Proceedings of the Smart Living Forum 2019 published

In November 2019, the Smart Living Forum 2019 took place in Villach, Austria. In May 2020, the proceedings of the event have been published, including the results of two intervention studies by members of Center for Social Informatics.

Published articles:

• HVALIČ TOUZERY, Simona, LEBAR, Lea, PETROVČIČ, Andraž, SMOLE OREHEK, Kaja, DOLNIČAR, Vesna. Psychological outcomes of telecare use for working family carers of older people. V: LATTACHER, Sandra Lisa (ur.). Proceedings of Smart Living Forum 2019, 14 November 2019, Villach, Austria. Norderstedt: BoD, cop. 2020. Str. 26-33. ISBN-13: 9783751912679. [COBISS.SI-ID 15675907]
• HVALIČ TOUZERY, Simona, DOLNIČAR, Vesna, PREVODNIK, Katja, ŠKAFAR, Maja, PETROVČIČ, Andraž. The importance of patients' user experience with a telehealth system for their evaluation of its psychosocial impacts. V: LATTACHER, Sandra Lisa (ur.). Proceedings of Smart Living Forum 2019, 14 November 2019, Villach, Austria. Norderstedt: BoD, cop. 2020. Str. 19-25, tabela. ISBN-13: 9783751912679. [COBISS.SI-ID 15663875]

The first scientific contribution presents the results of the study that aimed to identify positive and negative psychological outcomes of telecare use on working family carers of older people. Activity monitoring and app notifications were identified as the features with the most outcomes. The most commonly mentioned positive psychological outcome of telecare for family carers was reassurance, followed by peace of mind and reduced anxiety. The most frequently mentioned negative outcomes were anxiety, distrust and stress.

The second article describes the preliminary results of the study that explored how the usability and acceptability – two dimensions of user experience (UX) – of a home telehealth system (THS) shape patients’ perceptions of its impact on their functional independence, well-being and quality of life. The positive psychosocial impacts of the home THS utilisation were higher among the patients who reported higher values of usability, regardless of their self-assessed physical and mental health), control over health and frequency of THS use. Overall, the findings suggest that UX is an important aspect of patients’ engagement with a home THS.

The publication of the proceesings and the accompanying poster session at the event on the 14th November 2019 have been organized within the project COOP4HEALTHCARE. 

Studies were supported by the Slovenian Research Agency under Grant L5-9337 (Understanding and analysis of users’ needs for the development of e-services for integrated social and health care in the aging society), Grant L5-7626 (Smart ICT Solutions for Active and Healthy Ageing: Integrating Informal eCare Services in Slovenia), Grant J5-1785 (Factors impacting intention to use smart technology enabled care services among family carers of older people in the context of long-distance care) and Grant P5-0399 (Programme Internet research).«