Special Issue "Future e-Health"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. David Glance
Centre for Software Practice, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
E-Mail: david.glance@uwa.edu.au
Phone: +61 8 6488 4706
Interests: health informatics; public health; social media and networks; security

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue of the journal Future Internet seeks papers about the subject of Future e-Health. Traditional views of e-Health have focussed on the basic infrastructure of IT and fairly simple goals of electronic documentation and communication. The equivocable benefits of this type of IT-focussed approach to e-Health as measured by actual health outcomes are testament that this is not the end-goal of e-Health. Future e-Health will deliver direct measurable benefit to patients and will focus on prevention and cure rather than just management of health conditions.

We are looking for high-quality and original papers that cover any aspect of the real future of e-Health. Papers are invited on any subject examining how e-Health will support medical diagnosis, treatment and care that is socially networked, personalised, mobile, capable of being autonomous, and protocol and decision-support based.

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Future Internet is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 300 CHF (Swiss Francs). English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• e-Health
• personal genomics
• bioinformatics
• personalized medicine
• socially networked healthcare
• mobile health
• decision support
• medical protocols/guidelines

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Young Patients' Views on the Open Web 2.0 Childhood Diabetes Patient Portal: A Qualitative Study
Author: Sam Nordfeldt
Affiliation: Center for Medical Technology Assessment, Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
Abstract: Background: Little is known about the views of young patients themselves on interactive Web portal services provided by pediatric practitioners. We aimed to explore their perceptions of a real-world diabetes portal offering facts and contact with peers and practitioners; e g discussion forums, blog tools, self-care and treatment information, research updates and news from local practitioners. Methodology: Twelve young patients (ages 12-21, median 15 years), one boyfriend, 7 mothers and one father each wrote an essay on their experience from use of the portal. Their essays underwent qualitative content analysis. A major theme was “Helping and facilitating daily life with diabetes”, the portal was perceived as a place where contents are interesting, inspiring and may trigger users’ curiosity. There were three subthemes; “Friendly functions in my everyday life” includes that it was perceived as smooth and easy to enter and navigate the portal whenever needed; the information easy to understand for different groups of users. “Support via an exchange of experience” includes that being enabled to contact peers was regarded advantageous. Just reading others’ experiences may help one to carry on some said; children could find peers in the same age span. “Evidence based information” includes that the portal was perceived as a useful and trustworthy source of facts on e g physical activity, blood glucose, medical devices, emotional wellbeing, food and nutrition and more with impact on life with diabetes. Conclusions/Significance: Young users express positive perceptions towards the interactive web portal. Such services seem to have great potential for supporting young patients and significant others ­ intergrading for confidence.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Collaboration Between Professionals: The Use of Videoconferencing for Delivering e-Health
Author: Line Lundvoll Nilsen
Affiliation: University Hospital of North Norway, Norwegian Centre of Integrated Care end Telemedicine, Box 35, N- 9038 Tromsø, Norway
Abstract: This article explores how collaboration between professionals using videoconferencing affect e-health delivered to patients. In Norway, general practitioners (GPs) and specialists routinely hold videoconferences. Observations of 42 VC meetings, each lasting from 5-40 minutes, were analyzed in terms of interaction. In addition, five semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted, each lasting 20-70 minutes. Statements were selected to illustrate the content in the interaction, and how collaborative work affects the delivery of health care. Successful collaborative work provides practitioners with a new way of thinking: exchanging information and knowledge between levels of care to provide the best treatment for patients locally. The regularity makes the collaborative work a two-way achievement. GPs receive decision support and second opinions, and specialists receive information and opportunities to follow up. How the professionals manage their work (i.e., collaborating) may benefit their patients. Regular use of videoconference will furnish professionals with enhanced resources for meeting patients' demands in the future. Regularly informing and exchanging knowledge benefits the professionals by providing increased certainty their medical decisions, and it benefits the patients feeling satisfied with specialist competences where they live.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Implementing e-Health for Speech Rehabilitation in Dysarthric Patients: Considerations to be Made.
Authors: L. Beijer, A. Rietveld and A. Geurts
Affiliation: Sint Maartenskliniek, Hengstdal 3, 6574 NA Ubbergen (bij Nijmegen), The Netherlands; E-Mail: L.beijer@maartenskliniek.nl
Abstract: The content of the manuscript will address considerations regarding
prerequisites for successful use of a web-based application for speech training in neurological patients with dysarthric speech, which has been developed in the Netherlands. These considerations will be mainly based on our research findings regarding the (prerequisites for the) feasibility and the efficacy of this e-health application.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Family Interaction and Consensus with IT Support
Author: Peter Karlsudd
Affiliation: School of Education, Psychology and Sports Science, Linnaeus Universitetet, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden
Abstract: Experience shows that there are considerable shortcomings concerning collaboration and communication between a patient's family and health
careprofessionals. In 2007 a family-centered, IT-based collaboration system  was developed in order to improve the quality of the health care related activities being planned and  implemented in cooperation with concerned parties. This system was tested in collaboration with parents of  children with cognitive disabilities with the aim of facilitating communication, information, documentation,  collaboration and consensus. The article presents the system's architecture, evaluation and further development. The system's development has moved since 2007 from specially designed programs to today's use  of free software and mobile e-readers/tablets.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Improving Data Quality of E-Health Information Systems for Tracking Chronic Diseases
Author: Amir Hajjam
Affiliation: Laboratoire Systèmes et Transports, Université de Technologie de Belfort Montbéliard, 90010  Belfort Cedex, France
Abstract: Statistics and demographics for the aging population in Europe is compelling. Obviously, it is primarily a challenge to the system of care but also for families who are in charge of these seniors. The stakes are then in terms of disability and chronic diseases whose proportions will increase because of increased life expectancy. The heart failure (HF), a serious chronic disease, induces frequent re-hospitalizations, some of which can be avoided by an up-stream. The management of HF is complex: long, often difficult and expensive. In France, nearly one million people suffer from HF and 120,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. Management of such patients, a telemedicine system tools associated with motivation and education can significantly reduce the number of hospital days that believes therefore that the patient is hospitalized for acute HF. The current development projects are fully in prevention, human security, and remote monitoring of people in their living spaces, from the perspective of health and wellness. These projects include collecting, organizing, structuring and sharing of medical information according to use and taking into account aspects of interoperability. Different approach was used to exploit such information: the data warehouse approach, the mediation approach (or integration by views) or the integration approach by link (or so-called mashup). In this chapter, we will focus on ontologies that take a central place for the Semantic Web, which, on the one hand, to lean on modeling from conceptual representations of the areas concerned and, secondly, to allow programs to make inferences above.Keywords: Ontologies, Web Semantic, Telemedicine, Chronic Diseases.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Smart Homes for Older People: Positive Aging in a Digital World
Authors: Quynh Le and Hoang Boi Nguyen
Affiliation: University Department of Rural Health, University of Tasmania, Locked Bag 1372, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia
Abstract: Smart homes are homes with technologically advanced systems to enable domestic task automation, easier communication, and higher security. As an enabler of health and well-being enhancement, smart homes have been geared to accommodate people with special needs, especially older or disabled people. This paper firstly reviews the multi-functionality and effectiveness of smart home technologies for older users. It then examines the perceptions of older people on the affordances of smart homes, and finally discusses the challenges in utilizing smart homes to accommodate the needs of older people. Practical recommendations are provided for both users and providers.