May 30th and May 31st, the yearly Supporting Health by Technology conference was organised in Groningen. Arlene, Carlijn, Eclaire, Lianne, Roswita and Lian visited the conference to present their work in various ways.
Arlene presented the preliminary results of an exploratory study on the potential of using digital phenotyping in monitoring late effects after breast cancer. Through literature review and compiling information from expert panels, it was concluded that neuropathy, cardiotoxicity, and depression exhibits the highest potential for monitoring. Finally, the need for data-driven evaluation was highlighted for validating these findings. These findings will feed into the RECENTRE program.
Carlijn presented preliminary results on the effect of personalization on health outcomes in the SLIMMER combined lifestyle intervention. This study, in collaboration with TNO, showed that personalization of combined lifestyle intervention significantly improved weight loss and reduces drop-outs during the intervention. Further exploration of data from the Fitbit, which was worn during the intervention, showed that resting heart rate is positively correlated with weight loss.
Eclaire presented the preliminary results of a systematic review examining the application of tailoring in eHealth lifestyle interventions for people with chronic conditions. Most lifestyle interventions targeted obesity or type 2 diabetes and were tailored through the use of wearables or self-reporting to provide feedback on achieving lifestyle goals. The presentation concluded with a call to researchers to describe intervention components in detail to increase the transparency of eHealth interventions.
Lianne explained the need for a personalised presentation of digital information. Both general and patient specific design preferences were shown. The latter were used to identify design preference profiles. As these were not discriminative enough, a more adaptive approach was suggested to be used in further research steps.
Roswita presented an eHealth application with an integrated Shared Decision Making (SDM) process to support patients with COPD and comorbidities, as well as healthcare professionals during consultations. Using the Creative Technology Design Process, it was concluded that the application will be further improved, implemented, and evaluated in a larger clinical trial. It is expected that the application will enhance communication and collaboration between patients and healthcare professionals.
Lian pitched her poster on the work she is doing with the POLARIS database. Also, she presented the decision rules for the PARTNR project. In these decision rules, patient preferences are linked to various interventions, patients then receive a matching percentage per intervention. In the PARTNR project, these decision rules are extended with effectiveness of the intervention to support breast cancer patients who still experience cancer-related fatigue after diagnosis and treatment.
All in all, we enjoyed the conference a lot and learned much in the various inspiring sessions and presentations by the keynote speakers.
