Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
S439
Coordination of AAL-Activities - a socio-technical Challenge T. Herrmann, Information- and Technology-Management, University of Bochum, Germany, [email protected]
Abstract Assistive systems for elderly people represent technical devices which are embedded into a technical infrastructure as well as into organizational procedures. The interplay of these components requires the design and coordination of a complex socio-technical system. Research and methodologies of socio-technical design can be transferred to the introduction of AAL-solutions. The design can be guided by drafting the process of sequenced activities being started by certain events or conditions which indicate the relevance of technical support. Those activities, such as care taking, emergency handling, providing social contact etc., include the collaboration of several roles, e.g. service providers, medical experts, relatives, neighbours etc. They have to be identified and their rights and duties must be specified as well as their competencies for dealing with the technical systems. Planning and modelling the socio-technical process includes the decision who will configure the technical-solution, who will maintain it and who will use it. Especially the degree of autonomy of the user to be supported has to be specified and is a matter of ethical considerations – e.g. who will be allowed to establish audio- or video-connections. The process design also supports the decision about the necessary level of service agreement, the need and frequency of technical maintenance, and the intensity of external human support which has to be combined with the technical solution. The planning of maintenance has to include needs for adaptation that occur when people learn to use of the technology more efficiently or when the physical or mental conditions of the supported person change. Taking all these factors (such as activities, services, roles, exchanged information, conditions) and their interplay into account is decisive for the acceptance of technical assistance.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
S440
AAL in the curriculum of health technology degree program Qualification at the interface between comfort and medical care in the home environment Prof. Dr. Kurt Becker1, Prof. Dr. Elmar Erkens2 1 2
APOLLON Hochschule der Gesundheitswirtschaft GmbH, Bremen, [email protected] APOLLON Hochschule der Gesundheitswirtschaft GmbH, Bremen, [email protected]
Abstract Modern technology plays a major role in all areas of daily life , but especially in the field of health care for the population . Health technology is used in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment in medical care, but also in the field of rehabilitation and aftercare. In recent years, the field of "Ambient Assisted Living " (AAL ) has evolved tremendously. Many prototype applications are about to launch, and are increasingly being developed further. The technology of AAL (which today means: “everyday supportive assistance solutions”) is not only concerned with very sick people. Initially comfort and assistance functions are provided for residents of people of all ages (Smart Home). Another focus of AAL is to provide solutions for people with physical disabilities. Reflecting on the lifecycle of facilities, it is usual that the resident of an apartment or of a house may become sick in another way. In this case medical problems and conditions are relevant and secure communication between the home and other health care locations services becomes more important. The APOLLON University in Bremen, with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Research and Technology, has developed a bachelor's degree program to qualify Managers in the field of health technology. The AAL aspects are contained both in the general curriculum and in the elective part of the curriculum, so that a specific qualification in the direction of AAL is integrated.
1
Objectives and market positioning
The Goal of AAL technology is to be able to realize more self-determination and to remain in the home environment, in order for one to maintain the quality of life and on the other hand to implement an effective strategy to address demographic change. Due to the high importance of health for individuals, the German market for health care technology and medical aids is a very attractive, but also a difficult market. In addition, this health care market is not homogeneous, but divided on closer inspection into several sub-markets with different market rules [1]: The first health care market in which health is regulated as part of the German health care system The second health market in which consumers and patients can actually act as a client and can buy services and medicines and medical aids as they and are not subject to medical prescription or other arrangements by German law.
The understanding of the term “health care” of most actors, businesses and institutions engaged mainly in the first healthcare market. This core area of the healthcare industry includes reimbursable drugs or hospital treatment. By the term "health economy" we mean those actors, companies and institutions assigned to the second health market in our curriculum. This extended area of the healthcare industry includes new goods related to health such as fitness, wellness, sports goods, OTC (over the counter) drugs, oral hygiene or personal health services of physicians. The first Healthcare market is what is referred to as healthcare. This includes inpatient and outpatient facilities and other providers funded by the statutory health insurance. The second Health market is financed primarily by the private payments of consumers (patients) and includes services such as wellness, privately purchased medical devices and assistance systems.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
2
Assistance and care from the perspective of citizens and patients
From the perspective of citizens and patients, thus the following strategic objectives for personal health and the beneficial use of health technology (Becker 2012, p 74), yields with : health in old age (perspective of a citizen) : Healthy food Healthy exercise Healthy Lifestyles and Healthy environment. Measures: provision of information on healthy living, sustainable self-development and prevention services. Rapid and sustainable recovery (perspective of a patient): Efficient and minimally invasive diagnostic side-effect -free therapy and fast recovery. Measures: advice on the occurrence of disease symptoms, special counseling for high-risk groups and technical assistance in the choice of therapy. Preservation of quality of life (perspective of a chronically ill patient): Efficient and minimally invasive diagnostic gentle and specifically-tuned continuous therapy use of technical possibilities and integration in the home environment. Measures: Continuous advice and support, technical support in therapy selection, contribution / deductible for cost-intensive measures. The health services are provided at three locations. These are at first the outpatient and second the inpatient areas. Citizens (the third location) and patients are also saturated and well informed in the field of personal health - as in other markets (for example, telecommunications, energy). The citizen is a real customer and significantly influenced by markets and companies. Due to the demographic change, the home environment for the provision of health care services will be increasingly used. These benefits may begin with hair-cutting and span to nursing activities that can be provided more effectively and efficiently by means of mobile applications,
3
S441
Complex technical solutions and interfaces
From a technical perspective, homecare solutions and telemedicine solutions have to be assembled here. It is still unclear to what extent the German telematics infrastructure can be used for this purpose. This is then also the point at which the "Medical Informatics" (MI) plays an important role: Home care , telemedicine and e- health , etc. are the basis for medical devices in the home environment. However, the methods and experience of the medical computer science are only one part that is needed for a successful implementation of new components and modules. This makes the need for health technology managers clear. APOLLON University has designed a bachelor's degree program "Health Technology Management" to better cover the increasing demand for experts who are able to integrate these technologies into the daily work processes and effectively manage future challenges. APOLLON University is also the coordinator of the BMBF funded research project AApolLon with the project partners IEKF, qcmed, locatesolution and TMF. Results of the project work are a finished curriculum and nearly completed Content. The focus of the content of the curriculum is in relation to the methods of e-health, telemedicine, AAL and continuing medical and communication technology including their overlaps, boundaries and classification.
4
Summary
Due to the demographic development and also for economic reasons, the areas of use and the benefits of modern health technology in the coming years will increase considerably. Health technology has developed historically from different specialized disciplines: medical computer science, telemedicine, bioinformatics, e-Health and AAL.. These health technologies are also increasingly being used outside the direct medical applications in daily life. The self-determined participation of the citizen in the healthcare markets requires a more open communication and provision of information and services on today's sector boundaries. Efficient management and use of modern health technology support services in health care and the health care industry. To meet the increasing demand for experts who are able to integrate these technologies into the daily work processes and economic sense the APOLLON University leads to create the described bachelor degree program. The goal is to train Students to cover new challenges in the future.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
5
References
[1] Becker K.; Customer Centricity and the strategic elements in health care. In: MW Wilkes , Rod K.; Customer Centricity - Sustainable corporate strategy in health care, Handelsblatt publishing group 2012.
S442
This work is developed in the project "Distance Learning concept AApolLon ", partly funded by the German ministry of education and research (BMBF) reference number: 16SV5805K within the research program ICT 2020.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
S443
A Certified Qualification Course for AAL Consultants for Health Professionals and Services, Craftsmen and Technicians - Design, Results and Perspectives M Behrends1, M Nitschke2, T Kupka1, K Illiger1, M Marschollek1, J Krückeberg1 1 Peter L. Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics, University of Braunschweig - Institute of Technology and Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, [email protected] 2 Faculty of Diakonia, Health and Social Affairs, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hannover, Germany
Abstract The article reports on the design, implementation and results of a certified qualification course for AAL Consultants. To address the special challenges, different didactic methods were applied in the qualification for AAL consultants which have been developed in the joint project MHH-QuAALi. Lectures, case examples, learning in interdisciplinary groups as well as demonstrations of practical examples were used in the teaching. Thereby, the course was designed for different occupational groups of health professionals, craftsmen and technicians. The results of the in-process evaluation show, that the course and the various teaching methods were evaluated equal by the different professional groups. The results also show that the interdisciplinary approach of the course reflects the requirements in the field of AAL and demonstrates the theme’s relevance in various professional fields.
1
Introduction
In the field of health-enabling technologies, especially in Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), there are some challenges in the design of training courses: AAL technologies are very diverse, but largely underrepresented on the market [1]. AAL solutions must be adapted to the needs of the users. In addition, AAL offers emerge from the collaboration of different professional groups [2]. Designing a course for AAL consultants is a special challenge: It means to combine the demonstration of tailored practical examples for the needs of the users and the promotion of interdisciplinary exchange. The aim of our research work for this article is to report on the design, implementation and results of a certified qualification course for AAL consultants which has been developed in the joint project MHH-QuAALi (grant number 16SV5554K) [3]. The project MHH-QuAALi is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). The course for AAL concultants is designed for different professional groups, such as health professionals, craftsmen and technicians. Due to the interdisciplinary composition of the modules, the question arises whether there are differences in the valuation on the basis of the profession of the participants. Therefore, we report on how the different teaching methods were evaluated by the participants and whether the various professional groups evaluate these differently. According to Steffan et al., it can not be assumed that people who work in the health sector, have a more critical attitude towards technical aspects than craftsmen oder technicans [4]. Steffan et al. observed that nursing staff has a great technology acceptance, but differences were found in terms of sex and age. Therefore, different valuations of the modules due these terms can be suspected.
1.1
Didactic structure and content of the course
The training course is organized in two modules, a basic and an advanced module. Each course consists of 40 lessons per week. The basic module was conducted four times, the advanced module three times. To get a thorough understanding of the complexity of AAL, a curriculum with the following topics was developed: demographic change, the characteristics of the AAL target group, technological basics, funding opportunities, critical aspects and consulting training. To address the special challenges in the teaching of topics on health technologies, different teaching methods were applied in the course for AAL consultants [5]. Lectures, case examples, learning in interdisciplinary groups as well as demonstrations of practical examples in interactive theme rooms were used. For the case examples we wrote short stories of people with the need of health service support. Each working group received a different case and consisted of four to five persons with different professional backgrounds. For the demonstrations of practical examples we created different theme rooms with some playful and interactive examples. E.g., a Wii console and a balance board could be tested with and without an age explorer suit. These different methods were only applied after the first basic module that due to early stage of development of the didactic curriculum mainly consisted of lectures. Moreover, a consulting training was carried out in the advanced module and in both modules e-learning offerings were introduced [6]. The role of e-learning offerings and their evaluation will not be deepened here. The effects of the e-learning offer on the various didactic methods will be examined separately. The focus of this study rests on the
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
results of the basic module. In many cases participants from different basic modules attended advanced modules and so different previous experiences may have influenced the evaluation results of the advanced modules. For this reason, we only use the results of the four basic modules. Since the training courses have been carried out several times, the evaluation results from different groups are available.
2
Methods
With an in-process evaluation we investigated how the participants evaluated the different didactic methods. For the evaluation, a six-point-scale from 1 (very helpful) to 6 (not helpful) was used. The results of the four basic modules were investigated. Thereby, following aspects of all modules are compared: didactic concept, content structuring, vocational relevance and the total valuation. Subsequently, the evaluation results of the various teaching methods in the basic modules two, three and four are compared: the lectures, the work with case examples, the learning in interdisciplinary groups and the demonstrations of practical examples in interactive theme rooms. We investigate whether there are differences between the professional groups and between women and men. The discrimination in various professional groups was based on the information in the evaluation questionnaires. Participants were able to assign one of the following professional groups: craftsmen and technicans, out-patient care, in-patient care, health and social service with patient contact and health and social service without patient contact. Data was explored using ANOVA for the comparison of the modules and nonparametric inference tests for the comparison of professional groups and gender. We set statistical significance at alpha=.05. Post hoc tests were Bonferronicorrected.
3
Results
In the last two years, we organized four basic courses with 73 participants. Regarding the basic modules 2, 3 and 4, evaluation results from 55 persons are available. The number of men and women is almost equal in all modules (Table 1). In all modules were few people younger than 30 or older than 65. The two main groups were the 31 to 50 year-old and the 51 to 65 year old persons. In the basic modules 2 and 3 both groups was well balanced. In the basic modules 1 and 4, the number of younger participants outweighed (Table 2). Table 1: Gender of the participants (N=73) BM 1 BM 2 BM 3 BM 4 female 7 8 9 11 male 6 10 7 9 total 13 18 16 20 missing 5 1
total 35 32 67 6
S444
Relatively few participants have assigned in the professional group “craftsmen and technicans”. Overall, 23 participants have not assigned in one of given professional groups (Table 3). Table 2: Age of the participants (N=73) BM 1 BM 2 BM 3 BM 4 to 30 2 1 1 2 31 - 50 12 6 7 14 51 - 65 2 10 8 4 older 1 0 0 than 65 total 16 18 16 20 missing 2 1
total 6 39 24 1 70 3
Table 3: Professional groups of the participants (N=73) BM1 BM 2 BM 3 BM 4 total Craftsmen / 0 4 0 5 9 technicans Out-patient care 3 0 4 1 8 In-patient care 1 0 1 0 2 Health service with patient con1 2 3 4 10 tact Health service without patient 5 4 4 3 16 contact others 8 4 4 7 23 several 0 4 1 0 5 nominations total 18 18 17 20 73 The comparison of the mean values indicates differences in the assessment of the basic module 1 compared to the rest (Table 4). With respect to the aspects of didactic concept, vocational relevance and the total valuation, the basic modules 2, 3 and 4 were rated on average more then one point better than basic module 1. Only the content structuring in module 4 was equally evaluated as in module 1. Table 4: Comparison of the four modules (BM 1, BM 2, BM 3, BM 4) BM 1 didactic concept content structuring vocational relevance total valuation
BM 2
BM 3
BM 4
mean (N)
mean (N) mean (N) mean (N)
3.0 (17)
1.4 (18)
1.5 (17)
1.9 (20)
2.7 (15)
1.7 (18)
1.9 (17)
2.6 (20)
3.5 (17)
1.9 (18)
2.1 (17)
2.1 (20)
2.9 (15)
1.3 (18)
1.6 (17)
1.7 (20)
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
The significance testing confirms the differing evaluation of module 1, but also shows that module 4 differs to the modules 2 and 3 with respect to the content structuring. The difference between the means is significant at the level 0.05 (Table 5). Table 5: Significance of the difference between the means of the basic modules (BM) (Post hoc tests Bonferronicorrected) Compared modules significance BM 2 p
S439
Coordination of AAL-Activities - a socio-technical Challenge T. Herrmann, Information- and Technology-Management, University of Bochum, Germany, [email protected]
Abstract Assistive systems for elderly people represent technical devices which are embedded into a technical infrastructure as well as into organizational procedures. The interplay of these components requires the design and coordination of a complex socio-technical system. Research and methodologies of socio-technical design can be transferred to the introduction of AAL-solutions. The design can be guided by drafting the process of sequenced activities being started by certain events or conditions which indicate the relevance of technical support. Those activities, such as care taking, emergency handling, providing social contact etc., include the collaboration of several roles, e.g. service providers, medical experts, relatives, neighbours etc. They have to be identified and their rights and duties must be specified as well as their competencies for dealing with the technical systems. Planning and modelling the socio-technical process includes the decision who will configure the technical-solution, who will maintain it and who will use it. Especially the degree of autonomy of the user to be supported has to be specified and is a matter of ethical considerations – e.g. who will be allowed to establish audio- or video-connections. The process design also supports the decision about the necessary level of service agreement, the need and frequency of technical maintenance, and the intensity of external human support which has to be combined with the technical solution. The planning of maintenance has to include needs for adaptation that occur when people learn to use of the technology more efficiently or when the physical or mental conditions of the supported person change. Taking all these factors (such as activities, services, roles, exchanged information, conditions) and their interplay into account is decisive for the acceptance of technical assistance.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
S440
AAL in the curriculum of health technology degree program Qualification at the interface between comfort and medical care in the home environment Prof. Dr. Kurt Becker1, Prof. Dr. Elmar Erkens2 1 2
APOLLON Hochschule der Gesundheitswirtschaft GmbH, Bremen, [email protected] APOLLON Hochschule der Gesundheitswirtschaft GmbH, Bremen, [email protected]
Abstract Modern technology plays a major role in all areas of daily life , but especially in the field of health care for the population . Health technology is used in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment in medical care, but also in the field of rehabilitation and aftercare. In recent years, the field of "Ambient Assisted Living " (AAL ) has evolved tremendously. Many prototype applications are about to launch, and are increasingly being developed further. The technology of AAL (which today means: “everyday supportive assistance solutions”) is not only concerned with very sick people. Initially comfort and assistance functions are provided for residents of people of all ages (Smart Home). Another focus of AAL is to provide solutions for people with physical disabilities. Reflecting on the lifecycle of facilities, it is usual that the resident of an apartment or of a house may become sick in another way. In this case medical problems and conditions are relevant and secure communication between the home and other health care locations services becomes more important. The APOLLON University in Bremen, with funding from the German Federal Ministry for Research and Technology, has developed a bachelor's degree program to qualify Managers in the field of health technology. The AAL aspects are contained both in the general curriculum and in the elective part of the curriculum, so that a specific qualification in the direction of AAL is integrated.
1
Objectives and market positioning
The Goal of AAL technology is to be able to realize more self-determination and to remain in the home environment, in order for one to maintain the quality of life and on the other hand to implement an effective strategy to address demographic change. Due to the high importance of health for individuals, the German market for health care technology and medical aids is a very attractive, but also a difficult market. In addition, this health care market is not homogeneous, but divided on closer inspection into several sub-markets with different market rules [1]: The first health care market in which health is regulated as part of the German health care system The second health market in which consumers and patients can actually act as a client and can buy services and medicines and medical aids as they and are not subject to medical prescription or other arrangements by German law.
The understanding of the term “health care” of most actors, businesses and institutions engaged mainly in the first healthcare market. This core area of the healthcare industry includes reimbursable drugs or hospital treatment. By the term "health economy" we mean those actors, companies and institutions assigned to the second health market in our curriculum. This extended area of the healthcare industry includes new goods related to health such as fitness, wellness, sports goods, OTC (over the counter) drugs, oral hygiene or personal health services of physicians. The first Healthcare market is what is referred to as healthcare. This includes inpatient and outpatient facilities and other providers funded by the statutory health insurance. The second Health market is financed primarily by the private payments of consumers (patients) and includes services such as wellness, privately purchased medical devices and assistance systems.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
2
Assistance and care from the perspective of citizens and patients
From the perspective of citizens and patients, thus the following strategic objectives for personal health and the beneficial use of health technology (Becker 2012, p 74), yields with : health in old age (perspective of a citizen) : Healthy food Healthy exercise Healthy Lifestyles and Healthy environment. Measures: provision of information on healthy living, sustainable self-development and prevention services. Rapid and sustainable recovery (perspective of a patient): Efficient and minimally invasive diagnostic side-effect -free therapy and fast recovery. Measures: advice on the occurrence of disease symptoms, special counseling for high-risk groups and technical assistance in the choice of therapy. Preservation of quality of life (perspective of a chronically ill patient): Efficient and minimally invasive diagnostic gentle and specifically-tuned continuous therapy use of technical possibilities and integration in the home environment. Measures: Continuous advice and support, technical support in therapy selection, contribution / deductible for cost-intensive measures. The health services are provided at three locations. These are at first the outpatient and second the inpatient areas. Citizens (the third location) and patients are also saturated and well informed in the field of personal health - as in other markets (for example, telecommunications, energy). The citizen is a real customer and significantly influenced by markets and companies. Due to the demographic change, the home environment for the provision of health care services will be increasingly used. These benefits may begin with hair-cutting and span to nursing activities that can be provided more effectively and efficiently by means of mobile applications,
3
S441
Complex technical solutions and interfaces
From a technical perspective, homecare solutions and telemedicine solutions have to be assembled here. It is still unclear to what extent the German telematics infrastructure can be used for this purpose. This is then also the point at which the "Medical Informatics" (MI) plays an important role: Home care , telemedicine and e- health , etc. are the basis for medical devices in the home environment. However, the methods and experience of the medical computer science are only one part that is needed for a successful implementation of new components and modules. This makes the need for health technology managers clear. APOLLON University has designed a bachelor's degree program "Health Technology Management" to better cover the increasing demand for experts who are able to integrate these technologies into the daily work processes and effectively manage future challenges. APOLLON University is also the coordinator of the BMBF funded research project AApolLon with the project partners IEKF, qcmed, locatesolution and TMF. Results of the project work are a finished curriculum and nearly completed Content. The focus of the content of the curriculum is in relation to the methods of e-health, telemedicine, AAL and continuing medical and communication technology including their overlaps, boundaries and classification.
4
Summary
Due to the demographic development and also for economic reasons, the areas of use and the benefits of modern health technology in the coming years will increase considerably. Health technology has developed historically from different specialized disciplines: medical computer science, telemedicine, bioinformatics, e-Health and AAL.. These health technologies are also increasingly being used outside the direct medical applications in daily life. The self-determined participation of the citizen in the healthcare markets requires a more open communication and provision of information and services on today's sector boundaries. Efficient management and use of modern health technology support services in health care and the health care industry. To meet the increasing demand for experts who are able to integrate these technologies into the daily work processes and economic sense the APOLLON University leads to create the described bachelor degree program. The goal is to train Students to cover new challenges in the future.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
5
References
[1] Becker K.; Customer Centricity and the strategic elements in health care. In: MW Wilkes , Rod K.; Customer Centricity - Sustainable corporate strategy in health care, Handelsblatt publishing group 2012.
S442
This work is developed in the project "Distance Learning concept AApolLon ", partly funded by the German ministry of education and research (BMBF) reference number: 16SV5805K within the research program ICT 2020.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
S443
A Certified Qualification Course for AAL Consultants for Health Professionals and Services, Craftsmen and Technicians - Design, Results and Perspectives M Behrends1, M Nitschke2, T Kupka1, K Illiger1, M Marschollek1, J Krückeberg1 1 Peter L. Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics, University of Braunschweig - Institute of Technology and Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, [email protected] 2 Faculty of Diakonia, Health and Social Affairs, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hannover, Germany
Abstract The article reports on the design, implementation and results of a certified qualification course for AAL Consultants. To address the special challenges, different didactic methods were applied in the qualification for AAL consultants which have been developed in the joint project MHH-QuAALi. Lectures, case examples, learning in interdisciplinary groups as well as demonstrations of practical examples were used in the teaching. Thereby, the course was designed for different occupational groups of health professionals, craftsmen and technicians. The results of the in-process evaluation show, that the course and the various teaching methods were evaluated equal by the different professional groups. The results also show that the interdisciplinary approach of the course reflects the requirements in the field of AAL and demonstrates the theme’s relevance in various professional fields.
1
Introduction
In the field of health-enabling technologies, especially in Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), there are some challenges in the design of training courses: AAL technologies are very diverse, but largely underrepresented on the market [1]. AAL solutions must be adapted to the needs of the users. In addition, AAL offers emerge from the collaboration of different professional groups [2]. Designing a course for AAL consultants is a special challenge: It means to combine the demonstration of tailored practical examples for the needs of the users and the promotion of interdisciplinary exchange. The aim of our research work for this article is to report on the design, implementation and results of a certified qualification course for AAL consultants which has been developed in the joint project MHH-QuAALi (grant number 16SV5554K) [3]. The project MHH-QuAALi is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). The course for AAL concultants is designed for different professional groups, such as health professionals, craftsmen and technicians. Due to the interdisciplinary composition of the modules, the question arises whether there are differences in the valuation on the basis of the profession of the participants. Therefore, we report on how the different teaching methods were evaluated by the participants and whether the various professional groups evaluate these differently. According to Steffan et al., it can not be assumed that people who work in the health sector, have a more critical attitude towards technical aspects than craftsmen oder technicans [4]. Steffan et al. observed that nursing staff has a great technology acceptance, but differences were found in terms of sex and age. Therefore, different valuations of the modules due these terms can be suspected.
1.1
Didactic structure and content of the course
The training course is organized in two modules, a basic and an advanced module. Each course consists of 40 lessons per week. The basic module was conducted four times, the advanced module three times. To get a thorough understanding of the complexity of AAL, a curriculum with the following topics was developed: demographic change, the characteristics of the AAL target group, technological basics, funding opportunities, critical aspects and consulting training. To address the special challenges in the teaching of topics on health technologies, different teaching methods were applied in the course for AAL consultants [5]. Lectures, case examples, learning in interdisciplinary groups as well as demonstrations of practical examples in interactive theme rooms were used. For the case examples we wrote short stories of people with the need of health service support. Each working group received a different case and consisted of four to five persons with different professional backgrounds. For the demonstrations of practical examples we created different theme rooms with some playful and interactive examples. E.g., a Wii console and a balance board could be tested with and without an age explorer suit. These different methods were only applied after the first basic module that due to early stage of development of the didactic curriculum mainly consisted of lectures. Moreover, a consulting training was carried out in the advanced module and in both modules e-learning offerings were introduced [6]. The role of e-learning offerings and their evaluation will not be deepened here. The effects of the e-learning offer on the various didactic methods will be examined separately. The focus of this study rests on the
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
results of the basic module. In many cases participants from different basic modules attended advanced modules and so different previous experiences may have influenced the evaluation results of the advanced modules. For this reason, we only use the results of the four basic modules. Since the training courses have been carried out several times, the evaluation results from different groups are available.
2
Methods
With an in-process evaluation we investigated how the participants evaluated the different didactic methods. For the evaluation, a six-point-scale from 1 (very helpful) to 6 (not helpful) was used. The results of the four basic modules were investigated. Thereby, following aspects of all modules are compared: didactic concept, content structuring, vocational relevance and the total valuation. Subsequently, the evaluation results of the various teaching methods in the basic modules two, three and four are compared: the lectures, the work with case examples, the learning in interdisciplinary groups and the demonstrations of practical examples in interactive theme rooms. We investigate whether there are differences between the professional groups and between women and men. The discrimination in various professional groups was based on the information in the evaluation questionnaires. Participants were able to assign one of the following professional groups: craftsmen and technicans, out-patient care, in-patient care, health and social service with patient contact and health and social service without patient contact. Data was explored using ANOVA for the comparison of the modules and nonparametric inference tests for the comparison of professional groups and gender. We set statistical significance at alpha=.05. Post hoc tests were Bonferronicorrected.
3
Results
In the last two years, we organized four basic courses with 73 participants. Regarding the basic modules 2, 3 and 4, evaluation results from 55 persons are available. The number of men and women is almost equal in all modules (Table 1). In all modules were few people younger than 30 or older than 65. The two main groups were the 31 to 50 year-old and the 51 to 65 year old persons. In the basic modules 2 and 3 both groups was well balanced. In the basic modules 1 and 4, the number of younger participants outweighed (Table 2). Table 1: Gender of the participants (N=73) BM 1 BM 2 BM 3 BM 4 female 7 8 9 11 male 6 10 7 9 total 13 18 16 20 missing 5 1
total 35 32 67 6
S444
Relatively few participants have assigned in the professional group “craftsmen and technicans”. Overall, 23 participants have not assigned in one of given professional groups (Table 3). Table 2: Age of the participants (N=73) BM 1 BM 2 BM 3 BM 4 to 30 2 1 1 2 31 - 50 12 6 7 14 51 - 65 2 10 8 4 older 1 0 0 than 65 total 16 18 16 20 missing 2 1
total 6 39 24 1 70 3
Table 3: Professional groups of the participants (N=73) BM1 BM 2 BM 3 BM 4 total Craftsmen / 0 4 0 5 9 technicans Out-patient care 3 0 4 1 8 In-patient care 1 0 1 0 2 Health service with patient con1 2 3 4 10 tact Health service without patient 5 4 4 3 16 contact others 8 4 4 7 23 several 0 4 1 0 5 nominations total 18 18 17 20 73 The comparison of the mean values indicates differences in the assessment of the basic module 1 compared to the rest (Table 4). With respect to the aspects of didactic concept, vocational relevance and the total valuation, the basic modules 2, 3 and 4 were rated on average more then one point better than basic module 1. Only the content structuring in module 4 was equally evaluated as in module 1. Table 4: Comparison of the four modules (BM 1, BM 2, BM 3, BM 4) BM 1 didactic concept content structuring vocational relevance total valuation
BM 2
BM 3
BM 4
mean (N)
mean (N) mean (N) mean (N)
3.0 (17)
1.4 (18)
1.5 (17)
1.9 (20)
2.7 (15)
1.7 (18)
1.9 (17)
2.6 (20)
3.5 (17)
1.9 (18)
2.1 (17)
2.1 (20)
2.9 (15)
1.3 (18)
1.6 (17)
1.7 (20)
Unauthenticated Download Date | 4/3/17 11:17 AM
Biomed Tech 2014; 59 (s1) © 2014 by Walter de Gruyter • Berlin • Boston. DOI 10.1515/bmt-2014-5006
The significance testing confirms the differing evaluation of module 1, but also shows that module 4 differs to the modules 2 and 3 with respect to the content structuring. The difference between the means is significant at the level 0.05 (Table 5). Table 5: Significance of the difference between the means of the basic modules (BM) (Post hoc tests Bonferronicorrected) Compared modules significance BM 2 p
