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This paper presents the co-design process of a digital tool that may prevent or alleviate feelings of loneliness in older adults. Six workshops were conducted with older adults (n = 34) aged between 65–80 years old to investigate the role of technology in maintaining and establishing meaningful relationships. Participants' contributions throughout the workshops were used to inform the design and development of a web-based loneliness intervention for older adults called ElderConnect. ElderConnect is a web-based application that supports older adults to identify, prevent, and alleviate feelings of loneliness by providing knowledge and strategies to initiate new social connections and maintain existing connections. Several challenges were identified while co-designing the application with older adults, and suggestions are provided in this paper to overcome such challenges. The study highlights how to include older adults' concerns regarding technologies within an iterative co-design process, leading to an endorsed final product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulation modelling is becoming an increasingly popular tool in healthcare management, however published evaluations of simulation modelling are rare. This study therefore aimed to provide an empirical evaluation of simulation model implementation. The study used a qualitative, longitudinal case study approach, grounded in Pragmatism, complexity theory, and the critical incident approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 senior healthcare managers and 5 researchers during a simulation modelling project. Twenty-three critical incidents were identified, including changes in government policy and funding, organisational context, intervention activities, project management, and staffing. The analysis revealed a complex adaptive system, where the role of specific implementation factors changed over time, and through interaction with each other. Constant throughout was the agency displayed by participants in pursing their individual strategic goals. Based on these findings, we argue for a flexible definition of implementation success that allows for emergent project outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While mental illness is one of the leading causes of international disease burden, within fifteen identified reviews of healthcare simulation only three included papers are in mental health. Here we systematically review the use of simulation modelling in mental healthcare, identifying 160 papers. There were widespread and innovative applications of simulation in the areas of medical decision making and epidemiology, with health system planning and optimisation relatively underrepresented. Markov modelling was the preferred method across area and illness. However, the literature is currently undermined by a lack of coherence and evidence of implementation, and we acknowledge an ongoing issue of accessing unpublished models from healthcare and government organisations. To advance, the field requires a shared knowledge base. We propose that this may be facilitated by the use of existing epidemiological models as the basis of modelling in all other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]