The rapid increase in use of personal mobile devices and mobile applications (apps) is paving the way to an extremely promising m-Health (mobile Health) branch in the hearing healthcare (HHC) domain. In this field, several important challenges still need to be tackled and, in particular, the identification of guiding principles for safe and effective use of medical apps is a very urgent one. In the framework of scientific and technical certification of m-Health technologies, our research aims at the identification and assessment of medical apps. Recently, we developed "ALFA4Hearing" (At-a-glance Labelling for Features of Apps for Hearing healthcare), a novel method for the characterization of apps for HHC that might complement the general app description conventionally reported on the app stores. ALFA4Hearing includes a core set of 29 features across five main domains (i.e. (1) Promoters, (2) Services, (3) Implementation, (4) Users, and (5) Descriptive Information) that summarize the most relevant attributes of an app in a synthetic, comprehensive, at-a-glance picture. In this study, we analyzed the current scenario of apps for HHC by using ALFA4Hearing on a large set of apps and a variety of offered services, target users, functionalities. Examples of services include, but are not limited to: hearing screening and testing, hearing aid tuning and maintenance, smartphone-based personal sound amplification, speech & language rehabilitation for children and adults, auditory training, consultation tools, patient engagement services, tinnitus assessment and relief, communication services, sign language support tools, educational content for different target groups, assistive tools, and so on. In this presentation, we will show important trends and discuss emerging challenges in the field of e-Health for Hearing.
"ALFA4Hearing": At-a-glance Labelling for Features of Apps for Hearing Health Care
Paglialonga A;Chiaramello E;Tognola G
2016
Abstract
The rapid increase in use of personal mobile devices and mobile applications (apps) is paving the way to an extremely promising m-Health (mobile Health) branch in the hearing healthcare (HHC) domain. In this field, several important challenges still need to be tackled and, in particular, the identification of guiding principles for safe and effective use of medical apps is a very urgent one. In the framework of scientific and technical certification of m-Health technologies, our research aims at the identification and assessment of medical apps. Recently, we developed "ALFA4Hearing" (At-a-glance Labelling for Features of Apps for Hearing healthcare), a novel method for the characterization of apps for HHC that might complement the general app description conventionally reported on the app stores. ALFA4Hearing includes a core set of 29 features across five main domains (i.e. (1) Promoters, (2) Services, (3) Implementation, (4) Users, and (5) Descriptive Information) that summarize the most relevant attributes of an app in a synthetic, comprehensive, at-a-glance picture. In this study, we analyzed the current scenario of apps for HHC by using ALFA4Hearing on a large set of apps and a variety of offered services, target users, functionalities. Examples of services include, but are not limited to: hearing screening and testing, hearing aid tuning and maintenance, smartphone-based personal sound amplification, speech & language rehabilitation for children and adults, auditory training, consultation tools, patient engagement services, tinnitus assessment and relief, communication services, sign language support tools, educational content for different target groups, assistive tools, and so on. In this presentation, we will show important trends and discuss emerging challenges in the field of e-Health for Hearing.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
