Ethical telehealth design for users with dementia

A Post Publication Review of "Enhancing client welfare through better communication of private mental health data between rural service providers"

“…Another example recently seen in this journal was the vulnerability of people with suicidal ideation (Carlson, Farrelly, Frazer, & Borthwick, 2015). Thus a system that protects consumer privacy is important and even more so for vulnerable consumers: the young, people with intellectual disabilities, and older people with neuro-degenerative diseases, as shown in various studies (Pakrasi, Burmeister, McCallum, Coppola, & Loeb, 2015;Teipel et al, 2016;van Wynsberghe, 2015).…”

The development of assistive dementia technology that accounts for the values of those affected by its use

“…Value meanings have been shown to be variable, depending on their context of use (Burmeister 2012;Flanagan et al 2008;Pakrasi et al 2015;Spiekermann 2015). Similarly, Agich (2003, p. 6) claimed that ''it would be best to acknowledge that the meaning of autonomy is irremediably context dependent''.…”

“…Since that report further examples of responsive ATD include geofencing, which from a values viewpoint imposes restrictions on a person, whilst maximising safety. Various forms of telehealth are further examples (Pakrasi et al 2015). Furthermore, remote monitoring technologies have become popular, such as those of NonnaTech, 1 a company which develops ambient intelligence solutions that involve real-time monitoring of patients.…”

“…Experiments have been undertaken with various aspects of usability and interfacing, including telepresence where screens display human-like faces (Begum et al 2015), robots that appear human and others that provide audio responses, including ones that appear as pets which talk, such as the Gerijoy avatars for people with dementia, mentioned above. Caregiver burden has been described as a major cause of institutionalisation (Pakrasi et al 2015), and in part the research in robotics seeks to address this (Begum et al 2015). However, in the area of dementia such assistance is far from adaptive, with the most adaptive solutions being tele-operated systems, involving human, rather than automated, intervention.…”

A Post Publication Review of " A Review and Comparative Analysis of Security Risks and Safety Measures of Mobile Health Apps"

“…Finally, I'd have liked to see more in-depth discussion on consumer safety, which is even more critical for vulnerable consumers: the young, people with intellectual disabilities, and older people with neuro-degenerative diseases, as shown in many recent studies (Pakrasi, Burmeister, McCallum, Coppola, & Loeb, 2015;van Wynsberghe, 2015). For instance, in discussing apps and other assistive devices for people with dementia Teipel et al (2016) claimed that the solution involves the balance of a complex negotiation of many factors (cultural, environmental and personal factors, social resources, and advancements in the intelligence and flexibility of the technological devices), that at its center has the safety of patients.…”