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People with intellectual disabilities often show challenging behaviour, which can manifest itself in self-harm or aggression towards others. Real-time monitoring of stress in clients with challenging behaviour can help caregivers to promptly deploy interventions to prevent escalations, ultimately to improve the quality of life of client and caregiver. This study aimed to assess the impact of real-time stress monitoring with HUME, and the subsequent interventions deployed by the care team, on stress levels and quality of life. Real-time stress monitoring was used in 41 clients with intellectual disabilities in a long-term care setting over a period of six months. Stress levels were determined at the start and during the deployment of the stress monitoring system. The quality of life of the client and caregiver was measured with the Outcome Rating Scale at the start and at three months of use. The results showed that the HUME-based interventions resulted in a stress reduction. The perceived quality of life was higher after three months for both the clients and caregivers. Furthermore, interventions to provide proximity were found to be most effective in reducing stress and increasing the client's quality of life. The study demonstrates that real-time stress monitoring with the HUME and the following interventions were effective. There was less stress in clients with an intellectual disability and an increase in the perceived quality of life. Future larger and randomized controlled studies are needed to confirm these findings. Assistive technology such as real-time stress monitoring enables caregivers to timely intervene and contributes to the reduction of challenging behaviour. Real-time stress monitoring contributes to the quality of life of clients and caregivers in healthcare. There is a reduction in the levels of stress of people with an intellectual disability by using stress-monitoring technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supported employment is a promising vocational rehabilitation intervention for improving disability employment. Its implementation, however, is not without challenges. Lack of funding and the heavy caseload of job coaches significantly constrain its impacts. A mobile software, avail® by CentralReach, was created based on the individual placement and support model for assisting individuals with disabilities to perform their job tasks. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of avail. A total of 17 participants with disabilities were recruited in a Midwestern state from the United States to try avail for a period of time ranging from 40 to 348 days. Participants' experiences, including perceived usability, acceptance, and satisfaction, were collected to determine the feasibility of avail. In addition, a pre- and post-intervention analysis was conducted to identify its effects on users' job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and self-determination. Participants of this study expressed positive user experience for avail. Specifically, they felt that avail was helpful for their job performance. The results also showed a statistically significant result for improving participants' self-determination. avail is a feasible and potentially promising application for assisting workers with disabilities in their job performance. Directly available on mobile devices, avail has several advantages, such as real-time support and good portability. Suggestions and future directions were discussed for further software development. A job coach is needed in the individual placement and support model (IPS) to provide on-site job support for individuals with disabilities. However, job coaches were typically overwhelmed by the heavy caseloads. A job coach application such as the avail was created, and this study was to test its feasibility and preliminary efficacy. The study showed that avail was appropriate for individuals with disabilities to use at work, and they generally enjoyed using the application. The preliminary efficacy showed that avail improved their job performances and overall self-determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the native Quicklinks direct linking tool from Ex Libris and the LibKey Discovery linking tool from Third Iron.

Maintaining vertical position and moving are essential to healthy development. Children with motor difficulties may need assistive devices to stand upright or move. The Dynamic Scaffolding System (DSS) device was developed to support these skills. This study aims to explain the DSS's developmental stages, compare the device's usage times based on diagnoses and motor impairment, and investigate the degree of satisfaction among parents of children using the device. The study included children with difficulty standing or stepping and their parents. We compared usage times of DSS depending on diagnosis (cerebral palsy (CP) or other diagnoses) and motor impairment levels. We assessed parental satisfaction by using the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology (QUEST 2.0) and recorded adverse events. The ages of the participants (n:100) were between 9 and 108 months (44.94 ± 17.59), and 60% of the children had CP, and 40% had other diagnoses (genetic, metabolic, neuromuscular diseases). The duration of daily use of DSS ranged from 44.17 (±26.16) to 110 (±97.98) minutes, and the duration was similar among children at different levels of motor impairment (p = 0.262). The parents were most satisfied with the size, simplicity of use, and effectiveness, and they were least satisfied with the ease of adjustment, safety, and durability. They did not report any adverse events during the study. DSS can be considered a useable assistive device option for children with CP and other diagnoses with difficulty standing or stepping and a satisfactory device for parents of such children. The Dynamic Scaffolding System (DSS) is a useable trunk-supported adaptive walker for children with moderate to severe motor impairment. Parents are most satisfied with DSS's size, simplicity of use, and effectiveness. Children with moderate and severe motor impairment have similar duration of daily use time of DSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the GT9X medical grade tri-axial accelerometer from ActiGraph Corp.

The article features the Nutrition Education Engineering & Designs (NEEDs) for Tots Kit, a preschool curriculum comprised of lessons, storybooks, take-home child-parent activity pages, parent handouts, magnet and coasters and supplies for food-tasting.

The article evaluates several global positioning system (GPS) watches including Forerunner, Suunto, and Polar, useful for the estimation of energy expenditure (EE).

The article evaluates the Assessing Levels of Physical Activity (ALPHA) health-related fitness test battery useful for monitoring health of children and adolescents.

The article reviews the BlazePod response time (RT) measurement tool for strength and conditioning monitoring from Play Coyotta Ltd.

The article evaluates the HemosIL D-Dimer HS automated immunoassay system developed by the Instrumentation Laboratory.

The article evaluates the Iowa State Fair Food Finder application developed in partnership between the Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach and newspaper Des Moines Register.