Positive Technology as a Driver for Health Engagement

Despite the fact that older adults are healthier than in the past, the current trend of an ageing population implies an increased risk and severity of chronic diseases. Low-resource healthcare systems face increased organizational healthcare costs, which is likely to result in an allocation of limited health resources. Healthcare organizations themselves must deal with patients' increasing need for a more active role in all the steps of the care & cure process. Technological advances may play a crucial role in sustaining people's health management in daily life, but only if it is "ecologically" designed and well-attuned to people's health needs and expectations. Healthcare is more and more called to orient innovative research approaches that recognize the crucial role of a person's engagement in health and well-being. This will enable patients to reach a higher quality of life and achieve a general psychophysical well-being. Thus, positive technological innovation can sustain people's engagement in health and invoke community empowerment, as we shall discuss in this document.

[1]  Rosa María Baños,et al.  Positive Technology: Using Interactive Technologies to Promote Positive Functioning , 2012, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[2]  D. Canning,et al.  Implications of population ageing for economic growth , 2010 .

[3]  Rachel A. Nugent,et al.  Chronic disease : an economic perspective November , 2007 .

[4]  William D. Marder,et al.  Multiple Chronic Conditions: Prevalence, Health Consequences, and Implications for Quality, Care Management, and Costs , 2007, Journal of General Internal Medicine.

[5]  Giuseppe Riva,et al.  Technologies for patient engagement. , 2013, Health affairs.

[6]  C. Barr,et al.  Relationships among self-management, patient perceptions of care, and health economic outcomes for decision-making and clinical practice in type 2 diabetes. , 2010, Value in health : the journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.

[7]  Lois Quam,et al.  Rising to the global challenge of the chronic disease epidemic , 2006, The Lancet.

[8]  John D. Piette,et al.  Cost-Related Nonadherence to Medications Among Patients With Diabetes and Chronic Pain , 2009, Diabetes Care.

[9]  M. Dimatteo,et al.  Health Beliefs, Disease Severity, and Patient Adherence: A Meta-Analysis , 2007, Medical care.

[10]  Giuseppe Riva,et al.  How to make health information technology effective: the challenge of patient engagement. , 2013, Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

[11]  Owen Smith,et al.  Public policy and the challenge of chronic noncommunicable diseases , 2007 .

[12]  Rosa María Baños,et al.  The Present and Future of Positive Technologies , 2012, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[13]  Judith H Hibbard,et al.  How engaged are consumers in their health and health care, and why does it matter? , 2008, Research brief.

[14]  Serena Barello,et al.  Patient Engagement as an Emerging Challenge for Healthcare Services: Mapping the Literature , 2012, Nursing research and practice.

[15]  Daniela Villani,et al.  Patient's choice of observational strategy for early-stage prostate cancer , 2012 .

[16]  Brenda K. Wiederhold,et al.  Positive Technology Supports Shift to Preventive, Integrative Health , 2012, Cyberpsychology Behav. Soc. Netw..

[17]  Paul Müller,et al.  Ambient Intelligence in Assisted Living: Enable Elderly People to Handle Future Interfaces , 2007, HCI.

[18]  L. Callister,et al.  Patient‐centered care and adherence: Definitions and applications to improve outcomes , 2008, Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

[19]  John D. Piette,et al.  Cost-related Non-adherence to Medications among Patients with Diabetes and Chronic Pain: Factors beyond Finances Running title: Choosing medications under financial pressure , 2009 .

[20]  Giuseppe Riva,et al.  Personal experience in positive psychology may offer a new focus for a growing discipline. , 2012, The American psychologist.

[21]  Guendalina Graffigna,et al.  Mapping online peer exchanges on diabetes , 2012 .