The need for care will increase in the coming years. Most people with a disability or old age receive support from an informal caregiver. Caring for a person with dementia can be difficult because of the BPSD (Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia). BPSD, including sleep disturbance, is an important factor for a higher care load. In this scoping review, we aim to investigate whether technology is available to support the informal caregiver, to lower the care burden, improve sleep quality, and therefore influence the reduction of social isolation of informal caregivers of people with dementia. A scoping review is performed following the methodological framework by Arksey and O'Mally and Rumrill et al., the scoping review includes scientific and other sources (unpublished literature, websites, reports, etc.). The findings of the scoping review shows that there are technology applications available to support the informal caregiver of a person with dementia. The technology applications mostly contribute to lower the care burden and/or improve sleep quality and therefore may contribute to reduce social isolation. The technology applications found target either the person with dementia, the informal caregiver, or both.
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In Europe, estimates suggest that around 80% of all long-term care is provided by informal caregivers (Zigante, 2018). Caring for a person with dementia can be difficult because of the BPSD (Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia) (Chiao, Wu & Hsiao, 2015). Hereby, sleep disturbance is common (Bubu et al., 2017) and an important factor for a higher care burden for the informal caregiver. We performed a project to find out in which way supportive technologies can be implemented in people’s homes.
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Studies among people with dementia demonstrated that the sleep quality and rhythm improves significantly when people are exposed to ambient bright light. Since almost half of the healthy older people also indicate to suffer from chronic sleep disorders, the question arises whether ambient bright light can be beneficial to healthy older people. Particularly the effect on sleep/wake rhythm in relation to the exposure to natural light is the focus. It was hypothesised that the sleep quality would be worse in winter due to a lower daylight dose than in summer due to the lower illuminance and exposure duration. A field study was conducted to examine the relationship between daylight exposure and sleep quality in 14 healthy older adults living independently in their own dwellings in the Netherlands. All participants were asked to take part of the study both during the summer period as well as during the winter period. Therefore, they had to wear an actigraph for five consecutive days which measured sleep, activity and light exposure. Results confirmed that people were significantly longer exposed to high illumination levels (>1000 lx) in summer than in winter. Sleep quality measures, however, did not differ significantly between summer and winter. A significant, positive correlation was found between exposure duration to high illuminance from daylight during the day and the sleep efficiency the following night in summer, implying that being exposed to high illuminance for a longer time period has a positive effect on sleep efficiency for the individual data. There was also a tendency of less frequent napping in case of longer exposure duration to light for both seasons. Sleep quality does not differ between summer and winter but is related to the duration of the exposure to bright light the day prior to the night. CC-BY Original article at http://solarlits.com/jd/5-14 http://dx.doi.org/10.15627/jd.2018.2 https://www.dehaagsehogeschool.nl/onderzoek/lectoraten/details/urban-ageing#over-het-lectoraat
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Our unilateral diet has resulted in a deficiency of specific elements/components needed for well-functioning of the human body. Especially the element magnesium is low in our processed food and results in neuronal and muscular malfunctioning, problems in bone heath/strength, and increased chances of diabetes, depression and cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, it has also been recognized that magnesium plays an important role in cognitive functioning (impairment and enhancement), especially for people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson disease, Alzheimer, etc). Recently, it has been reported that magnesium addition positively effects sleep and calmness (anti-stress). In order to increase the bioavailability of magnesium cations, organic acids such as citrate, glycerophosphate and glycinate are often used as counterions. However, the magnesium supplements that are currently on the market still suffer from low bio-availability and often do not enter the brain significantly.The preparation of dual/multiple ligands of magnesium in which the organic acid not only functions as a carrier but also has synergistically/complementary biological effects is widely unexplored and needs further development. As a result, there is a strong need for dual/multiple magnesium supplements that are non-toxic, stable, prepared via an economically and ecologically attractive route, resulting in high bioavailability of magnesium in vivo, preferably positively influencing cognition/concentration
-Chatbots are being used at an increasing rate, for instance, for simple Q&A conversations, flight reservations, online shopping and news aggregation. However, users expect to be served as effective and reliable as they were with human-based systems and are unforgiving once the system fails to understand them, engage them or show them human empathy. This problem is more prominent when the technology is used in domains such as health care, where empathy and the ability to give emotional support are most essential during interaction with the person. Empathy, however, is a unique human skill, and conversational agents such as chatbots cannot yet express empathy in nuanced ways to account for its complex nature and quality. This project focuses on designing emotionally supportive conversational agents within the mental health domain. We take a user-centered co-creation approach to focus on the mental health problems of sexual assault victims. This group is chosen specifically, because of the high rate of the sexual assault incidents and its lifetime destructive effects on the victim and the fact that although early intervention and treatment is necessary to prevent future mental health problems, these incidents largely go unreported due to the stigma attached to sexual assault. On the other hand, research shows that people feel more comfortable talking to chatbots about intimate topics since they feel no fear of judgment. We think an emotionally supportive and empathic chatbot specifically designed to encourage self-disclosure among sexual assault victims could help those who remain silent in fear of negative evaluation and empower them to process their experience better and take the necessary steps towards treatment early on.
In de nasleep van de toeslagenaffaire (2017) staan publieke dienstverleners meer dan ooit voor de uitdaging om op menswaardige wijze dienstverlening te bieden. Met name in reguliere werkprocessen en klantsystemen die op grote schaal dienstverlening bieden, wordt de zogenaamde ‘Menselijke Maat’ vaak nog onvoldoende geboden. Digitale toepassingen worden daarbij eerder gezien als oorzaak (‘computer says no’) dan als oplossing. Waar de menselijke maat ontbreekt, en dienstverlening mogelijk afkoerst op onmenselijke behandeling of beknellende leefsituaties, ontwikkelen gemeentes en uitvoeringsorganisaties maatwerkoplossingen voor individuele casuïstiek, zoals bijvoorbeeld maatwerkateliers. De effectiviteit van dit soort oplossingen is hoog, echter is de capaciteit beperkt doordat het beroep doet op intensieve, persoonlijke inzet en betrokkenheid van ervaren medewerkers. Deze initiatieven vragen ook veel van de beleidsmatige, ethische en humane besluitvaardigheid van medewerkers, bijvoorbeeld bij het vinden van de juiste balans tussen individueel maatwerk en rechtvaardigheid voor allen; dilemma’s die veelal in collegiaal overleg worden geadresseerd. Vanwege deze beperkte reikwijdte van maatwerkoplossingen zijn publieke organisaties op zoek naar het potentieel van digitalisering als sleuteltechnologie om de menselijke maat kunnen bieden in reguliere werkprocessen en eerstelijns burgerinteracties. Op deze vraag richt voorliggend project zich. Uit eerder RAAK-Publiek onderzoek weten we dat het mogelijk is om digitaal persoonlijke en proactieve dienstverlening te bieden. Via een ontwerpgerichte, multidisciplinaire onderzoekaanpak, met en voor professionals werkzaam in de dienstverlening naar burgers, gaan we nu een stap verder richting het bieden van handelingsperspectief voor professionals richting schaalbare, digitale, en menswaardige dienstverlening. Vanuit inzichten in de belangen van burgers, medewerkers en organisaties met betrekking tot menselijke maat worden, in co-creatie met consortiumpartners, iteratief procesinterventies en interactieontwerpen ontwikkeld en getest. Het project resulteert in een praktische handleiding met ontwerprichtlijnen en -proces voor professionals werkzaam bij publieke dienstverleners om, in hun eigen context, innovatieve digitale oplossingen voor schaalbare dienstverlening vanuit menselijke maat vorm te geven.
