The evidence that quality of life is a positive variable for the survival of cancer patients has prompted the interest of the health and pharmaceutical industry in considering that variable as a final clinical outcome. Sustained improvements in cancer care in recent years have resulted in increased numbers of people living with and beyond cancer, with increased attention being placed on improving quality of life for those individuals. Connected Health provides the foundations for the transformation of cancer care into a patient-centric model, focused on providing fully connected, personalized support and therapy for the unique needs of each patient. Connected Health creates an opportunity to overcome barriers to health care support among patients diagnosed with chronic conditions. This paper provides an overview of important areas for the foundations of the creation of a new Connected Health paradigm in cancer care. Here we discuss the capabilities of mobile and wearable technologies; we also discuss pervasive and persuasive strategies and device systems to provide multidisciplinary and inclusive approaches for cancer patients for mental well-being, physical activity promotion, and rehabilitation. Several examples already show that there is enthusiasm in strengthening the possibilities offered by Connected Health in persuasive and pervasive technology in cancer care. Developments harnessing the Internet of Things, personalization, patient-centered design, and artificial intelligence help to monitor and assess the health status of cancer patients. Furthermore, this paper analyses the data infrastructure ecosystem for Connected Health and its semantic interoperability with the Connected Health economy ecosystem and its associated barriers. Interoperability is essential when developing Connected Health solutions that integrate with health systems and electronic health records. Given the exponential business growth of the Connected Health economy, there is an urgent need to develop mHealth (mobile health) exponentially, making it both an attractive and challenging market. In conclusion, there is a need for user-centered and multidisciplinary standards of practice to the design, development, evaluation, and implementation of Connected Health interventions in cancer care to ensure their acceptability, practicality, feasibility, effectiveness, affordability, safety, and equity.

No abstract

Abstract:This study aim was to analyse selected psychometric features of the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) methods. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was developed to enable earlier detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) relative to familiar multi-domain tests like the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE). Clinicians need to better understand the relationship between MoCA and MMSE scores.The analysis was performed on a sample of 84 geriatric patients. We have found a concurrent validity by calculation of Pearson's correlation coefficient between the test scores of the MMSE and the MoCA methods (r (84) = 0.77, P < 0.001). Based on the correlation analysis, it may be stated that the MMSE test score is in a very tight positive correlation with the test score of the MoCA. We have also performed reliability analysis of both screening methods by calculation of internal consistency. The internal consistency of the MMSE method was represented by Cronbach's alpha at the level of 0.78, and the MoCA method at the level of 0.81; those are considered to be optimum

Influenza is one of the seasonal acute infectious diseases. Vaccination of the elderly and the sick appears to be a key measure in prevention of the infection or significantly reduces the clinical picture of the disease. Design: The work is a cross-sectional quantitative study carried out based on a questionnaire investigation. Objective: The objective of the quantitative research was to determine the attitude of seniors to influenza vaccination and the impact of selected factors on the decision of seniors to get vaccinated. Methods: The total sample consisted of 623 respondents (aged 60-89 years) who were enrolled in the survey sample based on a deliberate choice. The research was conducted through a questionnaire of our own design. Descriptive statistics and a chi-square test for pivot tables were used for processing the data obtained. Results: The majority of seniors (81%) had not been vaccinated against the flu, and the remaining (19%) had been vaccinated. The most common reason reported by the respondents was that the vaccination was recommended by doctors and nurses (65%). Based on statistical tests, we found that there is a relationship between age and the presence of senior chronic disease and the decision to get vaccinated. Conclusion: Education of seniors in the area of influenza prevention through vaccination is needed and can contribute greatly to experiencing a more active and longer life. S Ú h R N Úvod: Chrípka patrí medzi sezónne akútne infekčné ochorenia. V prevencii sa ako kľúčové opatrenie javí očkovanie, ktoré u starších a chorých zabráni infekcii alebo výrazne zmierni klinický obraz ochorenia. Dizajn: Práca má dizajn prierezovej kvantitatívnej štúdie vykonanej na základe dotazníkového šetrenia. Cieľ: Cieľom kvantitatívneho výskumu bolo zistiť postoj seniorov k očkovaniu proti chrípke a zistiť vplyv vybraných faktorov na rozhodnutie seniorov dať sa zaočkovať.

Background Increased workload and of the health workforce (HW) strained the capacity to maintain essential health services (EHS) during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, while putting them at increased risk of COVID-19 and other consequences to their health. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the health, wellbeing, and working conditions of nurses in Slovakia and to identify gaps in policies to be addressed to increase preparedness of the HW for future emergencies. Methods A nation-wide cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses during November–December 2021, referring to the period of January 2021 to November 2021. To assess the differences between impact on HW on various levels of care, respondents were grouped by type of facility: hospital-COVID-19 wards; Hospital–non-covid ward; Outpatient or ER; Other care facilities. Results 1170 nurses participated, about 1/3 of them tested positive for COVID-19 by November 2021, mostly developing mild disease. Almost 2/3 reported long-covid symptoms and about 13% reported that they do not plan to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The median of the score of the impact of workload on health was 2.8 (56% of the maximum 5), the median score of mental health-wellbeing was 1.9 (63% of a maximum of 3). The studied impacts in all domains were highest in nurses working in COVID-19 hospital wards. Significant disruptions of health care were reported, with relatively high use of telemedicine to mitigate them. Overall, about 70% of the respondents thought of leaving their job, mostly due to working stress or inadequate pay. Conclusions Our study showed that the COVID-19 pandemic poses a substantial burden on the health, wellbeing and working conditions of nurses in Slovakia and that a large proportion of nurses considered leaving their jobs because of work overload or low salaries. Human resource strategies should be adopted to attract, retain and continuously invest in HW development including in emergency preparedness and response. Such an approach may improve the resilience and preparedness of the health system in Slovakia for future emergencies.