Search

Background: In the EU funded MARIO project, specific technological tools are adopted for the people living with dementia (PLWD). In the final stage of the project, a validation of the MARIO companion robot was performed from August to October 2017.Objective: The aims of the present study are: 1) to illustrate the key results and evidence obtained in the final evaluation phase of the project across the three different pilot sites; 2) to assess the engagement dimensions of the PLWD who interacted with the MARIO robot; and 3) to assess the acceptability and efficacy of the MARIO companion robot on clinical, cognitive, neuropsychiatric, affective and social aspects, resilience, quality of life in PLWD, and burden level of the caregivers.Methods: 38 people (M = 14; F = 24) with Alzheimer's disease were screened for eligibility and all were included. The following tests were administered Pre and Post interactions with MARIO: Observational Measurement of Engagement (OME), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clock Drawing Test (CDT), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), 14-item Resilience Scale (RS-14), Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease (QOL-AD), Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI), Tinetti Balance Assessment (TBA), and Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) was carried out.Results: In Post-MARIO interactions, significant improvements were observed in RS-14 (p = 0.020).Considering the age of the people, PLWD with 68-76 years perceived that they had major social support (MSPSS Total: p = 0.016) and friends to support them (MSPSS Fri: p = 0.014). Indeed, the younger people (55-67 years) were less depressed (CSDD: p = 0.033), and more resilient (RS-14: p = 0.003). The people aged 77-85 years perceived they had major family support (MSPSS Fam: p = 0.018). The participants were gender and education matched without any statistically significant difference.Conclusion: MARIO may be a useful tool in mitigating depression and loneliness, while enhancing social connectedness, resilience, and overall quality of life for people with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This viewpoint summarizes the discussion that occurred during the "Translating Policy to Practice in Telehealth-Lessons from Global Implementation Experiences" panel that was held virtually at Telemedicon2020, December 18-20, 2020. This panel brought together policy and implementation experts from some countries of South Asia, Kuwait, and the European Union to share their experiences in the development and implementation of telehealth standards and of the scale up of telehealth interventions within health systems. Several common themes arose from the discussion, including the significant role of people; encouragement by respective government policymakers; addressing concerns, particularly related to privacy, confidentiality, and security; and capacity building of human resources. These are discussed in turn, along with the future directions identified by the panelists, which emphasized the need for active encouragement toward the adoption and diffusion of digital health in general and of telehealth in particular. All stakeholders, ranging from governmental policymakers to common citizens, need to come together to build trusting partnerships to realize the advantages offered by telehealth., (©Oommen John, Suptendra Nath Sarbadhikari, Thanga Prabhu, Ashvini Goel, Alexander Thomas, Sunil Shroff, Fazilah Allaudin, Chaminda Weerabaddana, Dari Alhuwail, Udaya Koirala, Jayalal Johnrose, Patricia Codyre, Andy Bleaden, Shubnum Singh, Shuchin Bajaj. Originally published in the Interactive Journal of Medical Research (https://www.i-jmr.org/), 08.02.2022.)