TY - JOUR A1 - Mukaino, M. A1 - Prodinger, Birgit A1 - Okouchi, Y. A1 - Mizutani, K. A1 - Senju, Y. A1 - Suzuki, M. A1 - Saitoh, E. T1 - Development and assessment of a home environment checklist to evaluate mismatch between patients' ability and home environment JF - Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine N2 - Background Modification of the home environment, together with rehabilitative interventions, is important for maximizing the level of functioning after an individual with disability undergoes rehabilitation in the hospital. Objectives We developed a simple screening scale – the home environment checklist (HEC) – to identify any mismatch between an individual's abilities and their home environment to help clinicians monitor the appropriateness of the home environment to which individuals with disability will be discharged. We also examined the psychometric properties of the HEC. Methods The HEC was developed by a multidisciplinary panel of rehabilitation experts using information routinely collected in rehabilitation clinics before discharge. The reliability of the checklist was assessed in 60 individuals undergoing rehabilitation. The inter-rater agreement and internal consistency of the scale were assessed by weighted kappa statistics and Cronbach's alpha, respectively. Rasch analysis was performed with 244 rehabilitation individuals to evaluate the internal construct validity, and the known-groups validity was confirmed by a comparison of the daily activity levels of 30 individuals with disabilities under rehabilitation to the HEC score. Results The HEC was developed as a simple, 10-item checklist. The weighted kappa statistics ranged from 0.73 to 0.93, indicating excellent inter-rater reliability. Cronbach's alpha was 0.92, indicating high internal consistency. Rasch analysis with a testlet approach on 3 subscales demonstrated a good fit with the Rasch model (χ2 = 13.2, P = 0.153), and the demonstrated unidimensionality and absence of differential item functioning supported the internal construct validity of the HEC. HEC scores were significantly different (P < .01) among individuals with disability and 3 levels of restrictions in their activities (no limitation, home-bound, and bed-bound), which demonstrates the known-groups validity of the HEC. Conclusions The HEC has good reliability and validity, which supports its utility in rehabilitation clinics. KW - ICF KW - Environmental factors KW - Activities of daily living Y1 - 2020 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rehab.2019.09.004 VL - 63 IS - 4 SP - 288 EP - 295 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Yeap, W.K. A1 - Wong, C.K. A1 - Schmidt, Jochen T1 - Using a Mobile Robot to Test a Theory of Cognitive Mapping. T2 - Robotics and Cognitive Approaches to Spatial Mapping, Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics N2 - This paper describes using a mobile robot, equipped with some sonar sensors and an odometer, to test navigation through the use of a cognitive map. The robot explores an office environment, computes a cognitive map, which is a network of ASRs [36, 35], and attempts to find its way home. Ten trials were conducted and the robot found its way home each time. From four random positions in two trials, the robot estimated the home position relative to its current position reasonably accurately. Our robot does not solve the simultaneous localization and mapping problem and the map computed is fuzzy and inaccurate with much of the details missing. In each homeward journey, it computes a new cognitive map of the same part of the environment, as seen from the perspective of the homeward journey. We show how the robot uses distance information from both maps to find its way home. KW - Cognitive Mapping KW - Mobile Robot KW - Simultaneous Localization  Y1 - 2008 PB - Springer CY - Berlin ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Zenger, A. A1 - Schmidt, Jochen A1 - Krödel, M. T1 - Towards the Intelligent Home: Using Reinforcement-Learning for Optimal Heating Control T2 - Advances in Artificial Intelligence, Proceedings of the 36th Annual Conference on AI, volume 8077 of Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence N2 - We propose a reinforcement learning approach to heating control in home automation, that can acquire a set of rules enabling an agent to heat a room to the desired temperature at a defined time while conserving as much energy as possible. Experimental results are presented that show the feasibility of our method. KW - Target Temperature KW - Reward Function KW - Heating control KW - Home Automation KW - Approximate dynamic program Y1 - 2013 PB - Springer ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Spindler, Uli T1 - Absorption Heat Pump for Home Retrofit JF - IEA Heat Pump Center Newsletter KW - Heat pump KW - Home retrofit Y1 - 1997 IS - 1/97 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Yeap, W.K. A1 - Wong, C.K. A1 - Schmidt, Jochen T1 - Initial Experiments with a Mobile Robot on Cognitive Mapping T2 - International Symposium on Practical Cognitive Agents and Robots (PCAR 2006), pages 221-230, Perth, Australia N2 - This paper shows how a mobile robot equipped with sonar sensors and an odometer is used to test ideas about cognitive mapping. The robot first explores an office environment and computes a "cognitive map" which is a network of ASRs [1]. The robot generates two networks, one for the outward journey and the other for the journey home. It is shown that both networks are different. The two networks, however, are not merged to form a single network. Instead, the robot attempts to use distance information implicit in the shape of each ASR to find its way home. At random positions in the homeward journey, the robot calculates its orientation towards home. The robot's performances for both problems are evaluated and found to be surprisingly accurate. KW - Mobile Robot KW - Cognitive Mapping Y1 - 2006 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Skudlik, Stefanie A1 - Hirt, Julian A1 - Döringer, Tobias A1 - Thalhammer, Regina A1 - Lüftl, Katharina A1 - Prodinger, Birgit A1 - Müller, Martin T1 - Challenges and care strategies during the transition to nursing home in Germany: A scoping review. European Nursing Kongress am 5. Oktober 2022, online KW - transition to nursing home Y1 - 2022 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Saal, S. A1 - Meyer, G. A1 - Beutner, K. A1 - Klingshirn, H. A1 - Strobl, R. A1 - Grill, E. A1 - Mann, E. A1 - Köpke, S. A1 - Bleijlevens, M.H.C. A1 - Bartoszek, G. A1 - Stephan, A.-J. A1 - Hirt, J. A1 - Müller, Martin T1 - Development of a complex intervention to improve participation of nursing home residents with joint contractures: a mixed-method study JF - BMC Geriatrics N2 - Background Joint contractures in nursing home residents limit the capacity to perform daily activities and restrict social participation. The purpose of this study was to develop a complex intervention to improve participation in nursing home residents with joint contractures. Methods The development followed the UK Medical Research Council framework using a mixed-methods design with re-analysis of existing interview data using a graphic modelling approach, group discussions with nursing home residents, systematic review of intervention studies, structured 2-day workshop with experts in geriatric, nursing, and rehabilitation, and group discussion with professionals in nursing homes. Results Graphic modelling identified restrictions in the use of transportation, walking within buildings, memory functions, and using the hands and arms as the central target points for the intervention. Seven group discussions with 33 residents revealed various aspects related to functioning and disability according the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health domains body functions, body structures, activities and participation, environmental factors, and personal factors. The systematic review included 17 studies with 992 participants: 16 randomised controlled trials and one controlled trial. The findings could not demonstrate any evidence in favour of an intervention. The structured 2-day expert workshop resulted in a variety of potential intervention components and implementation strategies. The group discussion with the professionals in nursing homes verified the feasibility of the components and the overall concept. The resulting intervention, Participation Enabling CAre in Nursing (PECAN), will be implemented during a 1-day workshop for nurses, a mentoring approach, and supportive material. The intervention addresses nurses and other staff, residents, their informal caregivers, therapists, and general practitioners. Conclusions In view of the absence of any robust evidence, the decision to use mixed methods and to closely involve both health professionals and residents proved to be an appropriate means to develop a complex intervention to improve participation of and quality of life in nursing home residents. We will now evaluate the PECAN intervention for its impact and feasibility in a pilot study in preparation for an evaluation of its effectiveness in a definitive trial. Trial registration German clinical trials register, reference number DRKS00010037 (12 February 2016). KW - Contractures KW - Nursing homes KW - Social participation KW - Disability and health Y1 - 2018 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-018-0745-z ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Klingshirn, Hanna A1 - Müller, Martin A1 - Beutner, Katrin A1 - Hirt, Julian A1 - Strobl, Ralf A1 - Grill, Eva A1 - Meyer, Gabriele A1 - Saal, Susanne T1 - Implementation of a complex intervention to improve participation in older people with joint contractures living in nursing homes: a process evaluation of a cluster-randomised pilot trial JF - BMC Geriatrics N2 - Background Joint contractures in frail older people are associated with serious restrictions in participation. We developed the Participation Enabling CAre in Nursing (PECAN) intervention, a complex intervention to enable nurses to promote participation in nursing home residents with joint contractures. The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility of the implementation strategy and to identify enablers and barriers for a successful implementation. Methods The implementation of PECAN was investigated in a 6-month pilot cluster-randomised controlled trial (c-RCT). As a key component of the implementation strategy, nominated nurses were trained as facilitators in a one-day workshop and supported by peer-mentoring (visit, telephone counselling). A mixed-methods approach was conducted in conjunction with the pilot trial and guided by a framework for process evaluations of c-RCTs. Data were collected using standardised questionnaires (nursing staff), documentation forms, problem-centred qualitative interviews (facilitators, therapists, social workers, relatives, peer-mentors), and a group discussion (facilitators). A set of predefined criteria on the nursing home level was examined. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analysed using directed content analysis. Results Seven nursing homes (n = 4 intervention groups, n = 3 control groups) in two regions of Germany took part in the study. Facilitators responded well to the qualification measures (workshop participation: 14/14; workshop rating: “good”; peer-mentor visit participation: 10/14). The usage of peer-mentoring via telephone varied (one to seven contacts per nursing home). Our implementation strategy was not successful in connection with supplying the intervention to all the nurses. The clear commitment of the entire nursing home and the respect for the expertise of different healthcare professionals were emphasised as enablers, whereas a lack of impact on organisational conditions and routines and a lack of time and staff competence were mentioned as barriers. Conclusion The PECAN intervention was delivered as planned to the facilitators but was unable to produce comprehensive changes in the nursing homes and subsequently for the residents. Strategies to systematically include the management and the nursing team from the beginning are needed to support the facilitators during implementation in the main trial. Trial registration German clinical trials register, DRKS00010037. Registered 12 February 2016. KW - Joint contractures KW - Nursing homes KW - Participation KW - Complex intervention KW - Cluster-randomised controlled trials KW - Pilot study KW - Implementation strategy KW - Process evaluation Y1 - 2020 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-020-01655-z VL - 20 SP - 270 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Wong, C.K. A1 - Yeap, W.K. A1 - Schmidt, Jochen T1 - Using a Mobile Robot for Cognitive Mapping T2 - International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), pages 2243-2248, Hyderabad, India, 2007 N2 - When animals (including humans) first explore a new environment, what they remember is fragmentary knowledge about the places visited. Yet, they have to use such fragmentary knowledge to find their way home. Humans naturally use more powerful heuristics while lower animals have shown to developa varietyof methodsthat tend to utilize two key pieces of information,namely distance and orientation information. Their methods differ depending on how they sense their environment. Could a mobile robot be used to investigate the nature of such a process, commonly referred to in the psychological literature as cognitive mapping? What might be computed in the initial explorations and how is the resulting “cognitive map” be used to return home? In this paper, we presented a novel approach using a mobile robot to do cognitive mapping. Our robot computes a “cognitive map” and uses distance and orientation information to find its way home. The process developed provides interesting insights into the nature of cognitive mapping and encourages us to use a mobile robot to do cognitive mapping in the future, as opposed to its popular use in robot mapping. KW - Cognitive Mapping KW - Sonar Sensor KW - Robotic Research Y1 - 2007 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Skudlik, Stefanie A1 - Hirt, Julian A1 - Döringer, Tobias A1 - Thalhammer, Regina A1 - Lüftl, Katharina A1 - Prodinger, Birgit A1 - Müller, Martin T1 - Challenges and care strategies associated with the admission to nursing homes in Germany: a scoping review JF - BMC Nursing N2 - Background The admission to a nursing home is a critical life-event for affected persons as well as their families. Admission related processes are lacking adequate participation of older people and their families. To improve transitions to nursing homes, context- and country-specific knowledge about the current practice is needed. Hence, our aim was to summarize available evidence on challenges and care strategies associated with the admission to nursing homes in Germany. Methods We conducted a scoping review and searched eight major international and German-specific electronic databases for journal articles and grey literature published in German or English language since 1995. Further inclusion criteria were focus on challenges or care strategies in the context of nursing home admissions of older persons and comprehensive and replicable information on methods and results. Posters, only-abstract publications and articles dealing with mixed populations including younger adults were excluded. Challenges and care strategies were identified and analysed by structured content analysis using the TRANSCIT model. Results Twelve studies of 1,384 records were finally included. Among those, seven were qualitative studies, three quantitative observational studies and two mixed methods studies. As major challenges neglected participation of older people, psychosocial burden among family caregivers, inadequate professional cooperation and a lack of shared decision-making and evidence-based practice were identified. Identified care strategies included strengthening shared decision-making and evidence-based practice, improvement in professional cooperation, introduction of specialized transitional care staff and enabling participation for older people. Conclusion Although the process of nursing home admission is considered challenging and tends to neglect the needs of older people, little research is available for the German health care system. The perspective of the older people seems to be underrepresented, as most of the studies focused on caregivers and health professionals. Reported care strategies addressed important challenges, however, these were not developed and evaluated in a comprehensive and systematic way. Future research is needed to examine perspectives of all the involved groups to gain a comprehensive picture of the needs and challenges. Interventions based on existing care strategies should be systematically developed and evaluated to provide the basis of adequate support for older persons and their informal caregivers. KW - transition to nursing home Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-01139-y VL - 22 ER -