results showed that the relationship between eating disorder symptomatology and the sports environment was clearly recognized by the elite women athletes. Contextual body image, more specifically negative body-evaluations and upward body comparisons, appeared as an important factor in the development of eating disorders, particularly in the athletic context. It became clear that the two aesthetic and two endurance athletes as well as the two weight-class athletes in rowing described quite negative body evaluations in the context of sport, while some of them also recognized an impact of body image experiences in daily life. However, for both judokas, their eating disorder had nothing to do with their body image but was attributed to the weight-classes in their sport and accompanying weight making. Several unique trajectories and individual eating disorder histories were distinguished which confirms the value of taking a qualitative approach in investigating eating disorders in sport. We also discovered links between what the athletes had reported as contributors to their eating disorder history and how they told their stories by combining content analysis and narrative inquiry. Furthermore, the present study also highlights several critical aspects for prevention and treatment that should support sport federations and clinical sport psychologists in taking appropriate actions to deal more effectively with eating disorders in athletes.
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Objective: The aim of this study was to obtain insight in specific elements influencing the use, non-use, satisfaction, and dissatisfaction of ankle foot orthoses (AFOs) and the presence of underexposed problems with respect to AFOs. Methods: A questionnaire was composed to obtain information from AFO users to investigate the variables associated with satisfaction and the relation between these variables. A specific feature of this study was the systematic analysis of the remarks made by the respondents about their AFO. Quantitative data analyses were used for analysing the satisfaction and qualitative analyses were used analysing the remarks of the respondents. A total of 211 users completed the questionnaire. Results: Our survey showed that 1 out of 15 AFOs were not used at all. About three quarters of the AFO users were satisfied and about one quarter was dissatisfied. Females and users living alone reported relatively high levels of dissatisfaction, especially in the field of dimensions, comfort, weight, safety and effectiveness. Dissatisfaction with respect to off-the-shelf AFOs for the item durability was higher than that for custom-made AFOs. In the delivery and maintenance process the items ‘maintenance’, ‘professionalism’ and ‘delivery follow-up’ were judged to be unsatisfactory. A large number of comments were made by the respondents to improve the device or process, mainly by the satisfied AFO users. These comments show that even satisfied users experience many problems and that a lot of problems of AFO users are ‘underexposed’. Conclusion: To improve user satisfaction, the user practice has to be identified as an important sub-process of the whole orthopaedic chain especially in the diagnosis and prescription, delivery tuning and maintenance, and evaluation phase.
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i-DEMO aims at supporting EU tourism professionals in acquiring and developing key competences in game-based tourism in order to foster innovation and improve overall tourism organizations’ performance by: enhancing specific skills and competences in game-based tourism; designing an i-DEMO course "Game-based Tourism"; creating an i-DEMO toolkit to apply gamification to tourism; enhancing the application and replicability potential of innovative game-based solutions.Societal IssueThe tourism and hospitality industry has rapidly evolved with technological advancements, especially through ICT and the rise of the sharing economy. Digital platforms, social media, and mobile technologies have popularized gamification in tourism, creating engaging experiences and enhancing consumer loyalty. Gamification immerses tourists in simulated travel worlds, improving satisfaction, behavior, and involvement. Benefits include increased visitor engagement, loyalty, improved marketing, and support for sustainable tourism. However, despite its potential, gamification adoption remains limited in tourism. To address this, initiatives like i-DEMO aim to enhance skills and competences, improving employability in the evolving tourism market.Benefit to societyThe benefits that gamification can offer in the travel and tourism industry are: 1: More Engaged Visitors: we must not underestimate the immersion level that games can offer to travelers; 2: Increased Visitor Loyalty: when somebody is truly satisfied with their experience, they are much more likely to come back; 3: Improved Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism: tourism and hospitality have been the biggest ones impacted by all of the lockdown restrictions; consequently they are using all kinds of marketing methods to motivate people to start travelling; 4: Sustainability: gamification could help promote more environmentally, socially and culturally sustainable forms of tourism, supporting the twin green and digital transition.
