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Technology-Based Interventions to Foster Healthy Aging, Health Behaviors, and Health...
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Technology-Based Interventions to Foster Healthy Aging, Health Behaviors, and Health Care

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Digital Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 12170

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Vera Stara

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
IRCCS INRCA Scientific Direction, 60124 Ancona, Italy
Interests: user-centered design; embodied conversational agents; virtual coaching; usability; acceptance
Dr. Elvira Maranesi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
IIRCCS INRCA Scientific Direction, 60124 Ancona, Italy
Interests: virtual reality; clinical trials; robotic rehabilitation; biomedical signal processing; gait and posture analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

More people are living longer and want to stay active and healthy to fully participate in life. However, the decline in biological, physiological, and cognitive systems inherent to aging may limit full social, cultural, and intellectual engagement in older persons. Therefore, supportive strategies are needed to warrant a good quality of life.

This Special Issue invites researchers to submit their contributions to underline the effectiveness of e-Health interventions on healthy aging, health behaviors, and health care, and explore how specific e-Health interventions and their characteristics effectively impact these aspects.  Both original research articles or reviews on this topic are welcome.

Dr. Vera Stara
Dr. Elvira Maranesi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • user centered design
  • embodied conversational agents
  • virtual coaching
  • usability
  • acceptance
  • virtual reality
  • clinical trials
  • robotic rehabilitation
  • biomedical signal processing
  • gait and posture analysis

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 3283 KiB  
Article
Coaching Robots for Older Seniors: Do They Get What They Expect? Insights from an Austrian Study
by Cornelia Schneider and Hafsa Bousbiat
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(4), 2965; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20042965 - 8 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1421
Abstract
To support the increasing number of older people, new (assistive) technologies are constantly being developed. For these technologies to be used successfully, future users need to be trained. Due to demographic change, this will become difficult in the future, as the resources for [...] Read more.
To support the increasing number of older people, new (assistive) technologies are constantly being developed. For these technologies to be used successfully, future users need to be trained. Due to demographic change, this will become difficult in the future, as the resources for training will no longer be available. In this respect, coaching robots could have great potential to support younger seniors in particular. However, there is little evidence in the literature about the perceptions and potential impact of this technology on the well-being of older people. This paper provides insights into the use of a robot coach (robo-coach) to train younger seniors in the use of a new technology. The study was carried out in Austria in autumn 2020, involving 34 participants equally distributed among employees in their last three years of service and retirees in their first three years of retirement (23 female; 11 male). The aim was to assess participants’ expectations and perceptions by examining the perceived ease of use and user experience of the robot in providing assistance during a learning session. The findings reveal a positive impression of the participants and promising results for using the robot as a coaching assistant in daily tasks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology-Based Interventions to Foster Healthy Aging, Health Behaviors, and Health Care)
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10 pages, 457 KiB  
Article
Social Values of Care Robots
by Jihwan Kim, Kyongok Park and Hanbyul Ryu
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(24), 16657; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416657 - 11 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1610
Abstract
Care robots have the potential to address the challenge of aging societies, such as labor shortages or the aging workforce. While previous studies have focused mainly on the productivity or workability of care robots, there has been an increasing need to understand the [...] Read more.
Care robots have the potential to address the challenge of aging societies, such as labor shortages or the aging workforce. While previous studies have focused mainly on the productivity or workability of care robots, there has been an increasing need to understand the social value of care robots. This study attempted to identify the social values of care robots by conducting focus group interviews (FGIs) with twenty-four care recipients and caregivers and by using analytic hierarchy processes (AHPs) with thirteen individuals with expertise in the care service and care robot industries. Our results show that the labor- and health-related benefits, the technology innovation, and the provision of essential care work have the highest importance among the criteria of care robots’ social values. The criteria that receive lowest priority are cost, the autonomy and needs of the care recipients, and the organizational innovation. Our study suggests that along with the private benefits and costs of care robots, their social values also need to be considered to improve the quality of care and to unlock the potential of the care robot industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology-Based Interventions to Foster Healthy Aging, Health Behaviors, and Health Care)
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38 pages, 421 KiB  
Article
User Perceptions and Needs Analysis of a Virtual Coach for Active and Healthy Ageing—An International Qualitative Study
by Johanna Möller, Roberta Bevilacqua, Ryan Browne, Takamitsu Shinada, Sébastien Dacunha, Cecilia Palmier, Vera Stara, Elvira Maranesi, Arianna Margaritini, Eiko Takano, Izumi Kondo, Shuichiro Watanabe, Michael Ahmadi, Rainer Wieching and Toshimi Ogawa
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 10341; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610341 - 19 Aug 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2031
Abstract
Virtual coaching systems show great potential for meeting the challenges of demographic change. However, the proportion of older users in the field of digital technologies is far behind that of younger people. As part of the e-VITA project, semi-structured interviews were conducted in [...] Read more.
Virtual coaching systems show great potential for meeting the challenges of demographic change. However, the proportion of older users in the field of digital technologies is far behind that of younger people. As part of the e-VITA project, semi-structured interviews were conducted in Japan, France, Italy and Germany with 58 people aged 65 and over, and the content was analyzed with the aim of obtaining information about how older adults organize their everyday lives, also with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, how they deal with their health, what role digital technologies play in the lives of the interviewees and why they oppose progressive digitization. Second, the survey asked why the older adults oppose a virtual coach, which is to be developed in the e-VITA project to support older adults in healthy and active aging, and what barriers they see in a possible implementation. It was found that older respondents lead active, varied lives and that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the increased use of digital solutions. In addition, respondents were consciously addressing their own health. With regard to a virtual coach, barriers were seen primarily in the area of data security and sharing. It can be concluded from this that heterogeneity among older user groups should be taken into account when developing virtual coaches. In addition, aspects of data security and data protection should be presented in a clearly understandable and transparent manner. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology-Based Interventions to Foster Healthy Aging, Health Behaviors, and Health Care)

Review

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14 pages, 941 KiB  
Review
Virtual Reality (VR) Technology for Treatment of Mental Health Problems during COVID-19: A Systematic Review
by Muhammad Hizri Hatta, Hatta Sidi, Chong Siew Koon, Nur Aishah Che Roos, Shalisah Sharip, Farah Deena Abdul Samad, Ong Wan Xi, Srijit Das and Suriati Mohamed Saini
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 5389; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095389 - 28 Apr 2022
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6083
Abstract
There was a surge in psychological distress and emotional burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual reality (VR) is helpful as a psychological intervention whilst maintaining physical or social distancing. The present systematic review assessed the role of VR as a psychological intervention tool [...] Read more.
There was a surge in psychological distress and emotional burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual reality (VR) is helpful as a psychological intervention whilst maintaining physical or social distancing. The present systematic review assessed the role of VR as a psychological intervention tool for mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a systematic review that followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. This study used the search-related terms: (Virtual reality OR simulated-3D-environment OR VR) AND (covid! or corona!) AND (mental* OR psychologic* OR well* OR health*) AND (intervention) on six databases, i.e., MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Ovid Medline, EMBASE, ACM digital library, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) from the inception date until 23 June 2021. We finally included four studies in the systematic review out of the 379 references imported for screening. These studies reveal that VR is beneficial as a psychological tool for intervention in individuals with mental health problems. Immersed in the telepresence, interacting in a 3-D format compared to a 2-D layout, having a sense of enjoyment and engagement, activating an affective-motivational state, “escaping” to a virtual from the real world are pivotal faucets of VR as a psychological tool for intervention. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technology-Based Interventions to Foster Healthy Aging, Health Behaviors, and Health Care)
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