Paula Valkonen, Sari Kujala, Iiris Hörhammer, Kaisa Savolainen, R. Helminen, Iina Vartia
Digitalization could provide efficient and cost-effective health and well-being services to the rapidly aging population. However, digital services do not always meet their needs. We investigated the experiences and service needs of older employees by collecting quantitative and qualitative data through a survey (n = 497). The results suggested a negative association between user satisfaction and age during retirement transition. Peak experiences were meaningful, explaining a 26% variation in the overall evaluation of the portal. The negative peak experiences concerned poorly functioning features, and the positive ones the ability to take care of one’s health smoothly and easily. The respondents had high expectations for functionality, efficiency, and ease of use. They wanted more support for self-managing health: controlling weight, sleeping, recovery, and exercising.
{"title":"Health self-management of older employees: identifying critical peak experiences of a patient portal","authors":"Paula Valkonen, Sari Kujala, Iiris Hörhammer, Kaisa Savolainen, R. Helminen, Iina Vartia","doi":"10.23996/fjhw.126837","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.126837","url":null,"abstract":"Digitalization could provide efficient and cost-effective health and well-being services to the rapidly aging population. However, digital services do not always meet their needs. We investigated the experiences and service needs of older employees by collecting quantitative and qualitative data through a survey (n = 497). The results suggested a negative association between user satisfaction and age during retirement transition. Peak experiences were meaningful, explaining a 26% variation in the overall evaluation of the portal. The negative peak experiences concerned poorly functioning features, and the positive ones the ability to take care of one’s health smoothly and easily. The respondents had high expectations for functionality, efficiency, and ease of use. They wanted more support for self-managing health: controlling weight, sleeping, recovery, and exercising.","PeriodicalId":424295,"journal":{"name":"Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129154842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Digitalisaatio mahdollistaa parempien palveluiden tuottamisen asiakkaille edistäen yhdenvertaisuutta sekä terveyttä ja hyvinvointia. Tutkimuksellisessa kehittämistyössä käytettiin menetelminä kyselyä (n=346) ja kehittämispalavereja sekä hyödynnettiin näkökulmataulukkoa Valtiovarainministeriön AUTA-hankkeen digituen mallia. Kyselyn vastaukset analysoitiin Webropol-raportointityökalun avulla. Varsinainen kehittämistyö toteutettiin kyselyn tulosten pohjalta kehittämispalavereissa jatkuvana arviointina. Näiden pohjalta laadittiin Digituki-malli Siun sotelle. Kyselytutkimuksen tulosten perusteella tukea digitaalisten palvelujen käyttöön tarvitaan jokaisessa ikäluokassa sekä eri taitotasoilla. Digitaaliset palvelut koetaan hyödyllisiksi ja asiakkaat ovat kiinnostuneita digipalvelujen oppimiseen. Kyselyyn vastanneilla on kattavasti käytössä digitaalisten palvelujen käyttöön tarvittavia laitteita sekä vahvan tunnistautumisen välineitä. Enemmistö vastaajista toivoo digitukea verkkokoulutuksina tai lähikoulutuksina. Lähikoulutusta toivovat taitotasoltaan runsaasti apua tarvitsevat asiakkaat, kun taas taitavat digitaalisia palveluja käyttävät toivovat koulutuksen tapahtuvan etänä. Kyselyvastauksissa nousee myös esille tarve palveluiden piiriin ohjaamisesta. Taitoa palvelujen käyttöön on, mutta asiakkailla ei ole tietoa kaikista olemassa olevista palveluista. Digituki-mallissa muodostettiin digituen palvelut asiakkaan digitaitojen mukaan. Tuloksista ilmeni, että digitaaliset palvelut ovat vahva osa Siun soten alueen asukkaiden arkea. Tuki digitaalisten palvelujen käyttöön on erittäin tärkeää, jotta jokaisella on tasavertainen mahdollisuus lisääntyviin ja kehittyviin sotepalveluihin. Mallin avulla digituki on mahdollista vakiinnuttaa osaksi hyvinvointialueen laadukkaita palveluita ja edistää sähköistä sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon asiointia.
{"title":"Siun soten asiakkaille annettavan digituen malli","authors":"Mira Koivula, I. Laatikainen, Pirjo Vesa","doi":"10.23996/fjhw.122335","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.122335","url":null,"abstract":"Digitalisaatio mahdollistaa parempien palveluiden tuottamisen asiakkaille edistäen yhdenvertaisuutta sekä terveyttä ja hyvinvointia. Tutkimuksellisessa kehittämistyössä käytettiin menetelminä kyselyä (n=346) ja kehittämispalavereja sekä hyödynnettiin näkökulmataulukkoa Valtiovarainministeriön AUTA-hankkeen digituen mallia. Kyselyn vastaukset analysoitiin Webropol-raportointityökalun avulla. Varsinainen kehittämistyö toteutettiin kyselyn tulosten pohjalta kehittämispalavereissa jatkuvana arviointina. Näiden pohjalta laadittiin Digituki-malli Siun sotelle.\u0000Kyselytutkimuksen tulosten perusteella tukea digitaalisten palvelujen käyttöön tarvitaan jokaisessa ikäluokassa sekä eri taitotasoilla. Digitaaliset palvelut koetaan hyödyllisiksi ja asiakkaat ovat kiinnostuneita digipalvelujen oppimiseen. Kyselyyn vastanneilla on kattavasti käytössä digitaalisten palvelujen käyttöön tarvittavia laitteita sekä vahvan tunnistautumisen välineitä. Enemmistö vastaajista toivoo digitukea verkkokoulutuksina tai lähikoulutuksina. Lähikoulutusta toivovat taitotasoltaan runsaasti apua tarvitsevat asiakkaat, kun taas taitavat digitaalisia palveluja käyttävät toivovat koulutuksen tapahtuvan etänä. Kyselyvastauksissa nousee myös esille tarve palveluiden piiriin ohjaamisesta. Taitoa palvelujen käyttöön on, mutta asiakkailla ei ole tietoa kaikista olemassa olevista palveluista.\u0000Digituki-mallissa muodostettiin digituen palvelut asiakkaan digitaitojen mukaan. Tuloksista ilmeni, että digitaaliset palvelut ovat vahva osa Siun soten alueen asukkaiden arkea. Tuki digitaalisten palvelujen käyttöön on erittäin tärkeää, jotta jokaisella on tasavertainen mahdollisuus lisääntyviin ja kehittyviin sotepalveluihin. Mallin avulla digituki on mahdollista vakiinnuttaa osaksi hyvinvointialueen laadukkaita palveluita ja edistää sähköistä sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon asiointia.","PeriodicalId":424295,"journal":{"name":"Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare","volume":"61-62 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124128467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The European Parliament has approved new legislation, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) to improve the functioning of the internal market of intermediary services in the European Union (EU) where there is a risk that the major so-called gatekeeper companies can exercise unfair control of core platform services. The purpose of this study was to investigate, what health information systems could be in the scopes of these acts and what requirements the acts may have for the production, the sale and the use of health information systems. The act texts were examined bearing in mind what types of health information systems exist and what their user bases are. Those health information systems that can belong or do not belong to the groups of systems regulated by the DMA and DSA were identified. The most relevant requirements for these systems were also identified from these acts. The result of the study is that these acts have only minor consequences for the healthcare information systems sector as they are not often intermediary (hosting) services in the meaning of the DSA or gatekeepers in the meaning of the DMA. The emerging digital healthcare platforms are most affected by the new DSA and secondly such peer support patient portals where patients can supply content for others to see. Apparently, no digital healthcare platform has yet reached such a size or a dominant role within the EU that it would fall under the scope of the DMA. The two above mentioned healthcare related intermediary services have due diligence obligations to remove illegal contents from their services and to treat their business and consumer customers fairly. The obligations include clear and fair terms and conditions, the provision of a single point of contact for users and authorities, content moderation, complaint handling, marking advertising clearly, annual reporting, and responding to the contacts from the authorities. The obligations increase when the size of the enterprise increases. It is still too early to produce healthcare information systems specific guidance to support the implementation of these two acts as the acts themselves and potential upcoming general guidance documents can serve the health information systems community sufficiently well.
{"title":"The impact of EU Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act on health information systems","authors":"A. Värri","doi":"10.23996/fjhw.122310","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.122310","url":null,"abstract":"The European Parliament has approved new legislation, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) to improve the functioning of the internal market of intermediary services in the European Union (EU) where there is a risk that the major so-called gatekeeper companies can exercise unfair control of core platform services. The purpose of this study was to investigate, what health information systems could be in the scopes of these acts and what requirements the acts may have for the production, the sale and the use of health information systems.\u0000The act texts were examined bearing in mind what types of health information systems exist and what their user bases are. Those health information systems that can belong or do not belong to the groups of systems regulated by the DMA and DSA were identified. The most relevant requirements for these systems were also identified from these acts.\u0000The result of the study is that these acts have only minor consequences for the healthcare information systems sector as they are not often intermediary (hosting) services in the meaning of the DSA or gatekeepers in the meaning of the DMA. The emerging digital healthcare platforms are most affected by the new DSA and secondly such peer support patient portals where patients can supply content for others to see. Apparently, no digital healthcare platform has yet reached such a size or a dominant role within the EU that it would fall under the scope of the DMA.\u0000The two above mentioned healthcare related intermediary services have due diligence obligations to remove illegal contents from their services and to treat their business and consumer customers fairly. The obligations include clear and fair terms and conditions, the provision of a single point of contact for users and authorities, content moderation, complaint handling, marking advertising clearly, annual reporting, and responding to the contacts from the authorities. The obligations increase when the size of the enterprise increases.\u0000It is still too early to produce healthcare information systems specific guidance to support the implementation of these two acts as the acts themselves and potential upcoming general guidance documents can serve the health information systems community sufficiently well.","PeriodicalId":424295,"journal":{"name":"Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare","volume":"64 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132743422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Skarżyński, Natalia Czajka, Elżbieta Gos, H. Skarżyńśki
Hearing is a sense, which has a significant impact on a child’s development. Disorders connected with hearing can have impact in a various form and affect each area of life. Hearing disorders may concern peripheral auditory system as well as its parts responsible for central processing. It is estimated that central auditory processing disorders in its isolated form concern 2-3% of the population of school-age children, however, the problem co-occurring with other disorders may affect even several dozen percents of children. According to the available recommendations, there are three main therapeutic approaches in the treatment of patients with auditory processing disorders: transforming the school environment, teaching the child strategies how to compensate his or her difficulties or using hearing trainings focused on a specific deficit. The main aim of the study is to present the results of SPPS-S therapy dedicated to patients with central auditory processing disorders who have completed the remote version of the method in comparison with patients performing therapy in a rehabilitation center. The Stimulation of Polymodal Sensory Perception by Skarżyński (original name in polish SPPS-S) is a treatment applicable for many different groups of disorders showing comorbidity with central auditory processing disorders. Solutions present in SPPS-S offer multifaceted therapy activating different perceptual modalities (hearing, vision and touch) at the same time, as well as their integration and coordination. Patient may receive the SPPS-S therapy either in the rehabilitation center or at home. The material used to assess the effectiveness of SPPS-S-based therapy included the results of 100 patients who received remote SPPS-S therapy compared to the results of 100 patients who performed therapy at a specialized center. Statistical analysis of the results obtained, which showed that the therapy used resulted in a statistically significant improvement in all auditory functions studied. Results confirm the high effectiveness of The Stimulation of Polymodal Sensory Perception by Skarżyński, both in stationary and remotely implemented form. The quality of telerehabilitation interventions was maintained at the same level as in therapeutic work at the therapeutic center, which was confirmed by the results of patients. Remote SPPS-S therapy as an effective telerehabilitation method has become an effective form of supporting patients in their own homes.
{"title":"The Stimulation of Polymodal Sensory Perception by Skarżyński (SPPS-S): comparison of stationary and remote therapy results","authors":"P. Skarżyński, Natalia Czajka, Elżbieta Gos, H. Skarżyńśki","doi":"10.23996/fjhw.122283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.122283","url":null,"abstract":"Hearing is a sense, which has a significant impact on a child’s development. Disorders connected with hearing can have impact in a various form and affect each area of life. Hearing disorders may concern peripheral auditory system as well as its parts responsible for central processing. It is estimated that central auditory processing disorders in its isolated form concern 2-3% of the population of school-age children, however, the problem co-occurring with other disorders may affect even several dozen percents of children. According to the available recommendations, there are three main therapeutic approaches in the treatment of patients with auditory processing disorders: transforming the school environment, teaching the child strategies how to compensate his or her difficulties or using hearing trainings focused on a specific deficit.\u0000The main aim of the study is to present the results of SPPS-S therapy dedicated to patients with central auditory processing disorders who have completed the remote version of the method in comparison with patients performing therapy in a rehabilitation center.\u0000The Stimulation of Polymodal Sensory Perception by Skarżyński (original name in polish SPPS-S) is a treatment applicable for many different groups of disorders showing comorbidity with central auditory processing disorders. Solutions present in SPPS-S offer multifaceted therapy activating different perceptual modalities (hearing, vision and touch) at the same time, as well as their integration and coordination. Patient may receive the SPPS-S therapy either in the rehabilitation center or at home.\u0000The material used to assess the effectiveness of SPPS-S-based therapy included the results of 100 patients who received remote SPPS-S therapy compared to the results of 100 patients who performed therapy at a specialized center.\u0000Statistical analysis of the results obtained, which showed that the therapy used resulted in a statistically significant improvement in all auditory functions studied. Results confirm the high effectiveness of The Stimulation of Polymodal Sensory Perception by Skarżyński, both in stationary and remotely implemented form. The quality of telerehabilitation interventions was maintained at the same level as in therapeutic work at the therapeutic center, which was confirmed by the results of patients. Remote SPPS-S therapy as an effective telerehabilitation method has become an effective form of supporting patients in their own homes.","PeriodicalId":424295,"journal":{"name":"Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122225698","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pirkko Kouri, Outi Ahonen, Liisa Klemola, J. Reponen
Social and health care are central services of the society, and their versatile development is constantly needed. The current challenge is the utilization of digital infrastructure. A significant amount of digital data exists, but unless it is connected, integrated, organized, and activated, social and health systems will struggle to use it for individualized, patient-centered healthcare and citizen centered welfare.
{"title":"Bridging the gaps of social and health care with the means of eHealth and telemedicine","authors":"Pirkko Kouri, Outi Ahonen, Liisa Klemola, J. Reponen","doi":"10.23996/fjhw.128496","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.128496","url":null,"abstract":"Social and health care are central services of the society, and their versatile development is constantly needed. The current challenge is the utilization of digital infrastructure. A significant amount of digital data exists, but unless it is connected, integrated, organized, and activated, social and health systems will struggle to use it for individualized, patient-centered healthcare and citizen centered welfare.","PeriodicalId":424295,"journal":{"name":"Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128148818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kaisa Kujansivu, Elina Tolvanen, Mervi Kautto, T. Koskela
Electronic health services (eHealth) have increased rapidly in the last few years. These services hold the potential to facilitate today’s challenging primary care. The aim of the study was to examine how digitalisation manifests in Finnish health centres in 2021. We aimed to find out which digital tools are used in health centres and how they are exploited. In addition, we were interested in general practitioners’ attitudes towards digitalisation in their everyday work. An online survey was distributed to general practitioners (GPs) working in primary health care centres throughout Finland, and 265 GPs replied. A health portal and various digital calculators were used daily. In remote communication with their patients, general practitioners preferred telephone calls over new tools (chat/video). Attitudes towards eHealth were positive, but digital tools were not yet commonly used. The implementation of digital solutions still needs more effort.
{"title":"The use of digital tools by general practitioners in Finnish public health centres","authors":"Kaisa Kujansivu, Elina Tolvanen, Mervi Kautto, T. Koskela","doi":"10.23996/fjhw.122703","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.122703","url":null,"abstract":"Electronic health services (eHealth) have increased rapidly in the last few years. These services hold the potential to facilitate today’s challenging primary care. The aim of the study was to examine how digitalisation manifests in Finnish health centres in 2021. We aimed to find out which digital tools are used in health centres and how they are exploited. In addition, we were interested in general practitioners’ attitudes towards digitalisation in their everyday work. An online survey was distributed to general practitioners (GPs) working in primary health care centres throughout Finland, and 265 GPs replied. A health portal and various digital calculators were used daily. In remote communication with their patients, general practitioners preferred telephone calls over new tools (chat/video). Attitudes towards eHealth were positive, but digital tools were not yet commonly used. The implementation of digital solutions still needs more effort.","PeriodicalId":424295,"journal":{"name":"Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116151031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mariella Särestöniemi, S. Myllymäki, J. Reponen, T. Myllylä
Interests towards wireless portable medical diagnostics and monitoring systems, which could be used outside hospital e.g. during pandemic or catastrophic situations, have increased recently. Additionally, portable monitoring solutions could partially address widely recognized challenges related to healthcare equality in rural areas. Microwave based sensing has recently been recognized as emerging technology for portable medical monitoring and diagnostics devices since they may enable development of safe, reliable, and low-cost solutions for future’s telemedicine. The aim of this paper is to present the basic idea of microwave -based medical monitoring and discuss its possibilities, advantages, and challenges. In particular, we show that microwaves could be exploited in three pre-diagnostics applications: 1) Detection of abnormalities in the brain with a helmet type of monitoring device, 2) Detection of breast cancer with a self-monitoring vest, 3) Detection of blood clots in leg with an antenna band. The technique is based on detecting differences in radio channel responses caused by the abnormalities having different dielectric properties than the surrounding tissues. Our results of realistic simulations and experimental measurements show that even small-sized abnormalities, e.g. tumors, can change channel characteristics in detectable level.
{"title":"Remote diagnostics and monitoring using microwave technique – improving healthcare in rural areas and in exceptional situations","authors":"Mariella Särestöniemi, S. Myllymäki, J. Reponen, T. Myllylä","doi":"10.23996/fjhw.122743","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.122743","url":null,"abstract":"Interests towards wireless portable medical diagnostics and monitoring systems, which could be used outside hospital e.g. during pandemic or catastrophic situations, have increased recently. Additionally, portable monitoring solutions could partially address widely recognized challenges related to healthcare equality in rural areas. Microwave based sensing has recently been recognized as emerging technology for portable medical monitoring and diagnostics devices since they may enable development of safe, reliable, and low-cost solutions for future’s telemedicine. The aim of this paper is to present the basic idea of microwave -based medical monitoring and discuss its possibilities, advantages, and challenges. In particular, we show that microwaves could be exploited in three pre-diagnostics applications: 1) Detection of abnormalities in the brain with a helmet type of monitoring device, 2) Detection of breast cancer with a self-monitoring vest, 3) Detection of blood clots in leg with an antenna band. The technique is based on detecting differences in radio channel responses caused by the abnormalities having different dielectric properties than the surrounding tissues. Our results of realistic simulations and experimental measurements show that even small-sized abnormalities, e.g. tumors, can change channel characteristics in detectable level.","PeriodicalId":424295,"journal":{"name":"Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122143039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Outi Ahonen, Päivi Sanerma, J. Heinonen, A. Rauha, M. Männistö
Digital transformation in health and social care is a fast-growing sector globally. Multidisciplinary professionals are needed in the development of digital health and social care services. This study aimed to evaluate the self-assessments of students participating in specialisation education on the importance of multidisciplinary digital competences, focusing on competence in the digitalisation of social and health care and how they assess their own competences at the beginning of their education. The purpose was to describe the multidisciplinary competences in this area at EQF level 6 by using a self-assessment tool. Data were collected from 274 specialised education students in the years 2021 and 2022 from 14 universities of applied sciences. The background information included participants’ years of work experience, professional education area and study credits. There were nine competence areas. The survey contains 61 Likert scale questions. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.962 (N=126). The paired t-test was used for statistical analyses to determine the relationship between the importance of a competence and students’ current levels of competence. For each pair, the arithmetic mean for the how important variable was higher than the current competence variable. The average means of all competences’ differences was 1.04 between how important the competence was to the students and their current understanding of their own level of the particular competence. Service design competences have both the highest average level of student competence and variance in competence. The second-largest variance was in online guiding competences, which is one of the clearest competences for students to understand the content. These results may be explained by expert bias, where a person with a lot of knowledge rates their own level of knowledge lower, while a person with less knowledge does the opposite. The gap between current competence level and the assessed importance of the particular competence shows that there is a need for specialisation education in multidisciplinary competences for developing digital health and social care services. The overall result is a self-assessment tool that can be used to assess the level of competences in different competence areas in specialisation education. It is important for health and social care organisations to manage the competences and continuing education of their professionals.
{"title":"Multidisciplinary students’ self-evaluated competence at the beginning of studies in digital health and social care service specialisation education","authors":"Outi Ahonen, Päivi Sanerma, J. Heinonen, A. Rauha, M. Männistö","doi":"10.23996/fjhw.122719","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.122719","url":null,"abstract":"Digital transformation in health and social care is a fast-growing sector globally. Multidisciplinary professionals are needed in the development of digital health and social care services. This study aimed to evaluate the self-assessments of students participating in specialisation education on the importance of multidisciplinary digital competences, focusing on competence in the digitalisation of social and health care and how they assess their own competences at the beginning of their education. The purpose was to describe the multidisciplinary competences in this area at EQF level 6 by using a self-assessment tool.\u0000Data were collected from 274 specialised education students in the years 2021 and 2022 from 14 universities of applied sciences. The background information included participants’ years of work experience, professional education area and study credits. There were nine competence areas. The survey contains 61 Likert scale questions. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.962 (N=126). The paired t-test was used for statistical analyses to determine the relationship between the importance of a competence and students’ current levels of competence. For each pair, the arithmetic mean for the how important variable was higher than the current competence variable. The average means of all competences’ differences was 1.04 between how important the competence was to the students and their current understanding of their own level of the particular competence. Service design competences have both the highest average level of student competence and variance in competence. The second-largest variance was in online guiding competences, which is one of the clearest competences for students to understand the content. These results may be explained by expert bias, where a person with a lot of knowledge rates their own level of knowledge lower, while a person with less knowledge does the opposite. The gap between current competence level and the assessed importance of the particular competence shows that there is a need for specialisation education in multidisciplinary competences for developing digital health and social care services. The overall result is a self-assessment tool that can be used to assess the level of competences in different competence areas in specialisation education. It is important for health and social care organisations to manage the competences and continuing education of their professionals.","PeriodicalId":424295,"journal":{"name":"Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare","volume":"92 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129304394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antti Isosalo, J. Islam, Henrik Mustonen, Ella Räinä, S. Inkinen, Mikael Brix, T. Kumar, J. Reponen, M. Nieminen, E. Harjula
Computational requirements for data processing at different stages of the radiology value chain are increasing. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is a diagnostic imaging technique used in dental and extremity imaging, involving a highly demanding image reconstruction task. In turn, artificial intelligence (AI) assisted diagnostics are becoming increasingly popular, thus increasing the use of computation resources. Furthermore, the need for fully independent imaging units outside radiology departments and with remotely performed diagnostics emphasize the need for wireless connectivity between the imaging unit and hospital infrastructure. In this feasibility study, we propose an approach based on a distributed edge-cloud computing platform, consisting of small-scale local edge nodes, edge servers with traditional cloud resources to perform data processing tasks in radiology. We are interested in the use of local computing resources with Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), in our case Jetson Xavier NX, for hosting the algorithms for two use-cases, namely image reconstruction in cone beam computed tomography and AI-assisted cancer detection from mammographic images. Particularly, we wanted to determine the technical requirements for local edge computing platform for these two tasks and whether CBCT image reconstruction and breast cancer detection tasks are possible in a diagnostically acceptable time frame. We validated the use-cases and the proposed edge computing platform in two stages. First, the algorithms were validated use-case-wise by comparing the computing performance of the edge nodes against a reference setup (regular workstation). Second, we performed qualitative evaluation on the edge computing platform by running the algorithms as nanoservices. Our results, obtained through real-life prototyping, indicate that it is possible and technically feasible to run both reconstruction and AI-assisted image analysis functions in a diagnostically acceptable computing time. Furthermore, based on the qualitative evaluation, we confirmed that the local edge computing capacity can be scaled up and down during runtime by adding or removing edge devices without the need for manual reconfigurations. We also found all previously implemented software components to be transferable as such. Overall, the results are promising and help in developing future applications, e.g., in mobile imaging scenarios, where such a platform is beneficial.
{"title":"Local edge computing for radiological image reconstruction and computer-assisted detection: A feasibility study","authors":"Antti Isosalo, J. Islam, Henrik Mustonen, Ella Räinä, S. Inkinen, Mikael Brix, T. Kumar, J. Reponen, M. Nieminen, E. Harjula","doi":"10.23996/fjhw.122647","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.122647","url":null,"abstract":"Computational requirements for data processing at different stages of the radiology value chain are increasing. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is a diagnostic imaging technique used in dental and extremity imaging, involving a highly demanding image reconstruction task. In turn, artificial intelligence (AI) assisted diagnostics are becoming increasingly popular, thus increasing the use of computation resources. Furthermore, the need for fully independent imaging units outside radiology departments and with remotely performed diagnostics emphasize the need for wireless connectivity between the imaging unit and hospital infrastructure. In this feasibility study, we propose an approach based on a distributed edge-cloud computing platform, consisting of small-scale local edge nodes, edge servers with traditional cloud resources to perform data processing tasks in radiology. We are interested in the use of local computing resources with Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), in our case Jetson Xavier NX, for hosting the algorithms for two use-cases, namely image reconstruction in cone beam computed tomography and AI-assisted cancer detection from mammographic images. Particularly, we wanted to determine the technical requirements for local edge computing platform for these two tasks and whether CBCT image reconstruction and breast cancer detection tasks are possible in a diagnostically acceptable time frame. We validated the use-cases and the proposed edge computing platform in two stages. First, the algorithms were validated use-case-wise by comparing the computing performance of the edge nodes against a reference setup (regular workstation). Second, we performed qualitative evaluation on the edge computing platform by running the algorithms as nanoservices. Our results, obtained through real-life prototyping, indicate that it is possible and technically feasible to run both reconstruction and AI-assisted image analysis functions in a diagnostically acceptable computing time. Furthermore, based on the qualitative evaluation, we confirmed that the local edge computing capacity can be scaled up and down during runtime by adding or removing edge devices without the need for manual reconfigurations. We also found all previously implemented software components to be transferable as such. Overall, the results are promising and help in developing future applications, e.g., in mobile imaging scenarios, where such a platform is beneficial.","PeriodicalId":424295,"journal":{"name":"Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132951365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Technological advances and increasing life expectancy create a situation where technology becomes embedded in the lives of the elderly in various ways. In March 2020, stay-at-home orders were put into place in Finland to reduce transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The physical distancing recommendations were especially targeted to the elderly over 70 years old, with guidance to avoid social contacts outside the family. The social isolation caused by the restrictions increased the use of technology among the elderly, for example, as a venue to maintain contact with other people. Based on semi-structured telephone interviews of 10 Finnish elderly gathered during spring 2021, we explored what kind of role Information and Communication Technology (ICT) had in maintaining their personal networks and social activity during the pandemic. The 10 interviewees (7 women and 3 men) were between 65 and 83 years old. They all lived independently in their homes, either alone or with a spouse. The interviews were analysed by using inductive content analysis. The results show that ICT mitigated the experience of social isolation in multiple ways. Technological devices were used for communication, replacing face-to-face interaction. Moreover, interviewees became active on social media, creating blogs and online materials for their children and grandchildren. The interviewees also used different kinds of devices for entertainment purposes. In addition, they participated in various types of online courses and learnt to use the needed everyday devices. The results highlight the importance of ICT in alleviating the social isolation of the elderly during the pandemic. As the pandemic restricted everyday life, it also provided the solitude to dwell in the digital world and learn to use it to maintain daily routines. Furthermore, due to the pandemic, the interviewees’ digital skills improved and expanded. This study highlights the importance of technology in promoting health, well-being and active ageing among the elderly.
{"title":"Elderly people’s perceptions of ICT’s role in alleviating social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"Piia Silvennoinen, Sari Heikkinen","doi":"10.23996/fjhw.122270","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23996/fjhw.122270","url":null,"abstract":"Technological advances and increasing life expectancy create a situation where technology becomes embedded in the lives of the elderly in various ways. In March 2020, stay-at-home orders were put into place in Finland to reduce transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The physical distancing recommendations were especially targeted to the elderly over 70 years old, with guidance to avoid social contacts outside the family. The social isolation caused by the restrictions increased the use of technology among the elderly, for example, as a venue to maintain contact with other people. Based on semi-structured telephone interviews of 10 Finnish elderly gathered during spring 2021, we explored what kind of role Information and Communication Technology (ICT) had in maintaining their personal networks and social activity during the pandemic. The 10 interviewees (7 women and 3 men) were between 65 and 83 years old. They all lived independently in their homes, either alone or with a spouse. The interviews were analysed by using inductive content analysis. The results show that ICT mitigated the experience of social isolation in multiple ways. Technological devices were used for communication, replacing face-to-face interaction. Moreover, interviewees became active on social media, creating blogs and online materials for their children and grandchildren. The interviewees also used different kinds of devices for entertainment purposes. In addition, they participated in various types of online courses and learnt to use the needed everyday devices. The results highlight the importance of ICT in alleviating the social isolation of the elderly during the pandemic. As the pandemic restricted everyday life, it also provided the solitude to dwell in the digital world and learn to use it to maintain daily routines. Furthermore, due to the pandemic, the interviewees’ digital skills improved and expanded. This study highlights the importance of technology in promoting health, well-being and active ageing among the elderly.","PeriodicalId":424295,"journal":{"name":"Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare","volume":"60 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125885399","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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